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In plaintiff’s case against several police officers and others, arising from his arrest outside a nightclub for aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, of which he was later acquitted, magistrate judge’s order denying reconsideration of plaintiff’s post-trial motions is affirmed as the motion was untimely under Rule 59(e) and improper under Rule 60(b). Read Kiswani v. Phoenix Sec. Agency, Inc., No. 08-3468 Appeals from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division...

In a First Amendment challenge to a city ordinance prohibiting all leafleting of unoccupied vehicles, the district court’s denial of a preliminary injunction is reversed where plaintiffs were likely to succeed in demonstrating that the city’s justification for its prohibition was insufficient and they otherwise met the requirements for obtaining a preliminary injunction enjoining enforcement of the prohibition. Read Klein v. San Clemente, No. 08-55015 Appellate Information Argued and Submitted August 4, 2008...

Kwame Kilpatrick, the former mayor of Detroit convicted of fraud and racketeering, is taking his case to the Supremes. Not Motown hero Diana Ross, but the Supreme Court. Kilpatrick is currently asking the High Court to hear his case after the Sixth Circuit upheld his conviction in August and rejected his petition for en banc review. Kilpatrick’s tenure as mayor was long plagued by scandal, including accusations that he held wild parties in the major’s mansion and even covered up the murder of an exotic dancer....

In a tort action arising out of a scuba diving accident, the dismissal of the action on forum non conveniens grounds is affirmed where a claim implicating the Death on the High Seas Act is within the admiralty jurisdiction of the federal courts, and is thus subject to discretionary dismissal on forum non conveniens grounds. Read Loya v. Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc., No. 07-35571 Appellate Information Argued and Submitted October 21, 2008...

If only turtles could talk. Like, would the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles really want to sue the live-action dancers who portray them for elementary school children? That’s what the Guardian Anti-Bullying Campaign does, traveling across the Southwest to teach kids to stand up to bullies. Horse manure, cowabunga or whatever, says Viacom, which owns the Ninja Turtle enterprise. The company has sued Mark Anthony Baca and his show for copyright and trademark violations....

In a proposed class action alleging that Dell designed, manufactured, and sold defective notebook computers, dismissal of the action for failure to prosecute is reversed where: 1) plaintiffs did not cause any unreasonable delay in the progression of their case; and 2) a choice-of-law provision is unenforceable, and a class action waiver pursuant to which Dell obtained an order compelling arbitration was unconscionable under California law because it satisfied the Discover Bank test, and California had a materially greater interest than Texas in applying its own law....

In an action for insurance proceeds arising out of a car accident, summary judgment for defendant-insurer is reversed where the policy’s exclusion of resident relatives who own a vehicle from Uninsured Motorist/Underinsured Motorist (UM/UIM) coverage violated Colorado public policy and thus there were issues of fact regarding whether defendant properly advised and offered UM/UIM coverage in an amount equal to the bodily injury limits for that policy. Read Pacheco v. Shelter Mut....

If you follow tax law, you’ve probably heard of the John Edwards tax shelter. Former vice-presidential candidate Edwards saved a bundle in payroll taxes - around $600,000 - by forming an S-Corporation, paying himself a relatively modest salary through the S-Corp, and taking the rest of his pay in dividends. This week, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the IRS properly assessed an Iowa accountant — who implemented a similar tax shelter plan — for additional payroll taxes because the accountant had not paid himself “reasonable compensation....

Editor’s Note: On June 24, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court released its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, which overturned Roe v. Wade. Wondering what happens now? Our Supreme Court blog has coverage of the practical effects of the court’s latest decision on abortion and what the future might hold for legal fights over reproductive rights. Use these links to jump to different sections: Roe v. Wade Legal Arguments How the Supreme Court Decided Roe v....

The Sixth Circuit is not alone in consolidating appeals of same sex marriage cases within the circuit: last week, the Seventh Circuit consolidated two same sex marriage cases. The Seventh Circuit also recently decided a case affecting all of the states surrounding the Great Lakes, and is going to hear a case about an Indiana law regulating the sale of cold beer. Finally, our favorite benchslapper speaks out. Same Sex Marriage Last week, the Seventh Circuit consolidated same sex marriage cases, related to Wisconsin and Indiana laws, with oral arguments scheduled for August 13, 2014, reports Equality on Trial....

More and more employers are turning to a time-tested method to encourage employees to get the COVID-19 vaccination: They’re paying them off. Oh, they could just require it, as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission determined on December 16. The EEOC confirmed that requiring vaccinations does not violate the Americans With Disabilities Act, which prohibits employers from conducting medical examinations. The EEOC said the purpose of employer-required vaccinations is not to gain medical information, but to protect employees from contracting COVID-19....

Attorneys general from ten states, led by Texas, filed suit against Google this week over its digital advertising tactics. It’s the second major lawsuit filed against Google in recent months challenging the tech giant’s alleged monopoly power. The first, filed by the Justice Department, alleges that Google maintains its role as the dominant search engine by forcing other companies into exclusivity arrangements. This time, the AGs accuse Google of playing too large a role in the online advertising space....

The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled this week that a district court did not err in enjoining an anti-Sharia state constitutional amendment that prevents Oklahoma state courts from considering or using Sharia law in decisions. Not only did the appellate court find the measure discriminatory, and unlikely to survive a constitutional challenge under the Larson test, it also noted that there is no evidence that U.S. courts are influenced by Muslim legal precepts in the Sharia, reports The Christian Science Monitor....

It was a busy day at First Street, with both oral arguments and the first round of 2012 Supreme Court opinions. In addition to hearing arguments in Knox v. Services Employees International Union and FCC v. Fox Television Stations, the Court released opinions in four cases today. While they may be known as the Nine, the Justices agree with Count von Count that eight is great; each of the cases resulted in 8-1 decisions....

You know that moment when a relative comes for the holiday, and brings along univited guests? Awkward, but what are you gonna do? That’s not exactly what Mark Zuckerberg did, but it’s really getting awkward at Facebook. The company admitted that it collected some 1.5 million users’ email contacts without their consent. In other words, there are a lot of Facebook ‘friends’ who didn’t want to be there. But what are you gonna do, sue?...

In a murder case, the denial of Petitioner’s habeas petition is affirmed where testimony by a deaf witness using sign language did not violate the Confrontation Clause because the limitations on the effectiveness of cross-examination resulted from the witness’s own physical impairments. Read Vasquez v. Kirkland, No. 08-55699 Appellate Information Argued and Submitted May 4, 2009 Filed July 20, 2009 Judges Opinion by Judge B. Fletcher Counsel For Appellant: Michael Tanaka, Deputy Federal Public Defender, Los Angeles, CA...

Judge Richard Sullivan is one those fortunate judges to be confirmed unanimously by the U.S. Senate. But that was 11 years ago when he became a federal trial judge. Now he faces a new group in his bid for the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals. The political balance favors him, but there are new people in the Senate. They don’t know who Richard Sullivan is. Republican Judges Since the Republicans took control of the Senate in 2014 and President Trump was elected in 2016, they have pushed through nominees at a break-neck speed....

A class action lawsuit against the City of New York can proceed, the Second Circuit ruled today. The lawsuit began when hundreds of Occupy Wall Street protesters marched across the Brooklyn Bridge on October 1, 2011. Halfway across the bridge, they were trapped and arrested by police. Police claimed the protesters were arrested for impeding traffic, but the protesters claimed that they were lured onto the bridge by police, who they say escorted them onto the bridge, only to arrest them once they were there....

Why juries reach the verdicts they do is a billion-dollar question. But, as Eleventh Circuit Court Judge Robin Rosenbaum wrote in a recent opinion, “if the right to a jury trial means anything, it means a right to a verdict based on the evidence." That led Judge Rosenbaum and District Court Judge Anne Conway, sitting on the panel by designation, to conclude that a juror who said that “the Holy Spirit told him" former Florida Congresswoman Corrine Brown was not guilty on all counts related to a charitable fraud scheme was properly dismissed....

Lesbians and gays (and presumably bisexual, transgender, and queer persons) do not enjoy Title VII anti-discrimination under that federal statute, the Seventh Circuit has ruled. However, cultural realities demand that employers cannot simply dodge legal punishment scot free. “Beyond the Scope” The ruling is the latest development in the case of Kimberly Hively, a part-time professor at Ivy Tech Community College, who sued her employer over allegations that she was not promoted because of anti-gay bias....