The key word in the headline above is “knowingly.” As you may know by now, COVID-19 is a sneaky virus and you can be unaware that you’re carrying it. And even though you may not feel sick, you can infect someone with it without knowing it. That’s why everyone is stuck indoors now. But what if you know you’ve got it and you infect someone else? You’re probably in legal trouble....
After the company Instant Tax Service was discovered engaging in a litany of deceptive and unlawful practices, the IRS had them shut down. ITS appealed, claiming it was a franchisor and not directly involved in the preparation of returns like its franchisees, and therefore couldn’t be shut down. In this unpublished, but nevertheless interesting, opinion from the Sixth Circuit, the court said that shutting ITS down was definitely within the district court’s power....
The facts of Rodrigo Macias-Farias’ case read like a comedy of errors. Agents from the Drug Enforcement Agency stopped a semi-trailer full of 1,600 pounds of marijuana and surveilled it as it was dropped off. Despite continuing surveillance, the drugs were somehow smuggled off of the truck anyway. Lacefield later tipped the DEA about another shipment. This time, because the truck got stuck in a ditch, the DEA agents were able to catch up to the parties, arrest Macias-Farias, and search the truck, finding 3,766 pounds of marijuana....
In an ERISA action claiming that defendant benefit plan administrator (Wal-Mart) failed adequately to evaluate the investment options included in the plan, dismissal of the complaint is reversed where: 1) the district court erred by conflating the issue of plaintiff’s Article III standing with his potential personal causes of action under ERISA; and 2) the district court erred by ignoring reasonable inferences supported by the facts alleged and drawing inferences in defendants’ favor, faulting plaintiff for failing to plead facts tending to contradict those inferences....
Last year, the Sixth Circuit surpassed the Ninth Circuit as the most-reversed federal appellate court, according to the ABA Journal. This term, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals is looking like a real contender for the most mistaken crown. Last month, the Supreme Court reversed the Philadelphia-based appellate court in Millbrook v. U.S. and Comcast Corp et al v. Behrend. This week, it added two more cases to that list: US Airways v....
In plaintiff-administratrix’s case against the officers for the deadly shooting of a fifteen year-old in his bedroom while executing a search warrant of his home, district court’s denial of officers’ motion for summary judgment based on qualified immunity is reversed and remanded as the record supports the conclusion that the material facts are not genuinely disputed and, as a matter of law, officers’ split-second decision to use deadly force in self-defense was not shown to have been objectively unreasonable....
Your civil rights may seem like just a concept until they’re put to the test. Perhaps the most common situation in which Americans reach for their rights is during a traffic stop. But what exactly are your civil rights during a traffic stop? Consider this a civil rights cheat sheet of sorts. Here are five things you should remember about your civil rights during a traffic stop: 1. You Do Not Have to Consent to a Search....
In an action claiming that certain state fair-lending laws were preempted by the National Bank Act (NBA) and accompanying regulations, an injunction in favor of Plaintiffs is affirmed in part, where the state’s threatened issuance of executive subpoenas was an improper exercise of “supervisory power”. However, the judgment is reversed in part where a federal regulation purporting to pre-empt state law enforcement is not a reasonable interpretation of the NBA....
This morning, lawyers across the globe woke up to a twilight zone of sorts. Microsoft Word has stopped allowing the copy/cut and paste function in their latest automatic update of Microsoft Word which pushed last night. Legal secretaries, paralegals, IT professionals and those lawyers that have to draft their own pleadings are scrambling to find a solution as Microsoft has announced that a patch cannot be released until next week, and cannot be rolled back to the previous update....
When does a prank go too far? If you don a “Scream" mask (the one used in the 1996’s movie Scream) to scare people, it may be harmless. But what if you do it to toddlers? That is a different story. This actually happened at the Li’l Blessings Child Care & Learning Center in Hamilton, Mississippi. Five day care workers dressed up in the masks as part of a “prank." The would-be “pranksters” chased and shouted at the children....
The Illinois Supreme Court ruled part of the state’s gun laws unconstitutional on Thursday, following the lead of the Seventh Circuit’s 2012 decision. The Chicago Tribune reports that Illinois’ High Court ruled that prosecutors must abide by the Seventh Circuit’s decision and stop prosecuting any cases in which defendants were charged for merely carrying a weapon in public. This may only affect a small number of cases, but Illinois gun owners are now a bit more certain of their rights....
Judgment of the bankruptcy court and the district court that subject matter jurisdiction does not exist to expand the section 105(a) injunction to include the Montana actions, in a case involving asbestos litigation against a mining company who had sought Chapter 11 protection and against the State of Montana is affirmed as, federal bankruptcy court does not have related-to-jurisdiction over a third-party lawsuit if that lawsuit would affect the bankruptcy proceeding only through the intervention of yet another lawsuit....
In the saga that is Elon Musk’s use of Twitter, the Tesla CEO is now facing contempt of court in a New York federal district court for his social media boasting which violated his prior settlement agreement with the SEC to not Tweet anything material without approval of Tesla counsel. In short, last month, Musk tweeted out that his company was going to make “around 500K” cars in 2019. Unfortunately for Musk, information like that is material, particularly for shareholders and prospective stock purchasers, given that the real numbers were about 100K lower, which translates to billions of dollars in revenue....
Tax law compliance is typically one of the most difficult aspects of owning a business. Many mistakes are simple errors made in good faith and not deliberate attempts to skirt federal, state, or local tax laws. A new law, however, will provide additional federal protection for whistleblowers when a business owner is not making a simple error in regard to paying their taxes. Taxpayer First Act Under the new law, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration will now investigate complaints of retaliation against employees who report:...
The U.S. Constitution guarantees the right to carry a gun openly in public, a federal appeals court ruled. In Young v. State of Hawaii, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals joined five other federal circuit courts that have said the Second Amendment protects the right to carry a gun publicly for self-defense. The appeals court did not rule on concealed weapons. With an increase in mass shootings, the rights of gun owners are more hotly debated than ever....
In a petition for review of the BIA’s denial of Petitioner’s motion to terminate removal proceedings against him, the petition is dismissed for lack of jurisdiction where Section 101(a)(43)(R) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) necessarily covers a range of activities beyond those of counterfeiting or forgery itself. Read Nwagbo v. Holder, No. 08-2292 Appellate Information Argued: June 10, 2009 Decided and Filed: June 30, 2009 Judges Opinion by Judge Kethledge...
In a habeas petition challenging an order extraditing plaintiff to Bosnia, denial of the petition is reversed where the relevant arrest warrant was issued by a court that neither had jurisdiction over the matter nor authority to enforce the warrant, and thus the requirement of the Treaty for Mutual Extradition of Fugitives from Justice between the U.S. and Bosnia that an individual be “charged” with an extraditable offense had not been satisfied....
In a petition for review of the BIA’s order denying petitioner’s application for asylum, the petition is denied where the BIA adequately considered petitioner’s claim that there was a pattern or practice of persecution of ethnic Chinese and Catholics in Indonesia, and its finding that no such pattern or practice existed was supported by substantial evidence. Read Santoso v. Holder, No. 07-4713 Appellate Information Argued: September 2, 2009 Decided: September 14, 2009...
Further driving a divide in a circuit split, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals joined the Seventh Circuit in finding that Title VII does in fact protect employees on the basis of sexual orientation. Sadly, the case involves a deceased skydiving instructor who was fired after a customer complained that the instructor was gay. The estate of the deceased kept the case alive even after the plaintiff died in a subsequent skydiving accident....
This November, San Francisco could become the first major city in the U.S. to lower the voting age for municipal elections to 16. The question is on the ballot there for the second time. Four years ago, the measure fell short with 48% approval, but this time its backers are optimistic that it will pass. If it does, could this be a sign of things to come for the nation? The mostly Generation Z (people born between 1996 and 2010) supporters of giving the vote to 16- and 17-year-olds think it may be....
