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President Trump extended his travel ban to individuals from Chad, North Korea, and Venezuela, which prompted the U.S. Supreme Court to delay a decision on his previous travel order. With some modifications from the High Court, the prior executive order against six other nations is already in effect. And according to legal experts, the new order has a better chance of standing up in court. The justices were preparing to hear arguments on Oct....

When can a federal court overturn a state court conviction? In a per curiam decision, the U.S. Supreme Court has reinstated a conviction stemming from a 1995 murder, reversing the Third Circuit Court of Appeal’s decision on the matter. The high court held that it was for juries, and not judges, to decide whether to convict someone based on evidence presented at trial. The Third Circuit Court of Appeals granted habeas relief to inmate Lorenzo Johnson after his 1995 conviction in the shooting death of Taraja Williams....

The Supreme Court’s October 2015 Term, which ended this week, was not like many others. Sure, there were the high-profile, landmark cases, disputes over civil rights, affirmative action, abortion. But there were also events, inside and outside the Court, that sometimes seemed to overshadow the Supreme Court’s legal work. Here’s a quick look back at the controversies, and not the cases, that mattered most this term. It’s hard to overestimate Justice Scalia’s impact on the Supreme Court....

Bluetooth SIG Inc. v. US, No. 08-35312, involved an action seeking a refund of income tax, penalties, additions, and interest paid for 2000-2002 under 28 U.S.C. section 1346(a) and I.R.C. section 7422. The Ninth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for defendant, on the ground that plaintiff engaged in a business of the sort ordinarily engaged in for profit, and provided non-incidental services for particular members, and therefore was not entitled to the I....

A federal appeals court affirmed an injunction allowing a 17-year-old transgender student to use the boys’ bathroom at school. The U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals said Ashton Whitaker, who was born female, will likely prevail on his claim of sexual stereotyping against his school district. Whitaker said the district denied him access to the bathroom in violation of anti-discrimination laws. The Kenosha Unified School District said it was not sexual stereotyping to require a biological female to use the girls’ bathroom, but the appeals court disagreed in Whitaker v....

Sentence for being a felon in possession of a firearm is affirmed where: 1) the district court did not err in finding defendant qualified for sentencing under the Armed Career Criminal Act as his convictions for domestic assault under Missouri law constituted convictions for violent felonies; 2) the Eighth Amendment does not prohibit using an adult conviction based on juvenile conduct to increase a sentence under the Armed Career Criminal Act; and 3) the court did not violate the defendant’s right to a trial by jury under the Sixth Amendment as the question of whether a conviction qualifies as a predicate offense under the Act is a question of law for the court, not a jury....

In a conviction of defendant for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of an unregistered firearm, district court’s denial of defendant’s motion to suppress is affirmed as, district court did not err in finding that defendant’s then-girlfriend impliedly consented to the police entries into the home shared with the defendant. Read US v. Risner, No. 09-2627 Appellate Information Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, South Bend Division...

In a drug distribution prosecution, the denial of defendant’s motion for reduction of his sentence is affirmed where defendant was sentenced as a career offender, and was thus not eligible for a reduction of his prison sentence under Amendment 706 to the Sentencing Guidelines. Read US v. Wesson, No. 08-30177 Appellate Information Submitted October 19, 2009 Filed October 19, 2009 Judges Opinion by Judge Tallman Counsel For Appellant: Tracey A. Staab, Federal Defenders of Eastern Washington and Idaho, Spokane, WA...

Is an office holder’s personal Facebook page a public forum with implied guarantees of public access and free speech? On Feb. 25 a federal appeals court said no. Jeff Swanson, chairman of the Otero County Democratic Party in New Mexico, sued Couy Griffin, a county commissioner and co-founder of Cowboys for Trump, for blocking Swanson from his private Facebook page. Facebook indefinitely suspended Griffin’s account following his arrest in connection with the Jan....

While Americans are having a hard time agreeing on much these days, most everyone was pretty pleased with the multiple rounds of stimulus checks sent out during the COVID-19 pandemic. While many of us wanted — or needed — more to make ends meet during a time of such great economic upheaval, most were not upset to receive a check for $1,200 in the spring and another recent payment of $600....

It’s hard to say where YouTuber Steven Crowder is on the sexual-orientation, speech spectrum: conservative, right-wing, or homophobic? To video host Carlos Maza, who is gay, Crowder is a harasser. The two have been feuding online for a while, and YouTube was caught in the middle. Now the video platform has taken sides. YouTube says Crowder’s conservative commentary doesn’t violate its policies. ‘Strikethrough’ This Maza, who writes the Vox series “Strikethrough,” says he has a “pretty thick skin” when it comes to online harassment....

In the current economic climate, there have been many debt collection scams. Furthermore, the line between fair debt collection practices and unlawful ones has been blurred and many law firms and debt collection agencies find themselves running afoul of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. That’s what happened in this Third Circuit Court of Appeals case. The Kay Law Firm learned the hard way that fast cash isn’t always the best kind of cash....

District court’s dismissal of plaintiff’s lawsuit against defendant for injuries sustained in a collision is reversed and remanded as neither the injunction by the district court, nor the law, requires plaintiff to dismiss her state suit, as plaintiff can maintain her preexisting state claim so long as she stays the suit during the pendency of the Shipowner’s Limitation of Liability Act proceedings. The district court abused its discretion in ordering the plaintiff to dismiss her state suit as a sanction....

In an appeal from an order imposing sanctions on three attorneys and their law firms pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 11 and the mandatory sanctions provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, the order is affirmed to the extent that it imposed sanctions, where In re Pennie & Edmonds LLP, 323 F.3d 86 (2d Cir. 2003) (Pennie) did not require the district court to find subjective bad faith before imposing sanctions....

Last month, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals released a decision in Roger Fouche v. New Jersey Transit, an appeal involving a born-again Christian bus driver who wanted his Sundays off. Unfortunately for the bus driver, the New Jersey Transit Corporation fired him, citing that his request placed an undue burden on the company. The driver brought suit under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination....

A federal appeals court vacated a lawsuit by police officers who sued because their department ordered them to cover their tattoos. The U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals said the controversy was moot because the plaintiffs prevailed in a related arbitration, and the city rescinded its tattoo order. In Medici v. City of Chicago, the appeals court said there was nothing left to decide – even though the city had prevailed in the trial court....

Trademark attorneys, brief your intake clerks, and tell them to get ready for the flood of unpopular clients. In a unanimous 8-0 decision, the Supreme Court held that the disparagement clause of the Lanham Act violates the First Amendment. The disparagement clause required rejection of a trademark “which may disparage … persons, living or dead, institutions, beliefs, or national symbols, or bring them into contempt, or disrepute.” The case was brought by an Asian American music group named “The Slants” which had sought trademark protection for their controversial name....

After his last meal, Justice Antonin Scalia stood up to retire for the evening. “He stood up and said he was tired, he had had a long week and he would see us in the morning,” said John Poindexter, who discovered Scalia’s body the next morning two years ago. Newly released security documents show that story could have ended differently. Marshals, responsible for protecting Supreme Court justices, did not show up for hours after his death....

For over almost 50 years, we’ve been celebrating Earth Day every April 22. And while the general goal of events worldwide is the same – to honor our planet and the concept of peace – our understanding of environmental science and the legal framework we use to protect natural resources and our climate, has shifted dramatically over that time. So in honor of this year’s Earth Day, we thought we’d look at seven of the biggest legal cases from the past year that impacted or could impact environmental law and climate change....

Several federal laws criminalize behavior that aids the migration of undocumented immigrants into the U.S. For example, it is a crime to smuggle immigrants across the border or to conceal an undocumented immigrant. One such law, 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(1)(A)(iv), has been challenged as unconstitutional. It involves a provision that makes it a felony to: “encourage or induce an alien to come to, enter, or reside in the United States, knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that [it] will be in violation of law....