My occasional take on important, cutting-edge or interesting legal news:
Legal News
Legal News
June 24th, 2014
A new study shows that safety concerns with electronic health records persist after they are implemented--even though patient safety is part of the reason to go electronic with patient records, Politico reports. The study is based on 344 incidents with Veterans Administration electronic health records.
June 24th, 2014
Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett decided against appealing a federal judge's ruling striking down the ban on same-sex marriage in Pennsylvania. Corbett announced the decision just one day after U.S. District Judge John E. Jones III reached his decision. Gayapolis notes that the appeal period expired last week, so the reality of same-sex marriage has really, really arrived in the Keystone State. Continue Reading
June 24th, 2014
The U.S. Supreme Court has kept alive the main legal theory behind securities fraud class actions: that plaintiffs can rely upon the assumption that stock prices in efficient markets reflect all publicly available information and misstatements about a company's financial situation is a fraud on the market.
But the Supreme Court has increased the ability of defendants to rebut the presumptions that plaintiffs rely upon to allege that... Continue Reading
June 24th, 2014
According to a report by New York Times' Adam Liptak, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia said from the bench yesterday that the Environmental Protection Agency is "'getting almost everything it wanted'" when the court ruled in favor of the agency's regulation of greenhouse gases. The agency said its regulation of emissions from motor vehicle tailpipes also requires the regulation of emissions from... Continue Reading
June 23rd, 2014
The U.S. Supreme Court will wrap up its term a week from today, and there are several major cases left to be decided, USA Today reports. A couple highlights of issues to be decided:
One, what is the scope of the presidential power to make appointments when the Senate is in recess?
Two, can the Environmental Protection Agency change the threshold for greenhouse gas emissions?
Three, can shareholders alleging securities fraud rely... Continue Reading
June 23rd, 2014
USA Today reports on one of the most hotly anticipated decisions left for this Supreme Court term: does Aereo's streaming service of free broadcast TV violate copyright law? Broadcasters argue that Aereo should have to pay to retransmit the signals. USA Today predicts that whatever the outcome there could be more cord-cutting: a win could lead broadcasters to charge more in fees and higher prices could lead customers to cord-cutting. A win... Continue Reading
June 22nd, 2014
While the federal government is planning a significant expansion of benefits for same-sex spouses, federal laws bar the Department of Veteran Affairs and the Social Security Administration from extending some benefits, the Wall Street Journal reports. Benefits will mostly only extend to spouses that live in states that recognize their marriages.
June 22nd, 2014
The Ninth Circuit heard oral arguments last week on a case of first impression: does California's procedure for consolidating mass torts violate the federal Class Action Fairness Act? While two drug companies argued federal law requires mass torts be tried in federal court, the Ninth Circuit panel appeared reluctant to accept that view, The National Law Journal's Amanda Bronstad reports. The plaintiffs sought to coordinate the cases in... Continue Reading
June 21st, 2014
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled this week that software based on an abstract idea isn't eligible for patent protection, Politico reports. The decision in Alice Corporation Pty. Ltd. v. CLS Bank International did not end the patentability of all software nor provide a clearer test for when software can be patented, Politico further reports. Continue Reading
June 20th, 2014
Kentucky is the latest state to consider legislation to prohibit the warrantless use of drones by law enforcement, the Kentucky Enquirer reports. A Northern Kentucky legislator is reintroducing a bill to bar law enforcement agencies from using drones to gather evidence without warrants. Fourteen states have passed laws limiting the use of drones, the Enquirer reports.
Meanwhile, there are three drone bills pending in Pennsylvania, including... Continue Reading
June 17th, 2014
The U.S. Supreme Court will not take up Argentina's appeal over a judgment requiring it to pay investors in its defaulted bonds, Agence France-Presse reports. The investors refused to participate in the restructuring of the debt on which Argentina defaulted in 2001.
One issue was whether Argentina has to turn over information about its government assets held in the United States, and the Supreme Court ruled that the U.S. Foreign... Continue Reading
June 17th, 2014
The U.S. Supreme Court has granted certiorari in a criminal case involving the free speech rights of a criminal defendant who used threatening language in the form of rap lyrics on Facebook, the Associated Press reports. (I covered the trial of Anthony Elonis when I worked for the Legal Intelligencer, Pennsylvania's legal newspaper.)
Federal prosecutors successfully got the district judge to apply an objective... Continue Reading
June 17th, 2014
The Seventh Circuit has overturned a "landmark order requiring the government to show defense lawyers foreign-intelligence-related surveillance on how a terrorism investigation developed," Politico's Josh Gerstein reports. Judge Richard Posner reasoned that "'the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is an attempt to strike a balance between the interest in full openness of legal proceedings and the interest in... Continue Reading
June 17th, 2014
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that two conservative groups have standing to challenge an Ohio law that penalizes false statements made about political candidates, Reuters' Lawrence Hurley reports. The challenge can be pursued even though the Ohio Elections Commission has not said whether it would seek to penalize Susan B. Anthony List and another group. Here is coverage I did for the Supreme Court Review podcast of the oral arguments in... Continue Reading
June 16th, 2014
Two separate reports are showing the privacy issues raised by the growing use of drones.
The Hartford Courant's Kelly Glista reports about how a beachgoer called the police because a teenager was flying his drone at the public park. He wasn't breaking any laws, but the incident raised the question of what expectation of privacy people have in a public place: "The right to personal privacy is both profoundly valued and... Continue Reading
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