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The number of child pornography appeals in the appellate courts is disturbing, and writing about the perpetrators was killing our soul, so we consciously decided to avoid the topic for a while. This Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversal of a child pornography conviction, however, warranted a lapse in our topic moratorium. Roger Loughry, known online as Mayorroger, was convicted of advertising, distributing, and conspiring to advertise and distribute “lascivious exhibition” child pornography through an online depository....

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the government on Friday in a case that questioned that constitutionality of federal and state laws restricting the purchase and transportation of handguns across state lines. Federal law prohibits anyone who is not a licensed importer, manufacturer, dealer, or collector to transport or receive in his home state a gun purchased or obtained outside of the state. New York resident Angel Decastro intentionally violated that law when he bought a pistol in Florida in 2005 and took it back to New York, reports Courthouse News....

The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals last week upheld a South Dakota informed consent law that requires an abortion provider to inform a pregnant patient about her “existing relationship” with an “unborn human being.” The case stems from a Planned Parenthood challenge to a 2005 South Dakota Public Health and Safety Code amendment expanding the requirements for informed consent to abortion. Under the law, a doctor must give a woman contemplating abortion oral advisories 24 hours before the procedure and written advisories at least 2 hours before the procedure....

Howley v. Mellon Fin. Corp., 08-1748, concerned a challenge to the district court’s grant of plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment, in plaintiff’s suit for benefits and for unlawful discrimination under ERISA, as well as several related state law claims, arising from denial of plaintiff’s claim for benefits under defendant’s Displacement Program. In affirming the judgment, the court held that, although the district court erred in applying a heightened standard of review and by considering the extra-record evidence that managers helped plan plaintiff’s termination prior to the sale of the company, it is nonetheless clear that defendant abused its discretion in denying plaintiff’s claim for benefits....

In a unanimous ruling, the Illinois State Supreme Court has found that a state law banning firearms within 1,000 feet of a park violates the Second Amendment. The ruling rested upon the concept that Second Amendment rights cannot simply be categorically restricted unless there are very good reasons. The law that came under question didn’t just ban firearms from within 1,000 feet of a park, but also schools, courthouses, public transit facilities, and public housing....

U.S. Senator from Texas and current presidential hopeful, Ted Cruz, was born in Canada. Normally, that wouldn’t matter much. Cruz’s Canadian roots haven’t made him politer, more boring, or any better at hockey. But, those roots might make it harder for him to become president, for the U.S. Constitution reserves the role of commander in chief for “natural born citizens.” Now, many legal academics are weighing in on whether Cruz’s birth in the nation to our north could keep him from leading the United States....

When I grow up, I wish for one thing (besides tons of money and someone to be my friend): I wish, nay, I pray that my name never ends up in the body of a court opinion. Seriously, how often is a lawyer’s name mentioned by a court in the opinion and it isn’t a massive screw-up? Courts never say, “Joe Smith is a brilliant advocate who presented admirable work.”...

In Marksmeier v. Davie, No. 09-3074, a section 1983 action claiming that defendant-officers arrested plaintiff for sexual assault without probable cause, the court affirmed summary judgment for defendants where 1) the district court did not err in concluding that plaintiff’s constitutional rights were not violated by his arrest as there was probable cause to believe that plaintiff had committed a violation of Nebraska law; 2) plaintiff failed to identify a deliberate choice of a guiding principle or procedure made by the municipal official who has final authority regarding such matters; and 3) the district court did not abuse its substantial discretion in granting a protective order....

The college admissions scandal, in which parents paid bribes to inflate entrance exam scores and gain phony athletics scholarships for their children, gave most Americans the opportunity to turn their collective nose up at some well-to-do folks getting caught trying to game the system even further in their favor. And then we got the chance to get mad again when actress Felicity Huffman received a two-week sentence for her role in the affair....

Much like meetings of the Knights of the Round Table or the Jedi Council, Ninth Circuit en banc hearings are a rare and special occurrence. Approximately 20 Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals cases receive en banc hearings each year; the court will hear 6 of those cases from June 19-21 at the Richard H. Chambers U.S. Courthouse in Pasadena, California. But even if you can’t make it to Pasadena, you may be able to catch a live telecast at a courthouse near you....

Church-affiliated hospitals are exempt from federal pension regulations, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled. The unanimous Court said Congress established the law favoring church-affiliated organizations decades ago, exempting them from regulations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. The Court rejected employees’ arguments to narrow the church plan exemption, saying it would have led to a “must be wrong” outcome. “We conclude that the hospitals have the better of the argument,” Justice Elena Kagan wrote in Advocate Health Care Network v....

You don’t have to look any further than most PR and marketing materials to see Uber’s impact on startup financing and the sharing economy. New companies are constantly touted as “The Uber of …” and analysts refer to any disruption of an industry as “Uberization.” Even when the ridesharing giant isn’t announcing further expansion into yet another state or country, it’s hard to take your eyes off Uber. But for the past two weeks, all of that media attention has been for all the wrong reasons....

The Supreme Court isn’t in a hurry to fill its docket for the 2013 Term. So far, the Court has only granted cert in 19 merit-based cases. While there are already some stand outs in the next term – like Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action –some of the recent rejects have drawn as much attention as the cases that have been granted. This week alone, the Court denied certiorari in three cases that would have made for interesting arguments....

In an action seeking unpaid overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act, summary judgment for plaintiff is affirmed where: 1) plaintiff, a Product Design Specialist, was outside the “professional exemption” to the FLSA’s overtime requirements and 2) defendant’s violation of the FLSA was willful. Read Young v. Cooper Cameron Corp., No. 08-5847 Appellate Information Argued: September 9, 2009 Decided: November 12, 2009 Judges Opinion by Judge Jacobs Counsel For Appellant:...

The Tenth Circuit handed down a ten-year prison term earlier this month, despite an original sentence of only probation. Defendant David Huffman originally pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(4)(B). The maximum sentence for such an offense is ten years, but the court instead decided to sentence Huffman to a 5-year term of probation. Then, he violated this probation within eighteen months. Huffman appealed this sentence, claiming it was substantively unreasonable....

December 24th marks not just Christmas Eve this year but, thanks to a rare calendrical convergence, the first night of Hanukkah. That should make your Supreme Court holiday shopping a bit easier, split as the Court is between five Catholic and three Jewish justices. Of course, you probably don’t have to buy any of the justices a holiday sweater or celebratory jabot. But if you were to, we have some ideas....

While everyone agrees that the opioid crisis is causing significant harm to individuals, families, and communities across the nation, people disagree on the right response to reducing drug dependence. So far, unfortunately, little progress is being made. Over a hundred people die from a drug overdose every day. Countless more suffer job loss, broken relationships, and negative health consequences from opioid use. Taking a novel approach to the opioid crisis, Safehouse, a nonprofit corporation in Pennsylvania, attempted to create America’s first safe-injection site in Philadelphia....

One week out from the bar exam, those just returning from their post-exam vacations might find themselves wondering, “Now what?” Many people, including the family and friends of those who take the bar exam, don’t realize that there are literally months of waiting between sitting for the test and getting the results. After all the studying, and the practice exams, and the stress, there’s nothing to do now but wait....

In a recent case in the Sixth Circuit, the court upheld a lower district’s decision to deny a motion to suppress evidence. The case, United States v. Binford, underscored the distinction between an arrest and a detention. In brief terms, a Law Enforcement Officer’s (LEO’s) “brief and cursory” holding and questioning of someone is a detention, but is not an arrest. Typical examples include LEOs stopping people on the street to ask about recently transpired criminal activity nearby....

Schools today are turning to software applications for help with everything from grading and tracking homework to managing behavior and class scheduling. And now apps are even available to manage hall passes. The app e-Hallpass records each student’s whereabouts throughout the school day, including trips taken to the bathroom, principal’s office, or the health office. The app not only helps teachers to keep track of students, it also allows administrators to look back at where students were at a given time or spot patterns that could suggest an issue....