My occasional take on important, cutting-edge or interesting legal news:
Legal News
Legal News
February 5th, 2014
Mayor Michael Nutter's administration opposes legislation pending in the Philadelphia City Council that would create legislative oversight of contracts for the legal representation of Philadelphians too poor to afford their own lawyers in family court and criminal court, The Legal Intelligencer's P.J. D'Annunzio reports. Instead of having individual attorneys take court appointments, the administration is trying to contract... Continue Reading
February 5th, 2014
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was celebrated by fellow Justice Elena Kagan and the New York City Bar Association this week, the Associated Press reports. Ginsburg "'has done as much as anyone in the last 40 years" to make the country more just and equal, Kagan remarked, the AP reports. Prior joining the bench, Ginsburg was a leading litigator in gender discrimination law. Continue Reading
February 4th, 2014
According to this NPR report, a bankruptcy judge in North Carolina presiding over a gasketmaker's insolvency proceeding has torn into the actions of plaintiffs lawyers prosecuting cases against the defendant. For example, the judge described, according to NPR, how "in Texas, one plaintiff said his only exposure to asbestos was from Garlock — after his lawyers filed a claim with another company. In California... Continue Reading
February 4th, 2014
West Virginia's MetroNews reports that the WVU Law Innocence Project is "pushing legislation at the capitol which would require all police interrogations to be video recorded. Supporters of the bill believe it will reduce the chances of false confessions and ultimately false convictions."
Recording confessions is now considered a best practice to prevent innocent people from falsely confessing to crimes they didn't commit... Continue Reading
February 4th, 2014
The Scottish Parliament voted overwhelmingly in favor of same-sex marriage, STV reports. Now Northern Ireland is the only country in the United Kingdom where same-sex couples can't access matrimony. Continue Reading
February 4th, 2014
Utah has filed its brief in the 10th Circuit defending the state's ban on same-sex marriage after a district judge struck it down as unconstitutional, Deseret News reports. One argument by the state is that there is nothing in the federal Constitution preventing Utah's citizens from limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples. A second argument by the state is "'redefining marriage as a genderless, adult-centric... Continue Reading
February 4th, 2014
The Washington Post reports that a lawsuit in Virginia challenging that state's ban on same-sex marriage might get to the U.S. Supreme Court before a case over Utah's same-sex marriage ban does. Oral arguments were just heard in the Virginia case, while a district court judge struck down Utah's ban already. That ruling is on appeal.
Even though the Utah case has advanced farther, "the Virginia cases are... Continue Reading
February 3rd, 2014
The American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin filed a lawsuit today to challenge that state's ban on same-sex marriage on the grounds that it violates same-sex couples their right to equal protection under the law, the Wisconsin State Journal reports. "'Lesbians and gay men in Wisconsin are denied the freedom afforded to different-sex couples in this state to have their loving, committed relationships recognized... Continue Reading
February 2nd, 2014
Gigaom's Jeff John Roberts wrote this week about the problems plaguing copyright law: "Copyright law is broken and the debate over how to fix it is dominated by extremists: those who support Hollywood hardliners on one hand, and those who defend the likes of Kim Dotcom on the other. The way forward lies somewhere in the middle and, if lawmakers can find it, they could create a system that provides more money and... Continue Reading
February 2nd, 2014
Defense lawyers for the accused Aurora, Colorado, movie shooter are going to seek access to a reporter's confidential sources all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, Reuters reports. The New York Court of Appeals ruled that state's shield law protects Jana Winter from having to reveal her sources in the Colorado criminal case.
(Hat tip to How Appealing, where I first saw this news.) Continue Reading
February 2nd, 2014
The Mexican Supreme Court has upheld equal public benefits for same-sex couples, according to a report on BuzzFeed: The court "ruled Wednesday that the ministry overseesing pensions and health benefits — the Instituto Mexicano de Seguro Social — must give same-sex couples who are married or registered under state civil union laws all the same benefits of opposite-sex couples. The ruling specifically addressed the... Continue Reading
February 2nd, 2014
The litigation over same-sex marriage equality continues to burgeon in the United States. Most recently, a federal judge certified a class action to challenge Virginia's eight-year-old ban on same-sex marriage. The Associated Press reports that U.S. District Judge Michael F. Urbanski certified the class action Friday. The Virginia Attorney General already said he won't defend the ban in court. The class of couples... Continue Reading
January 31st, 2014
The New Yorker had a blog earlier this week that, while the Supreme Court decision striking down the federal Defense of Marriage Act was meant to give breathing room to states to figure out the issue of same-sex nuptials themselves, "the language of the Windsor decision may have been so powerful that the Court in fact accelerated a movement it sought to temporarily restrain." The blog also has this quote from Roberta... Continue Reading
January 31st, 2014
Two courts rulings regarding same-sex marriage have been issued. A state judge ruled that the law authorizing same-sex marriage in Hawaii is constitutional, BigIslandNow.com reports. A federal judge has authorized a challenge to West Virginia's ban on same-sex marriage to go forward, The Herald-Dispatch of Huntington, WV, reports. The federal judge did strike down a claim involving out-of-state-marriages because "unmarried couples,... Continue Reading
January 31st, 2014
Delaware Business Court Insider's Jeff Mordock reported this week on Leo E. Strine Jr.'s confirmation as the chief justice of the Delaware Supreme Court. While Delaware is a preferred forum for America's corporations, one thing that struck me about Jeff's coverage is that Strine said he plans to focus on family court, which is an often overlooked area of law: "'One of the things I never forget is how important Family... Continue Reading
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