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The 2012 election season has been a legal and emotional rollercoaster in Ohio. First, there was the court battle over early voting. Then, there was debate over how – or if – faulty ballots should be counted. This week, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals enjoined a district court’s order requiring the state to count provisional ballots cast in the wrong precinct or polling location, The Associated Press reports. In that opinion, the appellate court noted that a district court order from August did not require the counting of wrong-place/wrong-precinct ballots, but the court expressed no view on whether the refusal to count such ballots imposed an unconstitutional burden on voters....

In a unanimous decision this week, the Supreme Court ruled that penalties imposed on electors who voted against their pledges in 2016 did not violate the Constitution. The three so-called “faithless electors” out of Washington faced $1,000 fines for defying their electoral assignments and refusing to vote for Hillary Clinton - who won the popular vote in both states. The case also included a Colorado elector whose vote was canceled....

A federal appeals court has given a Salvadoran refugee another chance at asylum in the United States, but it will depend on a technical question about when he last arrived in the country. In his petition for asylum, Jose Linares-Urrutia said that he first escaped El Salvador during a civil war that lasted a decade. He testified that he fled because he was tortured as a member of a revolutionary student group....

In US v. Brown, No. 09-3731, the court affirmed defendant’s conviction and sentence for wire fraud, causing interstate travel in execution of a scheme to defraud, engaging in monetary transactions in criminally derived property, and conspiracy to commit money laundering, where 1) the evidence of intent to defraud was more than sufficient to convict Brown of each count of conviction; 2) district courts were not required to mechanically recite the 18 U....

In a capital habeas matter, the petition for certiorari is granted and the court of appeals’ order is vacated and remanded where the court of appeals incorrectly held that the habeas petition, which claimed that petitioner was denied discovery into the issue of whether there had been improper communications between the judge and jury, was procedurally barred based on an insufficient record, contrary to Cone v. Bell, 556 U.S. ___ (2009)....

It’s a free country and you can do what you want, more or less. But if you are driving, that’s a privilege and you must do what the state wants if you want to be able to stay on the road. Refusing a breathalyzer has consequences for your life and your license, but people do it all the time. Let’s consider the controversial tests and the critical concept linked to them, implied consent....

Cruises are popular vacations for millions of Americans, especially during the summer months. And why not? For many, it’s paradise. You get to visit scenic destinations while sailing on a floating full-scale resort that caters to your every whim. But the promise of paradise can vanish the moment you show up at the airport. You get to the gate, eager to board, and watch as the flight information screen switches your flight to the dreaded word: “canceled....

In a contract case arising from parties’ efforts to resolve a dispute over the use of similar trademarks in their respective clothing lines, a magistrate judge’s rulings are affirmed in part where both parties intended an informal document to be a binding contract and no reasonable jury could decide otherwise, and the terms of such document were sufficiently definite to warrant enforcement. However, the case is remanded as the terms agreed to by the parties with respect to certain clauses were not sufficiently unambiguous to permit judicial interpretation of the contract....

In an excessive force action brought under 42 U.S.C. sec. 1983, district court judgment denying defendant’s s motion for summary judgment is affirmed where the district court did not err in holding that defendant was not entitled to qualified immunity as a reasonable jury could find that defendant violated the plaintiffs’ clearly established right to be free from excessive force when he seized and held them by pointing his firearm at them when there was no hint of danger....

“The Jussie Smollett case was full of twists and turns.” That was how we started our last update on the supposed hate crime turned false reporting charges, after the City of Chicago looked poised to sue Smollett for over $130,000 in investigation costs, and before yet another lawsuit filed against the actor, this one from the brothers accused of carrying out the alleged hoax. Olabinjo and Abimbola Osundairo have filed a defamation lawsuit against Smollett’s attorneys, Tina Glandian and Mark Geragos, claiming their reputation was damaged by comments the lawyers made after the charges against Smollett were dropped....

American Honda Motor Co. v. Allen, No. 09-8051, involved a class action alleging that a Honda motorcycle had a design defect that prevented the adequate dampening of “wobble.” The Seventh Circuit reversed the grant of class certification on the grounds that 1) the district court must perform a full Daubert analysis before certifying a class if the situation warrants; and 2) the district court never actually reached a conclusion about whether plaintiffs’ expert report was reliable enough to support plaintiffs’ class certification request....

Parnell Gulley’s defense to crack-dealing charges were intoxication and ignorance of what was in the clear plastic baggie that he exchanged for $200. More surprising than the notion that someone would actually try that defense was the outcome: it almost worked. Unfortunately for Gulley, after the first jury deadlocked, the second jury convicted him of the sole count of knowingly and intelligently distributing crack cocaine. The Conviction Object early, often, and with specificity...

The Second Circuit upheld the conviction of five former employees for Bernie Madoff this week. In a summary order issued Wednesday, the court rejected arguments challenging the sufficiency of the evidence against then and the behavior of federal prosecutors. The defendants were directors, portfolio managers, and computer programmers who had aided Madoff in the Ponzi scheme which landed Madoff a 150-year prison term and lost investors an estimated $17 billion dollars....

As an employer, knowing the Equal Pay Act of 1963 is essential to having a wage policy within the boundaries of the law. Celebrating its 50th anniversary this week, the Equal Pay Act prohibits wage discrimination based on gender. It applies both to public and private employers. Here are three reminders about the Equal Pay Act that every employer should keep in mind: 1. The EPA Prohibits Sex-Based Wage Discrimination. An EPA violation occurs when:...

FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the internet. While issues relating to Brexit and Boris Johnson becoming the Prime Minister of England have tended to dominate the news across the pond, not to be lost in the shuffle are reports that the European Union is in the process of creating a new law that would add further regulation of online content. The new law, titled the Digital Services Act, seeks to replace an older commerce directive from two decades ago with an updated and legally binding law....

The first Tuesday in November is election day. As the media focus has primarily been on the 2020 presidential election, you may not have thought a lot about this year’s election. However, many districts have something on the ballot this year, and this is your chance to vote on your state laws and local ballot initiatives. Here are five things you need to know when you head to the polls:...

Google Plus has gone to the graveyard of failed social media sites, a reminder that money can’t buy real friends. Friendster, MySpace, Vine, and a host of social media sites have come and gone, leaving the next generation to reflect on the question: why did they die so young? After all, history should teach us all a lesson. But successful social media is not really about friends, is it? For Google, the lesson is about survival of the fittest....

When someone dies, they may leave behind a few surprises, namely, who will inherit their estate. This happened when Dick Robinson, CEO of the children’s book publisher Scholastic, left control of the $1.2 billion company to Scholastic’s Chief Strategy Officer (also his girlfriend) instead of his children, siblings, and ex-wife, with whom he was on friendly terms. A person making the will, called a “testator,” identifies their beneficiaries and grants them specific gifts, such as money, real estate, or personal property....

Agatha Christie’s 1961 bestseller The Pale Horse centers around supposed witches who can kill from a distance. Spoiler alert: Rather than black magic, a nefarious group of ne’er-do-wells are in fact using thallium, a chemical element that was once used as a tasteless, odorless rat poisoning, to murder. The ingenious plan is foiled only through our plucky heroes, historian Mark Easterbrook and famed detective novelist Ariadne Oliver (who is based on Christie herself)....

It wasn’t funny when James Ross made a satirical Facebook post about shooting kindergarten students. It also wasn’t funny when Jackson police officers arrested him. He sued, and the U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals said he has a case. In Ross v. City of Jackson, the appeals court said the police should have known it was just a bad joke. “Shoot Up a Kindergarten” The problem started on Jan. 25, 2015 with a Facebook post showing various images below the title, “Why I need a gun....