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Mexican-born actress Fernanda Romero is learning the real meaning of marriage. Romero was married to Kent Ross in June 2005 – a marriage that is now on trial to determine whether fraud and foul play is involved, according to CNN. Better than any soap opera Romero has appeared in, the actress was “turned-in” by a photographer ex-boyfriend that claims Romero told him about the deal with Ross, specifically that she paid her husband $5,000 to marry her in order to accelerate her immigration status....

District court judgment denying a petition for habeas corpus relief is affirmed where the state court’s rejection of plaintiff’s ineffective assistance of counsel argument was not contrary to or an unreasonable application of federal law. Read Brown v. Green, No. 07-5383 Appellate InformationAppeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Argued: March 25, 2009 Decided: August 11, 2009 JudgesBefore FEINBERG, STRAUB, and RAGGI, Circuit Judges....

Suing state and federal government officials and employees is not always possible. When it is, it’s more difficult than most people expect. There are several barriers to overcome to get justice from the government, even for government employees. Cases often involve: Civil rights case against a law enforcement officer for excessive force Postal carrier car accident Personal injury cases from parking lots, buildings, or accidents Mistreatment or bias from a government agency Property damage from federal agency employee Sovereign Immunity for Federal and State Government and Government Officials One of the biggest hurdles to getting justice from the federal, state, or local government, or an employee, or official, is the legal doctrine of “sovereign immunity....

If you’ve eaten in a restaurant or ordered food for delivery or pickup lately, you may have noticed an additional charge on the bottom of your bill. As restaurants and other small businesses began reopening their doors, some began adding a COVID-19 surcharge to customers’ bills. The surcharges take various forms; some restaurants add 4 or 5 percent to the bill and some, like Dan’s Subs in Woodland Hills, California, add a flat additional amount....

Despite the roll out of those annoying little chips in credit cards and businesses utilizing chip-readers for debit and credit card purchases, FICO has reported that debit card fraud rose by 10 percent in 2017. The data shows that the thieves are getting better at stealing credit card numbers, including those tied to debit cards. The data is downright scary. For consumers, having a credit card number compromised is one thing, but a debit card number theft can cause serious havoc in a person’s life....

The U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeal didn’t take long to take another look at its recent decision against prayer at a county commission meeting. The entire court, acting sua sponte, ordered another hearing on the issue less than two weeks after a panel ruled in the controversial case. In a split decision, the panel had said that Jackson County commissioners violated the First Amendment in conducting prayers before each meeting....

The Anna Nicole Smith trial has finally come to an end. Earlier this week, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the heirs of deceased model Anna Nicole Smith, reports the New York Times. The former Playboy Playmate had been involved in estate litigation well before her untimely death. She was married to oil tycoon Howard Marshall II and was tangled up in a bitter battle over his estate for several years....

In a 42 U.S.C. section 1983 action alleging an unlawful detention and interrogation during an investigation, judgment for defendants is affirmed where any error in submitting the question of objective reasonableness to the jury was harmless because the jury’s other answers on the verdict form indicated a total defense verdict. Read Gonzales v. Duran, No. 08-2184 Appellate Information Filed December 22, 2009 Judges Opinion by Judge Kelly Counsel For Appellants:...

Google Books is quickly becoming the Library of Alexandria for the digital age, a vast collection of the world’s written knowledge. There’s no need to fly to Egypt to check it out, however. Google Books are available free, online, making Google the world’s most accessible librarian. But, as Google endeavors to make all written matter free, who will look out for the Dan Browns and E.L. Jameses of the world? The starving poets and struggling playwrights?...

US v. Figueroa, 09-3333, concerned a challenge to a conviction of defendant for one count of conspiracy to possess cocaine with the intent to distribute and one count of distribution of cocaine arising from charges for leading a multimillion-dollar drug conspiracy, and a 235-month sentence. Because the evidence found during search of defendant’s home was properly admitted, defendant’s conviction is affirmed. However, although the evidence was sufficient to establish the drug quantity and the original guidelines calculation, defendant’s sentence is vacated and remanded as the district court’s comments during the sentencing hearing were utterly out of bounds and there is no way of assessing how the improper observations affected the district court’s final choice of a sentence....

In an action alleging that defendant drug manufacturers conspired to maintain a monopoly in the market for desmopressin acetate tablets, dismissal of the complaint is reversed where: 1) plaintiffs’ antitrust claim could stand on the citizen petition theory without raising questions of patent law; 2) plaintiffs had standing to raise Walker Process claims for patents that were already unenforceable due to inequitable conduct; and 3) plaintiffs sufficiently pled scienter on the part of defendants....

Most of us look forward to retirement as a time to rest, relax and enjoy the fruits of our long years of hard work. For U.S. Senior District Judge Wesley Brown and Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Joseph Woodrough, retirement was never a word in their vocabulary. Brown recently surpassed Woodrough as the nation’s longest and oldest sitting federal judge, dying at the age of 104 on Monday. Woodrough also died at the age of 104, shortly after his birthday....

March is the best time to be a basketball fan. It is, perhaps, the worst time to be a basketball referee. At least if you make a controversial call or two, and the team those calls go against is the Kentucky Wildcats men’s basketball team. Kentucky fans are a little intense. And they expect nothing less than a high seed in the NCAA tournament and a deep run. Losing to North Carolina by one point in the Elite Eight is not only unacceptable, it means that clearly something strange happened....

In an action against the Bureau of Land Management seeking a preliminary injunction against a timber sale, a grant of attorney’s fees to plaintiff is reversed where plaintiff was not a prevailing party within the meaning of the Equal Access to Justice Act because, before judgment, the Bureau withdrew its challenged decision. Read Klamath Siskiyou Wildlands Ctr. v. US Bureau of Land Mgmt., No. 08-35463 Appellate Information Argued and Submitted June 1, 2009...

Weed is legal in Colorado, and has been for quite a while. And it turns out Denver may be loosening the legal reins on another psychotropic substance: psilocybin mushrooms. Tomorrow, city residents will vote on whether to make adult possession and use of psilocybin mushrooms “the lowest law enforcement priority in Denver and prohibiting the city from spending resources on enforcing related penalties.” But does that mean shrooms will now be legal in Denver?...

In a mere-five page decision, Judge Easterbrook told a brother and sister that their case of sibling rivalry over parenting was simply not a federal case (pun completely intended, you’re welcome). No, this case doesn’t provide us with ground-breaking legal precedent. But, when Judge Easterbrook reprimands everyone in the courtroom it makes for very entertaining reading. Claudia Broom, guidance counselor at a high school, allegedly told her brother’s children, students at the school, that he was “bad at being a father....

Dismissal of a Former Deputy Sheriff’s Section 1983 Suit Against the City, County, & Others Affirmed Palka v. Shelton, 08-4245, concerned a challenge to the district court’s grant of defendants’ motion to dismiss with prejudice In a former deputy sheriff’s section 1983 suit against Cook County, the City of Chicago, a sheriff, and other individuals, claiming that defendants violated his procedural and substantive due process rights prior to his suspension and resignation, and deprived him of his interest in “occupational liberty....

US v. Carradine, 08-3220, concerned a challenge to a defendant’s conviction and sentence for being a felon in possession of a firearm with intent to distribute. In affirming, the court held that the district court did not abuse its discretion by denying his motion for self-representation. The court also held that defendant cannot demonstrate that the district court committed plain error by proceeding with sentencing rather than providing him more time to review a report, and that the district court did not commit plain error by ordering that defendant pay the costs of impaneling the jury....

Action to Enjoin Rock Quarry Ordinance In Rogers Group, Inc. v. Fayetteville, No. 09-3915, an action seeking to prevent the enforcement of a city’s ordinance regulating rock quarries in or near the city’s corporate limits, the court affirmed a preliminary injunction in favor of plaintiffs where 1) the city’s statutory authority extended one mile beyond its corporate limits but only to abate a nuisance, and the quarry was not a nuisance per se under Arkansas law; and 2) plaintiffs established a likelihood of irreparable harm because any customers the quarry lost, if and when the ordinance went into effect, would be unlikely to return once the ordinance’s restrictions are lifted....

In US v. Allen, No. 09-8008, the Tenth Circuit affirmed defendant’s drug conspiracy conviction and sentence, holding that 1) defendant’s appellate brief failed to support her Speedy Trial Act with a legal argument, and failed to explain her position on the facts and posture of the case; 2) in view of the trial judge’s careful instructions to the jury and the fact that a prejudicial photo array only appeared on the first two days of a two-week long trial, any error was harmless; 3) all statements of witnesses were provided, as the Jencks Act required, following their testimony on direct examination at the latest; statements of a number of witnesses had been provided well before that deadline; and 4) any error in refusing to give an instruction requiring specific unanimity was clearly harmless beyond a reasonable doubt....