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While you may be familiar with regular defamation, you may have heard the phrase “weaponized defamation” and wondered just what in the world that means. Simply put, weaponized defamation isn’t a real thing under the law, but rather a phrase that people use to describe intentional defamatory statements designed to take someone or something out. The example making recent headlines involves the former West Virginia republican candidate Don Blankenship, who is claiming that Donald Trump Jr....

27 States Support Benefit Corporations What Are the Benefits? Socially responsible purpose. By choosing to become a public benefit corporation, you will enshrine your altruistic purpose in your corporation’s articles of incorporation, making them legally binding and not just a promise. More protection from corporate greed. When corporations grow, there is a worry that duty to the shareholders will require abandoning the company’s commitment to doing good. In Delaware, for example, a two-thirds vote is required for any action that would terminate a company’s status as a public benefit status Evaluations by third-party organizations....

The 2008 FBI Domestic Intelligence and Operations Guide (“DIOG”) describes the FBI’s ability to map racial and ethnic data for purposes of “domain awareness” and “intelligence analysis,” according to the ACLU. In 2009, a redacted copy of the guide was released, and later in early 2010 the FBI released a less-censored copy as a result of litigation with the Muslim Advocates. Based on the DIOG, in 2010 the ACLU, through 34 affiliates, filed public records requests to find out how the FBI is amassing and mapping information regarding racial and ethnic groups....

For his role in a tire recycling scheme gone bad, Paul Musgrave was convicted of four counts of white collar crime. His punishment? Essentially no punishment at all. Despite a sentencing guideline range of 57 to 71 months’ imprisonment, the district court ordered Musgrave to serve a day in jail, with a day’s credit for processing. Musgrave’s total punishment was hardly even a slap on the wrist, requiring just three years of probation – there was no jail time, no fine....

The Third Circuit has revived a controversial buffer zone free speech case that challenged Pittsburgh’s local ordinance establishing a 15-foot zone around abortion clinics. The zone was created to provide easier access for patients seeking to enter clinics without being verbally accosted by protesters and pro-life advocates. It was not even a close call as the circuit voted 3-0, saying that protesters had a valid cause of action to pursue a suit against the city on theories that their free speech rights were violated under the Constitution....

“Throughout the filming of the pilot, I experienced Racial Discrimination/Racially Charged inappropriate comments from the hair department and bullying from Executive Producers. During the Season, it continued along with Sexual Harassment from a recurring guest star, Demetrius Grosse, and the racist commentary & bullying from the Hair Dept. Head, Sally Ciganovich escalated into Sexual Assault at our Wrap party.” Probably not the words you want to hear from one of your show’s co-stars, and definitely not something you want to read on her public Instagram account as she airs sexual assault and racial discrimination claims against your crew and announces to the world that she’s leaving the show....

Our seemingly endless thirst for true crime mysteries might be quenched again with another murder allegedly committed by American students in Italy. The episode apparently began when Bay Area teens Finnegan Lee Elder and Gabriel Natale-Hjorth, on vacation in Rome and looking to buy drugs, allegedly stole the backpack from a man who pointed them to a drug dealer, who then sold the boys fake drugs. After the boys demanded money and cocaine in return for the bag, the man went to the police....

Never send to know for whom the statute of limitations tolls; it tolls for thee the government. Unless a court files an ex parte order suspending the running of the statute of limitations so the government can gather evidence from a foreign country. And according to a Second Circuit Court of Appeals opinion this week, such ex parte orders are okay. (Sidebar: Eldridge’s indictment obviously occurred after the statute of limitations had run, or we wouldn’t be talking about her and shamelessly paraphrasing John Donne....

In an antitrust action alleging that defendant realtors representing developers tied the sale of undeveloped lots to services and commissions for developed property, summary judgment for defendants is affirmed where there was no market for listing and referral services among potential buyers of newly-constructed houses, and thus no competition in the allegedly tied market to be harmed. Read Blough v. Holland Realty, Inc., No. 08-35536 Appellate Information Argued and Submitted July 9, 2009...

The United States Supreme Court rejected an appeal by a Nebraska death row inmate after the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the inmate’s conviction in August 2011. The defendant was accused of several murders, including the murder of Teena Brandon, the subject of the 1999 film ‘Boys Don’t Cry.’ Boys don’t cry? Well, one “boy” is crying after the Supreme Court rejected his appeal from death row. John Lotter asked the Supreme Court to overturn his conviction after the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected his appeal in August 2011....

It’s never a good idea to drive drunk – it puts people’s lives in danger. But just because you did something wrong, doesn’t mean you should give up your right to refuse a breathalyzer test, right? Not exactly. So let’s get down to it: Are you legally allowed to refuse to take a breathalyzer? While you might be hoping that the answer is “it depends on your state,” it’s actually the opposite....

Petitioner’s petition for review of the BIA’s order removing him from the United States is granted, where a conviction for owning a “chop shop” under Cal. Veh. Code section 10801 is not an aggravated felony theft offense under 8 U.S.C. section 1101(a)(43)(G). Read Carrillo-Jaime v. Holder, No. 06-74581 Appellate Information Argued and Submitted February 9, 2009 Filed July 15, 2009 Judges Opinion by Judge Fletcher Concurrence by Judge Tallman Counsel...

The Sixth Circuit confirmed on Tuesday that countries like the Congo are generally immune from suit unless their commercial activities occur in or directly affect the U.S. Triple A International, Inc. (no not the auto club, we checked) sued the Congo (formerly Zaire) for payment on military equipment Triple A had sold them in 1993. Zaire (and now Congo) has refused to pay, and although this behavior is certainly not good for business, the Sixth Circuit confirmed that the Congo is immune from suit....

Civil Rights Action Concerning Alleged Fabrication of Evidence in Parental Rights Revocation In Costanich v. Dept. of Soc. & Health Servs. for the State of Wash., No. 08-35217, a 42 U.S.C. section 1983 action alleging the deprivation of plaintiff’s due process rights to her foster care license and guardianship of her dependents, the court affirmed summary judgment for defendants where defendants were entitled to qualified immunity because it was not clear at the time the events at issue took place that the right not to have evidence fabricated by a social worker applied in the context of proceedings adjudicating a foster care license and termination of guardianship....

The members of the epic band Lynyrd Skynyrd may have taken a blood oath to never use the name Lynyrd Skynyrd again, but the Second Circuit Court of Appeals just ruled that their blood oath isn’t strong enough to stop the Lynyrd Skynyrd movie, Street Survivors: The True Story of the Lynyrd Skynyrd Plane Crash, from being distributed and released. The district court ruled that the filmmaker could not release the film because it had partnered with one of the original members, Artimus Pyle, who had taken the blood oath....

Legal finger-pointing for subprime mortgage securities fraud isn’t exclusive to U.S. courts, but plaintiffs pursuing litigation in foreign courts sometimes need assistance from U.S. courts to find evidence about the extent of the fraud. This week, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals clarified the scope of when district courts can subpoena witnesses within their jurisdictions to give testimony for a foreign proceeding. In 2011, while dismissal of his case was pending appeal in Germany, Brandi-Dohrn filed an ex parte application in a New York district court to serve subpoenas for documents and depositions of three non-parties for use in the German action....

This past spring, David Hagedorn made a big request of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg: he wanted her to officiate his wedding to Michael Widomski. He made the request after reading comments by the justice about how no one had ever asked her to preside over a same-sex marriage, likely because of fear that doing so would lead to calls for recusal in future Supreme Court cases, reports The Washington Post....

Jae Lee immigrated to the United States from South Korea when he was just a teenager. Decades later, he was accused of dealing ecstasy in Memphis, Tennessee. At the urging of his attorney, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to one year and one day in jail. Here’s the rub. Unlike his parents, Lee had never become an American citizen. And despite his concerns, his attorney assured him that a guilty plea would not result in his deportation, an assurance that turned out to be dead wrong....

FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the internet. The artificial intelligence race is on, and the question still remains as to which country will dominate. And, of course, there will be business, legal and political consequences when it comes to the ultimate winner and losers. We have been hearing news reports for quite a while that China is set to become the world economic power and that it is doing everything possible to outpace its rival countries in many spheres....

It’s been rumored that President Trump has been considering hundreds of requests for pardons during his last few weeks of office. So many, in fact, that President Trump’s staff has had to create a spreadsheet to keep track of his options. Those options include the President and his family members, of course, as well as other prominent figures such as Edward Snowden and Rudy Giuliani. Down the list a way, one presumes, is a request from Joe Exotic, of Tiger King fame, who petitioned the President this past September....