My occasional take on important, cutting-edge or interesting legal news:
Legal News
Legal News
September 25th, 2013
The Los Angeles Times has a clearly written summary of the tangled history of the little Cherokee girl who has been the subject of a cross-state, cross-sovereign nation custody dispute between her biological American Indian father and her adoptive white parents. The post begins: "Was justice served Monday when a little girl called Veronica was taken from her biological father, a Cherokee, and returned to the white South Carolina couple... Continue Reading
September 25th, 2013
The Hollywood Reporter has this piece on a conference call between investors and the CEO of Aereo, an Internet streaming service for free broadcast television that is challenging the boundaries of copyright law. CEO Chet Kanojia said that if his firm loses its court battles that "entire industries" would be threatened, Hollywood Reporter reported. "'The implication of not allowing private performance means"... Continue Reading
September 25th, 2013
After Pennsylvania state-court judges lost their challenge in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to the constitutionality of the requirement that they retire in the year that they turn 70, they now have lost in federal court too, The Legal Intelligencer reports. The federal judge rejected both their equal protection and due process claims, citing binding precedent. The judge also rejected arguments that he should apply a higher standard of review... Continue Reading
September 25th, 2013
December will be a big month in New Jersey, but not just because of the holidays. Legislators are going to try to override Governor Chris Christie's veto of a law that would authorize same-sex marriage, the Associated Press reports. The governor suggested that it should be put on the ballot for voters to decide. Republican leaders said members of the party can vote on the veto-override legislation as they see fit, the AP also reports... Continue Reading
September 24th, 2013
Gannett's The Courier-Journal reports that the same-sex partner of a woman facing murder and robbery charges in Jefferson County, Kentucky, can be compelled to testify against her. The two women entered into a civil union in Vermont, but they never converted their civil union into a marrage as was possible after Vermont allowed same-sex marriages. The judge reasoned that couple would have to be married at the very least for Kentucky to... Continue Reading
September 24th, 2013
The long-running putative class action between Google and the Authors Guild and other content producers over Google's project in which it has digitized over 20 million books was back in federal court yesterday.
Reuters reports that Judge Denny Chin appeared to favor the fair use argument by Google, which is seeking to immunize the claims of copyright infringement brought by the plaintiffs. Chin said that Google's project has helped... Continue Reading
September 24th, 2013
Even though JP Morgan agreed to pay nearly $1 billion in fines for its conduct in the 'London Whale' incident in which the bank’s chief investment officer lost more than $6 billion and then regulators were misled about the losses, the investment bank's legal troubles appear to be far from over. The New York Times' DealB%k Blog reports there is "an unusual wave of scrutiny for JPMorgan, which is... Continue Reading
September 23rd, 2013
I am always interested in news out of Malaysia as my college roommate is from there.
Here is this report: Indigenous peoples in Malaysia are facing forced displacement and the loss of livelihood due to extractive industries in east Malaysia, Free Malaysia Today reported. The issue was brought up in a session of the United Nations Human Rights Council. Some Malaysian leaders want James Anaya, the special UN rapporteur on... Continue Reading
September 23rd, 2013
U.S. News and World Report recounted last week that even supporters of passing legislation that would allow journalists to keep their confidential sources shielded admit that the legislation would not address the situation in which the U.S. Department of Justice seized without notice two months of Associated Press phone records. Just today, several outlets are reporting that a former FBI agent was identified in those phone logs and has now... Continue Reading
September 23rd, 2013
When former Guatemala dictator José Efraín Ríos Montt was convicted of crimes including genocide earlier this year, it was the first time a former head of state was prosecuted for genocide in his own country's courts, according to think tank International Crisis Group. But then the Constitutional Court annulled the verdict. ICG is concerned that the verdict was annulled due to political pressure. The case against R... Continue Reading
September 23rd, 2013
Yochai Benkler, law professor and director of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, writes in The Guardian that a ruling in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court contradicts recent jurisprudence from the U.S. Supreme Court on security and the constitutional protection from unreasonable searches and seizures. One of the most important implications of Benkler's argument is for FICA no longer to be an ex... Continue Reading
September 23rd, 2013
The Legal Intelligencer (my journalism alma mater) reports that a Philadelphia judge has overruled preliminary objections to a defamation lawsuit brought by a plaintiffs attorney against a firm that withdrew a job offer to him. The plaintif alleges Raynes McCarty withdrew its job offer to him based on false information it allegedly received from Anapol Schwartz after he had voiced concerns to that firm's leadership over what he believed to... Continue Reading
September 23rd, 2013
While acknowledging the criticism that the federal shield bill would not on its face protect citizen-journalists, this Washington Post editorial argues that there is an adequate release valve because the bill "would also empower judges to extend its protections to anyone if they determine that doing so would be 'in the interest of justice and necessary to protect lawful and legitimate news-gathering activities."' Continue Reading
September 23rd, 2013
While streaming TV services Aereo and FilmOn X have a common cause in fighting the boundaries of copyright law and broadcast TV networks' exclusive rights to public performance of their programming, the firms' leaders seem to have have personal animus toward each other - or at least the CEO of FilmOn does after originally calling his firm Aereokiller until sued by Aereo on the name issue. The Verge reports FilmOn's... Continue Reading
September 23rd, 2013
While Ohio bans same-sex marriages, a judge has ruled that a valid same-sex marriage entered into in another state must be recognized on a death certificate. Ohio recognizes marriages from other states that it would not allow under its own law, the judge said, so same-sex marriages must be given the same comity and full-faith credit. “This is not a complicated case,” the judge wrote, according to the Gay People's Chronicle... Continue Reading
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