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One of the great legal wars of our time – comedic actor and prank auteur Sacha Baron Cohen against former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice, sometime Senate candidate, and accused sexual-assaulter Roy Moore – just completed its first tête-à-tête battle, and round one went to Cohen. Moore failed in his bid to keep his defamation claim against Cohen (based on a skit featuring a “pedophile detector” that activated when waved near the former judge) in the district court in Washington, D....

With some exceptions, transgender people may not serve in the United States military. That is the effect of two rulings in Trump v. Karnoski and Trump v. Stockman. A divided U.S. Supreme Court lifted orders from federal judges who had imposed nationwide injunctions on President Trump’s ban on transgender people in the military. In 2017, Trump restricted people from the military who had changed their gender or who seek to change it....

As another year comes to an end, we tend to indulge in introspective moments. We analyze our successes and failures, make resolutions anew, and inevitably end up humming David Bowie’s Changes. (As you may recall, some of us around here love David Bowie.) And handily enough, ch-ch-ch-ch-changes are coming to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals starting January 3, 2012. The Second Circuit will begin using Pay.gov to accept electronic payment from attorneys for various fees that are charged and collected by the court....

In a petition for review of an NLRB order finding that petitioner-union committed an unfair labor practice by failing to give ten days’ notice before beginning a concerted refusal to work under Section 8(g) of the National Labor Relations Act, the petition is denied where an individual’s exercise of the right to decline particular overtime work is not the same as a collective refusal to do any overtime work. Read SEIU, United Healthcare-Wkrs....

In US v. Jimenez, No. 08-6435, the Sixth Circuit faced a challenge to the district court’s imposition of a 30 month sentence upon a defendant convicted of illegally re-entering the U.S. from Mexico after having previously been deported following an aggravated felony conviction, claiming that her sentence was miscalculated because the district court relied on findings not supported by sufficient evidence. In affirming the sentence, the court held that the district court did not commit procedural error by relying on evidence of prior convictions in assessing criminal history points....

It looks like the A’s have it. Last Friday, the Supreme Court released its order list and two cases originating in the Second Circuit were granted certiorari, and big players in each case start with – you guessed it, the letter A. American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. v. Aereo, Inc. Aereo is in the business of transmitting broadcast television programming to mobile devices, without a license – sometimes while the program is airing on television....

Denial of Motion to Intervene Reversed In The Wilderness Society v. US Forest Serv., No. 09-35200, an appeal from the denial of a motion to intervene, the court reversed where, when construing motions to intervene of right under Fed. R. Civ. P. 24(a)(2), courts need no longer apply a categorical prohibition on intervention on the merits, or liability phase, of National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) actions, and to determine whether a putative intervenor demonstrates the “significantly protectable” interest necessary for intervention of right in a NEPA action, the operative inquiry should be, as in all cases, whether “the interest is protectable under some law,” and whether “there is a relationship between the legally protected interest and the claims at issue....

Defendant’s conviction and sentence for contempt of court due to his assertion of the Fifth Amendment and refusal to testify in a criminal trial against his cousins are affirmed where: 1) defendant failed to establish a threat of future prosecution; and 2) a witness may not assert the Fifth Amendment privilege when his fear of perjury arises out of his current refusal to testify truthfully and thus risk committing perjury at the present proceeding....

Defendant’s tax fraud conviction is affirmed where the disqualification of defendant’s counsel did not violate his right to counsel under the Sixth Amendment because the district court reasonably assessed the problems that could arise from counsel’s continued representation of defendant. Read US v. Evanson, No. 08-4164 Appellate Information Filed October 19, 2009 Judges Opinion by Judge Hartz Counsel For Appellant: Rodney R. Parker, Max D. Wheeler and Sam Harkness, Snow, Christensen & Martineau, Salt Lake City, UT...

Sentence of 108 months’ imprisonment for being a felon in possession of a firearm, more than double the top of the Guidelines’ range, is vacated and remanded as the sentence appears to be chosen arbitrarily, and although the Guidelines are no longer binding, a judge still must start by using the Guidelines to provide a benchmark that curtails unwarranted disparities. Read US v. Kirkpatrick, No. 09-2382 Appellate Information Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois...

Two University of Denver constitutional law professors have initiated two challenges to ag gag laws: one in Utah federal court, the other in Idaho. Ag Gag Laws What’s an “ag gag” you ask? If you ask someone in the industry, they’ll say that they are “agriculture protection laws.” If you ask an animal rights activist, they’ll say that the laws are “prohibitions [that] are deliberately designed to silence or “gag” anyone attempting to collect evidence,” says Food Safety News....

When you write a last will and testament, you name someone to handle your estate after you pass. That person is called a “personal representative” or “executor.” People often struggle over who to choose for what can be an enormous responsibility and thankless task. Here are some of the most common questions that people have about them. What Does a Personal Representative Do? The main job of your personal representative is to carry out the instructions in your will....

A disgruntled military member begins planning large-scale, violent attacks in the U.S., including bombing American news agencies and targeting politicians. He seeks out fellow “radicals” at home, and plans travel abroad to train with, fight for, and learn bomb-making from extremist groups. He described, in detail, how a vehicle bomb would work, saying, “30 minutes later, BOOM.” U.S. Army soldier Jarrett William Smith was arrested this week and charged with distributing information relating to weapons of mass destruction....

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order on Tuesday to reinstate Nevada’s “none of these candidates” ballot option, The Associated Press reports. Barring Supreme Court action, Nevada voters will be able to vote for none of the above in November. The “none of these candidates” option was introduced to Nevada in 1978. While state law says “none” can’t win - even if it receives the most votes - opponents feared that it could siphon votes from other candidates and influence the election outcome, Fox News reports....

The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Arizona laws against out-of-precinct voting and submitting ballots on behalf of others. It was a setback for the Democratic National Committee, which argued the laws unfairly impacted minority voters. A divided appeals panel, however, said the laws imposed “only a minimal burden on voters.” It was much worse than that, said the dissent in The Democratic National Committee v. Reagan. The lone appellate judge said the only purpose of the laws was to discriminate against minorities....

In a 42 U.S.C. section 1983 action alleging a wrongful arrest, dismissal of plaintiff’s claims on qualified immunity grounds is affirmed where the exigent circumstances exception to the warrant requirement applied because there was a danger that evidence would be imminently destroyed. Read Brooks v. Rothe, No. 08-1099 Appellate Information Argued: June 17, 2009 Decided and Filed: August 21, 2009 Judges Opinion by Judge Gilman Dissent by Judge Moore Counsel...

2016 was not a typical year for the Supreme Court. The passing of Justice Antonin Scalia early in the year upended normal Supreme Court practice, as his vacated seat became part of an unprecedented struggle over naming a replacement justice, leaving the Court short-staffed and deadlock-prone. The fact that Justice Thomas spoke from the bench shortly after Justice Scalia’s death was just another sign that the world had been turned upside down....

In Johnson v. US, No. 08-1777, the Seventh Circuit faced a challenge to the district court’s denial of defendant’s motion to vacate his life sentence for his conviction of possession with intent to distribute at least 50 grams of crack cocaine. District court’s decision is vacated and remanded as defendant established a genuine issue of material fact as to whether his trial counsel’s performance was deficient in deciding not to pursue the Fourth Amendment challenge in a motion to suppress, which was based upon a misunderstanding of the applicable law and not based on a reasonable trial strategy....

In plaintiff’s class-action lawsuit, individually and in his official capacity as a sheriff, on behalf of all public employers who sponsor deferred compensation plans, claiming breach of fiduciary duty and unjust enrichment by defendant-insurance company, district court’s dismissal of the action is affirmed as the proposed class action does not fit within the narrow state-actions exception to the Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act of 1998 because it is not brought on behalf of named plaintiffs who have authorized participation in the action....

Some legal questions are easy to answer, even for judges in a politically charged case. For example, it took the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals just hours to answer a key question In Re. United States Department of Commerce. If they didn’t have to write their opinion, they could have ruled from the bench. They said a Justice Department official must testify in the case. The hard questions come later at his deposition....