My occasional take on important, cutting-edge or interesting legal news:
Legal News
Legal News
January 17th, 2014
Pennsylvania's voter ID law has been struck down, The Legal Intelligencer's Sara Spencer reports. The judge reasoned: “'The right to vote, fundamental in Pennsylvania, is irreplaceable, necessitating its protection before any deprivation occurs. Deprivation of the franchise is neither compensable nor replaceable by after-the-fact legal remedies, necessitating injunctive and declaratory relief,'" Spencer writes. Oddly... Continue Reading
January 17th, 2014
Judge Steven W. Rhodes of United States Bankruptcy Court blocked Detroit's plan to "pay $165 million to two big banks to extricate itself from some long-term financial contracts that have been costing the bankrupt city tens of millions of dollars a year," The New York Times reports. The judge said that the payment is too expensive.
The judge's rejection of the payout was a surprise, The Times further reports. The judge... Continue Reading
January 17th, 2014
President Obama finally weighed in on where the line should be drawn between surveillance and privacy in a speech today. The New York Times reports: the president "will require intelligence agencies to obtain permission from a secret court before tapping into a vast storehouse of telephone data, and will ultimately move that data out of the hands of the government."
The president also said surveillance of foreign leaders will be... Continue Reading
January 15th, 2014
The Legal Intelligencer's Gina Passarella (my former cubicle-mate!) reports on a Commonwealth Court ruling today that the Pennsylvania Senate must disclose legal bills as well as client names for the attorneys hired by the legislative chamber to represent former state Senator Robert J. Mellow and other Democratic caucus employees. "After already determining attorney-client privilege doesn’t protect from disclosure of client... Continue Reading
January 15th, 2014
John Bates, the former presiding judge of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, has "warned against a proposal to include in the court's proceedings an outside privacy and civil liberties advocate, who might take positions counter to the government when it seeks permission to collect huge swaths of Internet traffic, email addresses, and phone communications," Foreign Policy reports.
Bates, in consultation with other... Continue Reading
January 15th, 2014
The Wall Street Journal reports on the options that the FCC still has to ensure that Internet content is treated equally and neutrally after the D.C. Circuit ruled yesterday the governmental agency's net neutrality-rules overstepped its authority. One option would be to reclassify broadband providers as common carriers because "'the Communications Act doesn’t clearly address broadband providers, which means their regulatory... Continue Reading
January 15th, 2014
The U.S. Supreme Court's decision on whether it is constitutional for the president to make appointments during legislative recesses will not only have a big impact on the separation of powers. A decision rejecting recess appointments will upend hundreds of labor disputes decided by the National Labor Relations Board, The Washington Post reports. '“Regardless of whether you’re in the business community or organized labor,... Continue Reading
January 15th, 2014
While only 24 percent of people purchasing health insurance through the federal exchange are between the age of 18 and 34 (which is 14 percentage points lower than what the law needs to keep premiums low), The Washington Post's Ezra Kkein reports that younger, healthier people tend to sign up only when the penalty is about to hit. This enrollment behavior happened when Massachusetts rolled out its state insurance exchange. " Obamacare... Continue Reading
January 14th, 2014
New York Times reporter James Risen, who federal prosecutors are seeking to have identify his confidential sources in a criminal case against an alleged CIA leaker, has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to consider whether he is entitled to reporters privilege, Politico reports. At issue Risen's counsel argued in the petition is if journalists have a a qualified First Amendment privilege regarding confidential sources in criminal trials and if... Continue Reading
January 14th, 2014
Another state constitutional ban on same-sex marriage has been struck down. A federal judge ruled today that Oklahoma's ban on same-sex marriage violates the guarantee of equal protection in the U.S. Constitution, USA Today reports. The ban, the judge reasoned is "'an arbitrary, irrational exclusion of just one class of Oklahoma citizens from a governmental benefit,"' USA Today further reports. The ruling, unlike a... Continue Reading
January 14th, 2014
With Robert Wilkins' confirmation to the D.C. Circuit by the U.S.. Senate, President Obama's overhaul of "the country's second most powerful court" is complete, the Associated Press reports. Now there is a 7-4 majority in favor of the Democracts on the court that hears appeals of federal rules and regulations. Continue Reading
January 14th, 2014
A defendant convicted in a terrorism case is challenging the use of warrantless surveillaince in his case, The Washington Post reports: "Late Monday, [Mohamed Osman] Mohamud’s attorneys filed a 66-page motion in U.S. District Court in Portland, Ore., seeking discovery of information that they believe will aid in an eventual challenge to the constitutionality of the law that authorized the surveillance used in his case. At... Continue Reading
January 14th, 2014
The D.C. Circuit, 2-1, has struck down the FCC's rules imposing net neutrality, Gigaom reports. The majority said the FCC has the authority to regulate in the area of Internet traffic, but it can't impose requirements that "'contravene express statutory mandates,"' Gigaom reports.
"The upshot of Tuesday’s ruling is that it could open the door for internet giants like Verizon and Time Warner to cut... Continue Reading
January 13th, 2014
The Indiana House Judiciary Committee heard testimony today about legislation that would start the process to amend Indiana's constitution to ban same-sex marriage. But the vote was delayed by the committee chair, the Associated Press reports. Continue Reading
January 13th, 2014
The Connecticut Supreme Court heard oral arguments last week on conflicting interpretations of that state's Freedom of Information Law. Law enforcement representatives are arguing that, once they have released the names and addresses of people who've been arrested, as well as the dates, times and places of their arrests and the offenses with which they were charged, that they can decide what's exempt from disclosure until... Continue Reading
Lawyer and Legal Journalist
