Posts

If there’s anything that Iowa is known for, it’s hogs. Last year, Iowa’s hog inventory was nearly three times that of second-place Minnesota, and the state produced about 30% of the nation’s pork. Therefore, Iowa has significant influence when it comes to any food policy involving pork. So when California recently enacted a new law that may make pork products prohibitively expensive there, Iowa politicians responded by strongly supporting a legal challenge that may soon make it to the U....

Migrating to the United States from Mexico is not the safest venture. Even migrants legally seeking asylum may end up in detention centers, where 24 people have died during the Trump administration at last count. And then there are those who risk exposure, dehydration, and death on a perilous journey through the desert and across rivers. We’ve recently seen all too well how that passage can end. Recognizing the environmental dangers inherent in crossing the country’s southern border, many humanitarian volunteers provide aid in the form of water, blankets, and medicine to migrants along known routes....

An important tool in the battle against the coronavirus is effective tracing of people who have been in contact with known carriers of the disease. If public health officials can track down those people and have them self-isolate for 14 days, the spread of the disease can be slowed. However, effective tracing requires full cooperation of the people who have been exposed. If people who might be infected or who might have been exposed refuse to cooperate, what can officials do about it?...

With the U.S. Supreme Court set to open Oct. 2, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is warming up the crowd. Speaking at Georgetown Law, she promised it will be a “momentous” term with issues such as the President’s travel ban, religious freedom, voting rights, and same-sex marriage. But the notorious RBG also entertained, especially when asked how she choose her early career. “How did I decide to become a flaming feminist litigator?...

Want to learn more about how the executive and judicial branches plan to address underfunded courts? The Kentucky Law Journal, with the American Bar Association (ABA) and the National Center for State Courts, will host a symposium this weekend to discuss the practical and constitutional impact of underfunded courts. State courts are facing crippling budgets cuts nationwide. Last year, 40 states slashed state court funding. In New York, the state court system laid off 500 people....

A recent Business Insider report examines the timeline for when each current Supreme Court justice is anticipated to retire. The analysis looks at the current age, number of years on the High Court bench for each justice, and compares it to the average age of justices at retirement (80) and the average number of years justices serve (27 years). And though Justice Kennedy’s retirement has just barely been put in the ground, interest over whether Trump will get a third SCOTUS seat is running high....

Defendant’s petition for habeas relief, arguing that revocation of his good-conduct credit violated his constitutional due process rights, is denied as, since the Prison Review Board does not find facts, but rather only approves, reduces or abrogates penalties based on the prison adjustment committee’s findings, Wolff is not implicated. Read Lucas v. Montgomery, No. 08-4307 Appeals from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois Argued September 9, 2009Decided October 22, 2009...

In New York City, the color of your car matters if you drive a taxi. Yellow cars can pick up passengers anywhere and anytime they hail you. Green cars can pick up only in certain burroughs, but still get the same money. Hey, it’s a city that never sleeps. But black cars are different because you work by appointment and you get to pick your hours. So a judge in Saleem v....

The Sierra Club has lost its appeal of a September federal district court decision to grant summary judgment to the US Forest Service and Enbridge Limited Partnership. This all but settles the question of whether or not the controversial oil project is compliant with federal law. It’s a major loss for the environmental group, especially amidst claims that more oil is flowing through the subject stretch of aging pipeline now than at any other point in history....

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld an Ohio man’s death sentence yesterday, finding that procedural default barred his habeas corpus petition. In 1985, Robert Van Hook met David Self at a gay bar. Van Hook “lured Self into a vulnerable position,” strangled him, killed him with a kitchen knife, and mutilated his body, according to court records. Van Hook has appealed his case to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals four times....

The Supreme Court affirmed the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and struck down the Stolen Valor Act on Thursday in a 6-3 decision. Justice Anthony Kennedy kicked off the plurality opinion for the Court with the best opener of the 2011 Term: “Lying was his habit. Xavier Alvarez, the respondent here, lied when he said that he played hockey for the Detroit Red Wings and that he once married a starlet from Mexico....

The bad guys almost got away by using the old “hide-the-loot-and-the-robbers-in-the-trunk” trick. Katherine Phil was driving a gray Ford Taurus near the vicinity of a bank robbery in Iowa when a police officer pulled her over. The deputy had heard a radio report about two men who may have fled in a gray Ford Taurus. Phil was alone, however, and the deputy was about to let her go – then decided to check the trunk....

News broke at the end of last week that the fan favorite judge of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, the Honorable Richard Posner, was retiring. Here at FindLaw, we’re big fans of the Pos – after all, he’s perhaps one of the most entertaining judges in U.S. history. To honor one of our all time favorite Your Honors, below, you’ll find a few of our favorite Posner opinions. 1. Posner Calls Out Sovereign Citizen BS If you’ve ever encountered a person at a cocktail party, or more likely on public transit, that has insisted that they can get out of legal liability because of their sovereign citizenship, Judge Posner’s response will probably make you all fuzzy on the inside....

In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, almost half of the states have either already banned or are expected to ban abortions within their borders. For some of these states, the laws have exemptions for special circumstances such as rape, incest, or the health of or a risk to the mother’s life. However, the language of these laws is sometimes so vague and different across state lines that it can be difficult to decipher what is actually correct and what constitutes an exemption in your state....

Obamacare’s contraception mandate has been upheld, once again. The Affordable Care Act, which allows religious nonprofits to opt out of directly covering contraceptive services, does not substantially burden religious non-profits, the Tenth Circuit ruled on Tuesday. Under the Affordable Care Act, if a religious non-profit objects to providing contraception coverage to their employees, they must notify their plan administrator of this objection, who then covers the contraception costs. The Little Sisters are just one of a host of religious organizations who have objected to the ACA’s contraception mandate....

The Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against Merck & Co earlier this week on a transfer pricing tax case involving a refund of $473 million. The three-judge panel ruled against the drug giant and upheld the lower court ruling from 2010, where the district court found that the drugmaker was not entitled to the refund. The case is complex, even for tax lawyers as transfer pricing and Subpart F are some of the most complicated parts of tax law....

Robin Meade was an adjunct professor at Moraine Valley Community College in the Chicago suburbs. While we recently blogged about why lawyers might want to be adjuncts, Meade was none too pleased with the way the college treated her and other adjuncts. She said so in a letter to the college, signed by her in her capacity as president of the Moraine Valley Adjunct Faculty Organization (MVAFO). Two days later, Meade was fired....

Joey Lee Bailey drank at least two 22-ounce beers and three double White Russians at Roosters Wings in Georgetown, Kentucky last January. He then drank at least one more beer and four more double White Russians at Horseshoes Kentucky Grill & Saloon in Lexington that same night. Bailey then hopped on Interstate 75 with a blood alcohol content four times the legal limit, and headed in the wrong direction. Bailey’s vehicle collided with one carrying the Abbas family home from a Florida vacation, killing him and all five family members, including three children aged 14, 13, and 7....

Kittel v. Thomas, No. 09-35630, concerned a habeas petition challenging a Bureau of Prisons (“BOP”) rule that categorically excluded from an early release incentive program prisoners whose offenses of conviction involved firearms possession. The court of appeals affirmed the dismissal of the petition, on the ground that petitioner’s claims were moot, and an order stating that Arrington v. Daniels, 516 F.3d 1106 (9th Cir. 2008), applied to petitioner would simply reiterate a fact that was not in dispute....

In an action alleging illegal credit card penalties, the district court’s order denying defendant’s motion to stay and to compel arbitration is reversed where: 1) plaintiff had ample opportunity and time to opt out of the amendment to the parties’ arbitration agreement before it took effect, but instead continued to use the card; 2) the agreement specifically provided an exception to binding arbitration in that plaintiff could file her claim individually in small claims court; and 3) the record did not support the district court’s conclusion that the costs and fees associated with arbitration of plaintiff’s individual claim made the agreement unconscionable as to her....