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The Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA) was passed in 2018 to hold accountable websites that foster sex trafficking. Several high-profile “matching" sites that relied on user submissions, including the now-defunct backpage.com, were accused of promoting sex trafficking involving minors. While federal law typically protects website hosts from being held liable for content provided by third parties, FOSTA specifically made it a criminal act to host an “interactive computer service … with the intent to promote or facilitate the prostitution of another person....

In an appeal from the district court’s order affirming a bankruptcy court’s order applying section 502(d) of the Bankruptcy Code to disallow a request for payment of administrative expenses until debtor’s predecessor in interest returned a preferential transfer, the order is vacated where section 502(d) does not bar allowance of administrative expenses within the scope of section 503(b). Read In re: Ames Dept. Stores, Inc., No. 07-1362 Appellate Information Argued: August 29, 2008...

District court’s grant of summary judgment for plaintiff is reversed where the court erred in holding the mortgage was invalid under state law because both spouses did not sign it, as: 1) plaintiffs are estopped from claiming invalid mortgage since the nonsigning spouse knew of and intended to mortgage the homestead; 2) she retained benefits; and 3) the bank significantly changed its position in reliance on validity of mortgage. Read Karnitz v....

“The times they are a-changin’,” according to Bob Dylan and a Maryland Court of Appeals. Whereas officers in the state could once search and arrest someone based on the odor of “fresh burnt” marijuana, they no longer have that luxury now that small amounts of weed have been decriminalized in Maryland. “It is by now well known that the laws in Maryland and elsewhere addressing the possession and use of marijuana have changed,” the court noted....

In an action claiming that Plaintiff suffered injuries by using Defendant’s weight loss drug, the dismissal of the action is affirmed where: 1) the claim was barred by Tennessee’s statute of repose, which requires that an action be brought within one year after the expiration of the anticipated life of the product; and 2) a class-action settlement concerning the drug did not preclude her from bringing her claim. Read Montgomery v....

Fox Searchlight has much to be thankful for right about now, with the Second Circuit granting its motions to appeal both the class certification, and the district judge’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the interns, reports The Hollywood Reporter. Two cases, starting in the Southern District of New York, involving questions of whether interns should actually be considered employees are making their way up the appellate ladder – and companies all over the country are watching closely....

What happens in Vegas certainly will not stay in Vegas when the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals hears oral arguments Monday, March 19, 2012 at the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) Boyd School of Law. The Ninth Circuit will hear arguments in the school’s Thomas & Mack Moot Courtroom beginning at 10 a.m. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will consider three appeals during the hearing: United States v. Rizzolo....

The Supreme Court will kick off its April sitting on April 16, considering a circuit split in Christopher v. SmithKline Beecham Corp. The case addresses whether a pharmaceutical sales representative (PSR) is an “outside salesperson,” and thus exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime pay requirements. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals previously ruled that PSRs are exempt from overtime pay. In its In re Novartis Wage & Hour Litigation decision, the Second Circuit ruled that PSRs should get overtime wages....

Defendant’s wire fraud sentence and restitution order are affirmed where: 1) defendant did not present evidence to bring the reliability of the government witnesses’ conservative estimates regarding the loss caused by defendant or the district court’s findings into doubt; and 2) the Sentencing Guidelines did not require a civil settlement amount to be credited against the loss figure for the purposes of calculating the sentencing range. Read US v. Masek, No....

Bernie Madoff just won’t stop popping up everywhere. As you’ll recall, the disgraced investor was sentenced to 150 years in prison for defrauding clients out of about $18 billion in a Ponzi scheme that lasted almost 20 years. What remained of Madoff’s company was placed under the control of a trustee, Jean Luc Irving H. Picard. Picard’s job is to recover as much as he can, however he can, and attempt to compensate investors who lost money....

The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has made several announcements in the past month, so we thought we’d give you an update on new job openings at 40 Centre Street. Pro Bono Panel The Criminal Justice Act/Pro Bono Committee is seeking new members for the Second Circuit Pro Bono Panel. The purpose of the panel is to provide representation to litigants that are ineligible to have counsel appointed under the Criminal Justice Act, and who are unable to pay for legal representation....

Does the attorney work product privilege protect communications between Justice Department lawyers who are assigned to provide legal assistance to federal agencies that have conflicting interests? The Seventh Circuit ruled this week that communications in such situations can be privileged. But since the purpose of the privilege is to hide internal litigation preparations from adverse parties, disclosing work product to an adverse party means forfeiting the privilege. Menasha Corporation claims that reasoning should apply to communications between enforcement division and defense division attorneys within the Justice Department....

The California State Bar discovered some 2,200 records of lawyers’ criminal convictions – and those were the convictions the agency didn’t know about. The State Bar has more than 6,000 criminal histories on its lawyers, but the new records came up during a re-fingerprinting requirement. The bar has asked all lawyers to submit new fingerprints by April 30, 2019. So what does it all mean? Either criminal lawyer is a redundancy – or the State Bar records are out-of-date....

Earlier this month, the Seventh Circuit had the opportunity to address a First Amendment free speech case regarding public protest, reports Courthouse News Service. Eric Smith planned a protest of the United Nations’ proposed Arms Trade Treaty at the Soldiers and Sailors Monument Circle in Indianapolis, Indiana. Though he publicized the event, only he and his son showed up. The two set up five signs on the ground to promote the protest....

A Redondo Beach ordinance is heading back to court as the city challenges the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling in the case. In the late ’80s, Redondo Beach adopted local ordinances to prohibit workers from soliciting employment from occupants of motor vehicles, and to penalize motor vehicles from hiring or attempting to hire workers on the city’s streets and highways. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the ordinance in September, finding that day laborers have a First Amendment right to solicit work along California roadsides and that the ordinance was geographically over-inclusive....

The Second Circuit had a case of déjà vu last week when it had to reiterate its legal findings regarding whether a New York City Police Department’s (“NYPD”) policy violated the Fourth Amendment rights of New York City police officers. Not surprisingly, the Second Circuit agreed with its prior ruling. After a controversial officer-involved, fatal shooting of Sean Bell in 2006, the NYPD adopted Interim Order 52 (“IO-52”) which required any on-duty, or off-duty, officer to submit to a breathalyzer test if he discharged his firearm, in New York City, and the discharge resulted in injury or death....

Fighting a life sentence for murder, Frederick Laux wanted his lawyer to throw in everything for his defense. His lawyer chose not to talk about his childhood, but that didn’t matter to the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Laux v. Zatecky. The appellate court affirmed that the defendant’s trial counsel did not act unreasonably, and that the sentence was proper given that the defendant broke into his ex-wife’s home, and beat her with a crowbar, killing her....

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights recently announced investigations into bans on mask mandates in six states, specifically examining how these bans impact students with disabilities. On August 30, the OCR sent letters to chief state school officers in Iowa, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Utah, alerting them of the investigations. Notably missing from the list are Texas and Arkansas, which have enacted similar laws or executive orders but are not currently enforcing them due to court orders....

Ferrans v. Holder, 09-3596, concerned a Colombian citizen’s petition for review of a decision of the BIA finding him ineligible for relief from removal. In denying the petition, the court held that the explicit reference to section 1324a in section 1227(a)(3)(D) makes it clear that private employment is a “purpose or benefit” under the Immigration and Nationality Act, and as such, a false representation of citizenship by an alien for the purpose of obtaining private employment is a “purpose or benefit” under the Act, done, at the very least, for the “purpose” of evading section 1324a’s provisions....

Fitzgerald Scott is suing the federal government for judging his sartorial choices. In January, Scott was sporting a jacket with the slogan “Occupy Everywhere” while looking at exhibitions in the U.S. Supreme Court’s museum corridor. Scott claims that police officers asked him to remove the jacket, and told him that the jacket was “a sign, a demonstration” that he could not wear inside the court without being arrested for unlawful entry, Thomson Reuters News and Insight reports....