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The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously in favor of fashion designer Todd Oldham this week in Manhattan. Oldham was embroiled in a battle against Gap Inc. owned clothing store Old Navy over a breach of contract lawsuit. In reaching its decision, the Court of Appeals said that the Manhattan district court erred in dismissing two counts from Oldham’s complaint against the retailer. The lawsuit was based on Oldham’s dismissal as the creative director for Old Navy and the subsequent breach of a deal whereby the clothing retailer allegedly agreed to develop a clothing line named after Oldham, reports New York Post....

District court’s conviction of a defendant for being a felon in possession of a firearm is affirmed in part and reversed in part where: 1) the district court did not err in denying defendant’s motion to suppress a firearm found in the pocket of his jacket, considering the totality of the circumstances, and in determining that officer safety satisfied the exigent circumstances exception to the warrant requirement; 2) district court did not clearly err in denying defendant’s motion to suppress his confession as he was given his Miranda rights, he understood them, and he knowingly, intelligently and voluntarily waived those rights; and 3) district court’s determination denying defendant’s proposed jury instruction is reversed and remanded as the court’s failure to advise the jury that corroboration of the confession was necessary substantially impaired the defense....

Conviction for drug crimes is affirmed where the evidence was sufficient to support defendant’s drug conspiracy conviction, as the government presented evidence of defendant’s membership in the conspiracy that went far beyond mere presence and the jury made proper credibility determinations on the testimony of cooperating co-conspirators. Read US v. Alyass, No. 08-3976 Appellate InformationAppeal from the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska.Submitted: April 17, 2009Filed: July 6, 2009...

In the government’s appeal from a dismissal of defendants’ indictments for failing to register as sex offenders under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), dismissal of the indictments is reversed where: 1) SORNA’s registration requirement did not violate the Commerce Clause because requiring sex offenders to update their registrations due to intrastate changes of address or employment status was a perfectly logical way to help ensure that states would more effectively be able to track sex offenders when they crossed state lines; and 2) SORNA did not violate the non-delegation doctrine by delegating legislative authority to the Attorney General....

District court’s sentencing of a defendant convicted of possession of child pornography to one day of incarceration and a ten-year period of supervised release is affirmed as the government at sentencing put forward almost no evidence for why a sentence within the Guidelines was warranted and did not raise the argument it now raised on appeal, and the district court’s explanation for the extent of its downward variance was sufficient in light of the record made before it....

With the first confirmed positive tests of the coronavirus in the United States, public health officials are keeping a close watch on its progression. The virus, which broke out in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in mid-December, had infected thousands of people at a skyrocketing rate by the end of January, killing more than 100. Meanwhile, the virus has begun to appear in other countries. In the U.S., more than 100 patients in 26 states were being evaluated as of Jan....

Seems like a guy can’t get a break in this town. Alleged mob informant Shemtov Michtavi, sued the New York Daily News and the Polish Daily News for defamation and emotional distress after they printed that he planned to cooperate with prosecutors while behind bars serving 20 years for narcotics offenses. Being called the “key lieutenant” of Ze’ev Rosenstein, an organized crime figure, really didn’t bother the alleged mobster. Being called a snitch did....

Lost in last week’s flurry of major Supreme Court decisions was a case that on the surface seemed unremarkable: the Sixth Circuit was reversed in a habeas case. How many times have we typed those words? But, repetitive procedural path aside, White v. Woodall is actually quite the interesting case for those who work within the restrictive confines of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA). The all-too-familiar standard is that a federal court shouldn’t grant habeas relief unless there was an “unreasonable application” of clearly established federal law....

In addition to its ruling in Arizona v. United States, the Supreme Court issued its tenth summary reversal of the term yesterday in American Tradition Partnership v. Bullock. The case was a showdown between the Montana Supreme Court and the Nine on the merits of the Court’s 2010 Citizens United v. FEC ruling. Last December, the Montana Supreme Court held in a 5-2 decision that the state had a compelling interest in continuing to enforce its Corrupt Practices Act, a voter-approved measure that has limited corporate campaign expenditures since 1912....

The U.S. Supreme Court will not hear “bombshell” evidence that could have changed the direction of a high-profile dispute over the 2020 Census. The justices will decide whether census-takers can ask: “Is this person a citizen of the United States?” But they will not hear that former Trump administration officials allegedly lied about the reason for the question. The plaintiffs said the question was added to favor “Republicans and non-Hispanic whites,” and filed a motion for sanctions....

Lawyers have been talking about artificial intelligence taking their jobs, but now they are talking about leaving those jobs behind. According to a new survey, nearly one-fourth of attorneys are considering a career change for technology-related reasons. It’s a mash-up of concerns, and suggests that legal tech isn’t quite doing the job they expected. Many lawyers surveyed said their tech has not been designed with their law firms in mind. Either that, or it just doesn’t fit their needs....

In Woodridge, Illinois, it used to be that everyone who was arrested and then bailed out of jail had to pay a $30 fee. Jerry Markadonatos was arrested for misdemeanor shoplifting, arrested, booked, paid bail, and was released. Later, he pleaded guilty, served 12 months of probation, and then had the charges dismissed. This misdemeanor and the $30 booking fee, however, led to a big split on an en banc panel of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals....

Lead paint was officially banned in 1978, but continues to live on in millions of homes. It remains the single biggest contributor to lead poisoning in children, causing developmental delays, learning difficulties, deafness, and even seizures. Low-income neighborhoods are particularly rife with lead paint, almost 40 years later. “Lead paint is prevalent in Oakland homes and disproportionately impacts African-American, Hispanic, Asian and other communities of color and low-income communities,” according to Oakland City Attorney Barbara Parker....

With news of the Mueller report stoking lawmakers and the public into a frenzy over the potential impeachment vote and proceedings of President Donald Trump, a deluge of headlines is being made over Trump’s tweeted claim that if lawmakers try to impeach him, he’d head to the Supreme Court. The headlines and stories about Trump’s tweet mostly focus on the fact that the Supreme Court does not handle impeachment proceedings and couldn’t actually do anything to stop congress from proceeding....

A Pennsylvania-area Christian college was granted a temporary injunction in mid-June relieving the school of its obligation under federal law to provide students health insurance coverage for Plan B contraceptives. Geneva College’s counsel believes that Judge Joy Conti of Pennsylvania’s Western District granting a temporary stay is “the right thing” in preventing what he refers to as the “abortion pill mandate” from being implemented, reports Catholic News Agency. What pressing worries would prompt Judge Conti to make this ruling?...

A collection agency that sent a notice warning of possible legal action if the debt was not repaid did not violate federal law, according to U.S. District Court Judge Vincent Briccetti, who dismissed the case. The complaint was filed by a New York resident who was seeking class-action status. The issue was whether a letter implying that immediate legal action would ensue if the debtor did not respond to the creditor’s requests violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act....

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled this week that a district court improperly excluded evidence from a civil rights trial examining the effects of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s pink underwear policy on a mentally-ill suspect. Police in Maricopa County detained Eric Vogel while investigating a burglary in 2001. Vogel was arrested for assaulting a police officer in an ensuing struggle. At the Phoenix jail, which Arpaio runs, Vogel was diagnosed as disoriented, paranoid, and psychotic, and placed on psychiatric hold....

It’s Obamacare week at FindLaw in more ways than one. While on one hand we’re posting about the practical implications of the law, with the other we’re posting about constitutional challenges (yes, again) to the law. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. v. Sebelius You may remember that back in July, the Tenth Circuit ruled that Hobby Lobby, a for-profit, secular corporation, had Article III standing to bring claims under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (“RFRA”) and the First Amendment Free Exercise Clause....

Last Updated: December 12, 2022 It’s been a challenging year for many people, and rewarding employees for sticking it out may be appealing to many businesses. In addition, with the Great Resignation still in full swing, having a positive work culture can be a good way of retaining talent. So, how much fun can you have at an office holiday party? What can you do? The question isn’t rhetorical. While office parties can be a way to relax, get to know each other better, and interact with coworkers outside of an office setting, they can also cause nightmares for human resources professionals and business leaders....

On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to review the challenge a Muslim man has brought against the grooming policies at an Arkansas prison – a policy the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld as constitutional. The case will turn on the Court’s analysis of the Arkansas Department of Corrections’ purported security needs and the level of deference the Court shows the ADC. Gregory Houston Holt aka Abdul Maalik Muhammad, a 38-year-old Caucasian inmate at Varner Supermax, says his fundamentalist Muslim beliefs require that he grow a beard but contends the Arkansas Department of Corrections allows only trimmed mustaches....