My occasional take on important, cutting-edge or interesting legal news:
Legal News
Legal News
September 1st, 2015
The Alaska Supreme Court ruled that the state's Medicaid expansion could proceed today, Alaska Dispatch News' Tegan Hanlon reports. Governor Bill Walker expanded Medicaid over the objections of legislators, who argue they need to approve the expansion for it to be legal. The underlying lawsuit over the issue will still proceed because the court's order was about whether a temporary restraining order would go into place. Continue Reading
September 1st, 2015
The California Senate has just passed a bill that would restrict drones from being flown over wildfires, Los Angeles Times' Patrick McGreevy and Melanie Mason report. Other measures are being considered to restrict drone flights over prisons, schools and homes. For example, there is a bill on the governor's desk that would "criminalize the act of operating an unmanned aircraft system less than 350 feet above ground over private... Continue Reading
September 1st, 2015
The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected an emergency application by a Kentucky clerk against having to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples because of her religious objections, CNN's Ariane de Vogue and Jeremy Diamond report. The high court refused to stop a lower court ruling while clerk Kim Davis' appeal is pending.
Davis' lawyers argued that her "'conscience forbids her from approving a (same-sex marriage) license... Continue Reading
August 31st, 2015
A former associate at Ropes & Gray was unable to revive his racial discrimination lawsuit after a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, The National Law Journal's Sheri Qualters reports. John Ray III alleged that he was racially discriminated against and fired because he complained about racial remarks made by the firm's parnters.
The firm told him in 2008 that he would not make partner and gave him six... Continue Reading
August 30th, 2015
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled last week that protestors don't have the right to demonstrate closer to the U.S. Supreme Court than the sidewalk out front, The Washington Post's Robert Barnes reports. A law forbids demonstrations on the high court's grounds on the theory that closer protests could lead to the perception that the justices are swayed by public pressure.
U.S. Circuit Judge Sri Srinivasan wrote... Continue Reading
August 30th, 2015
The Federal Trade Commission has the authority to regulate lax cybersecurity as an unfair business practice, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has ruled, Bank Info Security's Tracy Kitten reports. Hotel chain Wyndham Worldwide Corp. was sued by the FTC for allegedly having inadequate security measures to protect consumer data, which the agency said violated the FTC Act's unfair business practice provisions.... Continue Reading
August 30th, 2015
A state judge ruled Friday that Alaska Governor Bill Walker can expand Medicaid without legislative approval, Alaska Dispatch News' Nathaniel Herz reports. Legislators moved for a preliminary injunction to stop the expansion of coverage while they argue their underlying legal challenge to the legality of the executive action. Legislators argue that they must approve the expansion of Medicaid to groups whose coverage is not required under... Continue Reading
August 24th, 2015
The Missouri Supreme Court struck down red-light camera laws in St. Louis, Kansas City and St. Peters, The Wall Street Journal's Jacob Gershman reports. The law in St. Louis was struck down because it shifted the burden onto a defendant to prove that he or she wasn't operating the motor vehicle at the time of the violation.
The ordinances authorizing red-light camera violations in the other cities were struck down for other reasons. Continue Reading
August 24th, 2015
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has ruled that five New Orleans police officers are entitled to a new trial after being convicted of shooting six unarmed civilians on the Danziger Bridge in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Frontline's Sarah Moughty and Sarah Childress report. The unarmed group of civilians was searching for food and medicine.
A new trial was granted because federal prosecutors violated the fair trial... Continue Reading
August 24th, 2015
Last week, BloombergBusiness' Natalie Kitroeff had a piece with a title sure to grab your attention: "Are Lawyers Getting Dumber?" However, the piece is really about a stupendous drop in the rate of law school graduates who are passing the bar exam. For example, bar passage rates dropped by 9 percentage points or more in Delaware, Iowa, Minnesota, Oregon, Tennessee and Texas in 2014.
National Conference of Bar Examiners'... Continue Reading
August 22nd, 2015
The District of Columbia Circuit has unanimously upheld regulations to extend minimum wage and overtime protections to workers who take care of the elderly and the disabled in their homes, The New York Times' Noam Scheiber reports. The Obama administration enacted regulations to end an exemption from overtime and minimum wage laws for home-care workers. Continue Reading
August 22nd, 2015
Now that lawmakers in Alaska have voted to sue to try to block that state's expansion of Medicaid to 40,000 low-income adults, they will have to show irreparable harm will result if a preliminary injunction isn't granted against the expansion, APRN-Anchorage's Annie Feidt reports.
Legislators are arguing that the expansion needs to have their approval, that the population that would be covered by the expansion is not a mandatory... Continue Reading
August 19th, 2015
The number of foreclosure cases in New York State are not letting up, The New York Law Journal's Joel Stashenko reports. Stashenko was reporting on Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli's report that the number of new foreclosure filings in the state is only down by 6 percent between 2013 and 2014. DiNapoli attributed the fall in the number of cases to court rules designed to end problematic foreclosure practices by lenders. Continue Reading
August 17th, 2015
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has ruled that an Ohio woman can pursue a claim that Blue Ash, Ohio, discriminated against her disabled daughter by banning her from keeping a miniature horse as a service animal, The Wall Street Journal's Jacob Gershman reports. Ingrid Anderson claims the city's ban on people keeping farm animals within municipal limits violates the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Fair Housing... Continue Reading
August 17th, 2015
A federal judge ruled earlier this month that the Food and Drug Administration can't bar a drug company from promoting an unapproved use for its pills derived from fish oil, The Washington Post's Carolyn Johnson reports. U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer ruled that the First Amendment protects Amarin Corp. "'truthful and non-misleading speech'" in promoting a use of its pills that has not been approved by federal... Continue Reading
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