Posts

The Third Circuit has just ruled that a real estate developer has standing to sue the owners of Shop-Rite over anti-competitive behavior that would stymie the opening of a Wegmans in Hanover, New Jersey. The lengthy opinion outlines and clarifies the limits and intended application of the justiciability doctrine and antitrust immunity under Noerr-Pennington. Hanover Realty signed a lease with Wegmans in 2012, a year before Village Supermarkets opened a Shop-Rite in neighboring Morristown....

Tax season is approaching. Here’s what you need to know when you file taxes for your small business in 2021. COVID-19 and Tax Incentives for Small Businesses A lot of small businesses took a hit because of the pandemic. To help these businesses, the government has created some tax incentives. These incentives include: Paycheck Protection Program: The CARES Act allowed small businesses to take a forgivable loan for payroll, rent, and utility payments....

The Supreme Court’s October 2015 Term was truly historic. This term saw the death of Justice Scalia, which was immediately marked by politicized fighting over his replacement, even before the memorials had begun. It saw Justice Thomas speak during oral arguments, for the first time in a decade, and Justice Sotomayor find her voice as one of the Court’s great dissenters. It saw Justice Breyer yelling on the Late Show and Justice Ginsburg writing her first book in decades....

Reddit’s legal advice section has often been the source for our weirdest legal news, but every now and then it can provide a chilling insight into users’ legal problems: “My ex boyfriend will repeatedly call me until I answer the phone,” one distressed user recently wrote. “Yesterday I had 200 plus missed calls. What can I do?” The question reminds us that many stalking victims often don’t know what constitutes stalking in the first place, much less the legal resources they have available to them....

On remand from the Supreme Court in light of Chamber v. US, 129 S.Ct. 687 (2009), defendant’s sentence under the enhanced guidelines is affirmed but the designation of defendant as a career offender is reversed where the crime of failure to report for incarceration, as distinguished from escape from custody, is not a violent felony for purposes of the Armed Career Criminal Act, 18 U.S.C. section 924(e). Read US v. Hopkins, No....

Sentence for escape and theft of government property is vacated and remanded where the court can not determine whether defendant’s escape was a walkaway escape or an escape from a penal institution based on the limited factual record before the court. On remand, the court should analyze defendant’s escape conviction in light of Chambers and Begay, and should apply a modified categorical approach to determine whether defendant’s escape was a crime of violence under the sentencing guidelines....

The U.S. government is suing Major League Baseball’s Chicago Cubs for allegedly not complying with Americans With Disabilities Act standards in their remodel of Wrigley Field. According to the lawsuit, the best wheelchair seating was removed and not included in any of the sky box seating arrangements. The team moved the wheelchair seating to the very last row of the stadium, a view often obstructed by drink rails or standing fans....

The week prior to Thanksgiving, Missouri executed Joseph Paul Franklin, a racist serial killer who targeted African Americans and Jews. He was also responsible for shooting Larry Flynt, the publisher of Hustler magazine. His execution, held on November 21 in Missouri, was rife with controversy and spurred legal debate on capital punishment for the mentally ill and the use of certain drugs in executions. The execution came soon after Larry Flynt, was paralyzed in the 1978 shooting, unsuccessfully begged the court to spare his attacker’s life....

In a negligence action brought under the Federal Employer’s Liability Act and the Locomotive Inspection Act, district court judgment is affirmed where: 1) the district court has broad discretion in choosing the language of jury instructions and thus did not abuse its discretion in its instructions to the jury on negligence and contributory negligence; 2) the court did not abuse its discretion in allowing the railroad to introduce evidence that plaintiff was discharged for misconduct as plaintiff opened the door with his own testimony; 3) the court did not abuse its discretion in admitting evidence concerning absences as it was relevant to credibility; and 4) the court did not err in granting summary judgment for railroad on plaintiff’s Locomotive Inspection Act claim as the evidence showed the locomotive was not in use at the time plaintiff was injured....

Before the start of the coronavirus pandemic, few had heard of Zoom. Now the video-conferencing service has become a regular part of daily life for scores of people across the globe because of its suitability for socially distanced meetings and its secure service … or so people thought. Zooming Into Trouble Back in May, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission announced that it was investigating Zoom’s security practices after numerous privacy concerns arose....

The Seventh Circuit has concluded that RICO does not apply to the 2014 conviction of disgraced Gov. Rod Blagojevich because there was “no specific threat” of a scheme existing at the time. The result is that the $77.8 million that had been awarded to a casino group would get the haircut of the century: a reduction to $25 million. The Casinos’ Case The casinos had presented enough evidence to support a reasonable jury finding that Blagojevich sold his signature in 2008 by signing a bill that favored the Balmoral Racing Club and Maywood Park Trotting Association in exchange for some $250,000 in donations to the governor’s campaign....

It was the first trial in the “Borg Cube,” the new federal courthouse in Salt Lake City. The defendant, Siale Angilau, allegedly grabbed a pen or pencil and rushed the witness stand. A nearby U.S. marshal pulled out his gun and fired multiple times. Angilau, 25, did not survive. Now, word has emerged that there is a tape of the shooting, one which the district court, in the name of security, refuses to release....

If you are interested in animal welfare and protection for household pets, these upcoming bills are the ones to know about. Currently, organizations are working to raise awareness and support of the bills to get them onto the floor of Congress for votes. Some have been denied year after year and are returning for congressional approval in 2021. Puppy Protection Act This bill (H.R. 2442/S. 4757) is focused on dogs in federally licensed breeding operations, often called “puppy mills....

Chaka Fattah Jr. just wanted to start an education company. Now he’s facing a slew of legal issues, including a 23-count indictment. Fattah Jr., son of the Pennsylvania congressman, has been the center of attention in Philadelphia since 2012 concerning alleged tax fraud and misuse of bank loans. He faces up to $13 million in fines from the IRS. The ongoing legal dispute took a bad turn for Fattah on June 1st when the Third Circuit dismissed his appeal....

Here’s something a bit unprecedented: 12 distinguished appellate judges have come together with Bryan Garner to release a “hornbook-style” treatise on the doctrine of judicial precedent. And it’s the first such publication in over a century. Published by Thomson Reuters, the new book covers nine major topics, over 93 sections, surveying how prior judicial decisions influence later ones. (Disclosure: Thomson Reuters is FindLaw’s parent company.) It is, as the publisher describes it, an attempt to be “theoretically sound, historically illuminating, and relentlessly practical....

The Black Hills National Forest (“BHNF”) straddles Wyoming and South Dakota, and its infestation by pine beetles has made the forest a subject of litigation in South Dakota, Wyoming, and Colorado. Last week, the Tenth Circuit joined the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in denying environmental activist organizations the ability to challenge plans to address the pine beetle infestation in the BHNF, South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley announced. The Forest Service is tasked, under federal law, with managing the national forests, which includes promoting diversity of species of plant and animal life in the national forests....

In a slow week for Supreme Court news last week, Chief Justice John Roberts (CJJR) released his annual report, a task he took pains to discuss his disdain for in long-form. If you’re having issues with insomnia, it’s a great cure. Otherwise, here are the highlights of CJJR’s performance as Oliver Twist. The first few pages of the report heap lavish praise upon the historical importance of Congress. The Constitution begot merely one court, while the rest were begotten, through various legislative acts of grace, over the following two centuries....

The police can also be the target of illegal searches and seizures as much as anyone, but there is no Fourth Amendment violation in the case of police officers waiting on and cooperating with a police misconduct investigation. The Third Circuit ruled last Wednesday that two Philadelphia police officers who were told to wait on Internal Affairs agents, had their lockers searched, and had to turn out their pockets were not subject to an illegal search or seizure....

Will the third trial be a charm for the State of California? Earlier this month, the Ninth Circuit reversed the conviction of La Carl Martez Dow for second-degree robbery, granting habeas corpus due to prosecutorial misconduct and an erroneous standard applied by the other courts. Dow allegedly robbed a convenience store clerk, who later had a particularly unreliable memory about the suspect. He mentioned a facial scar, however, and picked Dow out of a photo and in-person lineup....

In consolidated appeals from fee awards to attorneys who successfully represented Social Security Disability Insurance claimants in federal court under contingent-fee contracts, the awards are vacated where the district court failed to follow the mandate of Gisbrecht v. Barnhart, 535 U.S. 789 (2002), in determining the fee awards. Read Crawford v. Astrue, No. 06-55822 Appellate Information Argued and Submitted June 22, 2009 Filed November 4, 2009 Judges Opinion by Judge B....