My occasional take on important, cutting-edge or interesting legal news:
Legal News
Legal News
April 28th, 2014
The Alaska Supreme Court ruled that tax exemptions available to married couples must be provided to same-sex spouses even though the state bans gay marriage, Reuters reports. The tax exemption is for senior citizens and disabled veterans that sometimes take martial status into account, Reuters further reports.
'"For purposes of analyzing the effects of the exemption program, we hold that committed same-sex domestic partners who... Continue Reading
April 27th, 2014
The New York Times' Campbell Robertson and John Schwartz report today on why BP is now attacking a settlement process for economic-damage legal claims arising out of the Gulf oil spill. The energy firm, however, has not been able to unwind the settlement it agreed to: "While BP has won some arguments in court, its fundamental point — that the settlement has been brazenly misinterpreted to pay claims with no evidence linking them... Continue Reading
April 27th, 2014
General Motors, embroiled in litigation and regulatory scrutiny because of a defective ignition switch in millions of cars, moved last week in bankruptcy court to be shielded from liability for incidents that took place before July 10, 2009, which is when the company emerged from bankruptcy restructuring, The New York Times reported. The protection already exists in the restructuring agreement, but a coalition of eight class-action... Continue Reading
April 25th, 2014
The Marshall Islands, a tiny nation in the Pacific, is suing the United States and eight other nuclear-armed countries in the International Court of Justice, the Associated Press reports: "The Marshall Islands claims the nine countries are modernizing their nuclear arsenals instead of negotiating disarmament, and it estimates that they will spend $1 trillion on those arsenals over the next decade."
The lawsuit is "... Continue Reading
April 22nd, 2014
The Second Circuit has ruled that the federal government must release a redacted version of the legal guidance for the targeted killings of American citizens by drones, the New York Law Journal reports. The plaintiffs, including the New York Times, wanted information about the justifications for killing U.S. citizens Anwar al-Awlaki, his 16-year-old son, Abdulrahman, and Samir Khan by drone strike in Yemen. The appellate court reasoned that... Continue Reading
April 22nd, 2014
The U.S. Supreme Court appeared to be concerned about the fate of cloud computing but not so much with the fate of Internet startup Aereo in oral arguments today, Re/code reports: "As attorneys for the Web TV service and the TV networks who are suing it argued their case today, justices repeatedly asked about ways they could write a judgment that protected the rights of other cloud computing services, such as Dropbox, to continue... Continue Reading
April 22nd, 2014
With Internet start-up Aereo and broadcast TV companies slated to go to the U.S. Supreme Court today, the case "could have important implications for Internet streaming, cloud computing, and the future of the TV industry itself," Time reports. Aereo retransmits free broadcast TV over the Internet through individual antennas dedicated to each customer. Aereo says it designed its system with those one-to-one antennas to... Continue Reading
April 17th, 2014
The Fourth Circuit ruled that 'Company Doe' should not have been able to litigate in secret its dispute with the Consumer Product Safety Commission about whether a safety complaint--that a lower-court judge said was "materially inaccurate"--can be posted online, the Wall Street Journal reports. The appellate court held "'that the district court’s sealing order violates the public... Continue Reading
April 17th, 2014
Government-funded scientists are connecting "terabytes of patient medical records" at 11 sites across the country, The Washington Post reports. The result would be possibly the largest repository of medical information in the country, containing the medical information of 26 million to 30 million Americans. The new repository also raises privacy and propietary concerns, presenting "tricky ethical questions about who owns and... Continue Reading
April 16th, 2014
A federal judge ruled that a Massachusetts state ban on the sale of prescription painkiller Zohydro violates federal law, Reuters reports. Governor Deval Patrick had banned the drug when declaring a public health emergency about the abuse of opoids in his state. But Judge Rya Zobel ruled that the ban interferes with the Food and Drug Administration's "constitutionally mandated" regulatory authority, Reuters also... Continue Reading
April 16th, 2014
Law professor Geoffrey R. Stone, writing in the Daily Beast, said having an evidentiary privilege for journalists' sources is key to democracy. The point of the privilege is that confidential sources will be incentivized to reveal information to reporters without fear of retaliation and exposure, Stone says. It's good for democracy "to gain access to information that otherwise might never see the light of day" because... Continue Reading
April 16th, 2014
The Columbus Dispatch reports on the latest victory for same-sex marriage: Ohio now must recognize other state's same-sex marriages. "A federal judge’s ruling that Ohio must recognize same-sex marriages legally performed in other states is expected to open the door to a variety of issues, including bereavement leave, health-care decisions, taxes and survivor benefits," the Dispatch further reports. Ohio's statewide ban... Continue Reading
April 16th, 2014
Next week, the U.S. Supreme Court will take up the copyright dispute between broadcast TV companies and Aereo, an Internet startup that streams broadcast programming online. Broadcasters have a Plan B if Aereo wins, The Wall Street Journal reports: "Plan B options under consideration range from lobbying Congress for a legislative solution to perhaps thwarting Aereo by shifting to cable transmission from broadcast. The most radical of... Continue Reading
April 15th, 2014
The Indian Supreme Court has recognized transgendered people as a third gender, The Times of India reports: "In a landmark judgment, the Supreme Court on Tuesday created the 'third gender' status for hijras or transgenders. Earlier, they were forced to write male or female against their gender." That means transgendered people in India can have protection from discrimination at work and in school. However, the court... Continue Reading
April 15th, 2014
The Onondaga Nation, one of the Haudenosaunee tribes in New York state, is taking its land claim to the Organization of American States, alleging that the loss of 2.5 million acres of their land violated their human rights, the Syracuse Post-Standard reports. The Nation's land claim was dismissed in American courts and now will be filed in the OAS Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Continue Reading
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