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The U.S. Justice Department sued Idaho on Aug. 2, saying its strict new abortion law violates the federal law protecting the rights of women to have abortions when they are facing medical emergencies. The lawsuit is the first action by the Biden administration to challenge a state trigger law since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in late June. It occurred on the same day that voters in Kansas resoundingly rejected a ballot measure that would have given the state’s Republican-controlled legislature the power to place restrictions on abortion or ban it outright....

In a suit for unlawful price discrimination under the Robinson-Patman Act (RPA) against a food manufacturer and a food service management company, judgment in favor of plaintiff-food distributor is vacated with instruction for the district court to enter judgment as a matter of law for defendants as plaintiff cannot satisfy the competitive injury requirement of a prima facie case of price discrimination under section 2(a) of the RPA because the plaintiff and defendant were not competitors, and therefore, plaintiff cannot show it suffered competitive injury under RPA....

In a petition for review of the Secretary of Commerce’s order allocating Pacific cod in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area among different sectors of the fishing industry, the petition is denied where: 1) petitioner failed to demonstrate that the allocation, although disadvantageous to it, was not fair or equitable in furthering the beneficial objectives of the relevant Fishery Management Plan; and 2) the Fishery Management Councils also considered the best available sociological data....

In a class action suit against Sprint under the Kansas Unfair Trade and Consumer Protection Act alleging that defendant conspired with other cell phone providers to impose artificially high prices for text-message service, defendant’s petition for leave to appeal from a remand order is granted and the order remanding the case to state court is vacated and remanded to give the plaintiffs another opportunity to prove that the proposed class satisfied the requirements of the home-state exception....

Giving your friend one of your prescription painkillers or other prescription medications like Adderall or Ritalin might seem like a no-brainer. If your friend is in pain or really needs some, why wouldn’t you try to help? Well, tragically, in this context being a good Samaritan could get you in a bit — or a lot — of trouble. Sharing prescription medications of any kind violates state and federal laws, which can lead to a range of criminal consequences....

The nation was rocked last summer by large racial justice protests. While the vast majority of them featured thousands of peaceful protesters asserting their First Amendment rights, some gatherings did turn violent. To quell the unrest, President Trump and then-Attorney General William Barr argued for a federal response in several cities, sending in armed agents from a host of different federal law enforcement agencies. The only problem is that many of those agents would not identify themselves, even when they were apprehending protesters....

Our Fourth Amendment rights keep us free from unreasonable detention and search and seizure. Early in the Trump Administration, when the country’s collective anxiety was running high over travel bans and immigration crackdowns, some U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers apparently got a little ahead of themselves and forgot about these rights. A tweet went viral on Feb. 22, 2017, showing CBP officers refusing to let passengers on a San Francisco to New York flight get off the plane without submitting to an identification check....

In a First Amendment challenge to a municipal sign regulation that prohibited all signs without a permit, subject to nineteen enumerated exemptions ranging from directional signs to ideological and political signs, a denial of a preliminary injunction is affirmed in part where the regulation was content-neutral and did not impermissibly favor commercial speech. However, the order is remanded in part where the district court did not address plaintiff’s claim that the ordinance unfairly discriminates among forms of noncommercial speech....

Close-knit families tend to support each other at major life events. Graduations. Weddings. Voir dire for a RICO trial jury selection. But while it’s admirable for families to stand by their accused loves ones, there’s no constitutional guarantee that they will get to remain in the courtroom through every step of the trial. Amilcar Gomez was sentenced to life imprisonment following his convictions for racketeering, murder in aid of racketeering, and unlawful possession of a firearm....

In a 2-1 opinion published last week, the Sixth Circuit upheld an injunction aimed at preventing enforcement of an Ohio law restricting certain types of abortions. The bill, which criminalizes performing an abortion if the medical provider has reason to believe the woman is seeking an abortion because the baby is diagnosed with Down Syndrome, was blocked by a preliminary injunction before going into effect. Ohio Statute Criminalizes Abortion When Down Syndrome is a Factor Ohio H....

The Nine released three more 2012 Supreme Court opinions yesterday, including a decision in a closely-watched criminal law matter. In a 7-2 decision, the Court overturned the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals to find that death row inmate Cory Maples was entitled to another shot at his ineffective counsel appeal. The case gained national media attention due to the highly unusual circumstances surrounding Maples’ appeal. Two attorneys from New York BigLaw powerhouse Sullivan & Cromwell were representing Maples pro bono in his murder conviction appeal because Alabama – the state where Maples was tried –is the only state in the country that does not afford capital defendants the benefit of taxpayer-funded appeals....

In a wire fraud prosecution, the court of appeals’ prior order relieving appointed counsel as a sanction for defendant’s misconduct is vacated where the order was not preceded by notice to defendant and an opportunity to respond. Thus, the court of appeals’ prior dismissal of defendant’s appeal for failure to file a timely pro se brief is also vacated. Read US v. Frankel, No. 06-1752 Appellate Information Filed October 5, 2009...

How great would it be if all landmark cases were streamed online? Everyone, from lawyers, to high schools students in a civics class, could see how the court system works. We aren’t there yet, at least in most courts. The Supreme Court refuses to allow cameras in the courtroom, either for live streaming, television broadcasts, or for online archiving. Heck, they only release audio recordings once a week. But the Ninth Circuit, as they have done in the past, is pushing ahead with technology, and will begin to live stream en banc rehearings as early as next week, reports Politico....

Should a brief live up to its name? When Third Circuit Court of Appeals judges dream of case law at night, what topics haunt their REM-cycle? Thanks to a statistical analysis from the Bar Association for the Third Federal Circuit (3CBA), we’re closer to finding the answers to these pressing questions. The Administrative Office of the U.S. Court publishes a giant report each year, detailing statistical data about the federal appellate courts....

As former attorney general Jeff Sessions was headed out the door, government lawyers were in federal court trying to salvage his efforts against sanctuary cities. The U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals heard argument from the Justice Department that day, but it sounded like a losing one. Other courts have already said the administration cannot withhold funds from cities for not cooperating with federal immigration enforcement. In arguing City of Philadelphia v....

In plaintiff’s 42 U.S.C. section 1983 suit against a county Treasurer and staff, following the acquittal of her criminal prosecution for allegedly making threats against a public official, judgment of the district court in rejecting the federal-law theories and resolving the state-law theories in favor of the defendants is vacated and remanded with instructions to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction as, prior decision inescapably render plaintiff’s federal theories frivolous and a veneer of constitutional phraseology on top of a state tort claim cannot justify its adjudication in federal court....

District court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of defendant is affirmed in part and vacated and remanded in part where: 1) with respect to plaintiffs’ claims for withdrawal liability under the Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act, the court’s judgment is vacated and remanded for a determination whether the defendant had an obligation to contribute to the fund under applicable labor-management relations law; and 2) district court’s judgment with respect to plaintiffs’ claim for breach of contract is affirmed....

Political action committees have a constitutional right to receive contributions from each other, a federal appeals court said. In Free and Fair Election Fund v. Missouri Ethics Commission, the U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals said Missouri violated that right. The state’s constitution banned inter-committee contributions, but the appeals court said they have a right to do it under the First Amendment. The appeals panel said the state may restrict campaign financing to prevent “corruption or the appearance of corruption,” but the Missouri law did nothing like that....

What’s the lesson here? Crystal Cox was a landmark free press plaintiff. Her case set the precedent in the Ninth Circuit that bloggers, like me and even her attorney, enjoy the same protections as the traditional media. And she escaped a $2.5 million defamation verdict. Give a mouse a cookie and he’ll want a rehearing? Don’t look a gift opinion in the dicta? Ask and ye shall receive everything but what you ask for?...

Making the decision to start the estate planning process is an important one. The first thing you must decide is if you can use an online estate planning tool or if you should work directly with an attorney. There are benefits to both approaches, but only you can decide which is appropriate for you. Benefits of Online DIY Estate Planning Online estate planning services like FindLaw Legal Forms & Services are a popular option for getting your affairs in order....