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After being rebuffed by several courts that blocked his travel bans, President Trump may finally see his opponents in the U.S. Supreme Court. Trump’s lawyers filed a request for emergency relief in the High Court, saying it is a matter of national security. Justice Neil Gorsuch, newly appointed and the potential fifth conservative vote on the court, will have an opportunity to tip the scale in his favor. But it is too early to tell how the court will handle the request....

If you don’t think a witness sequestration violation is a big deal, think again. It could be cause for a new trial. A jury found Marc Robert Engelmann guilty of bank fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy. Engelmann moved for a new trial, arguing that a conversation between two government witnesses during trial, in contravention of a sequestration order, violated his rights to a fair trial and to effective assistance of counsel....

Growing up in the New York area in the 1980’s, there were two cases that really made an impact on me, and the nation: Bernard Goetz’s vigilante subway shooting, and the case of the Central Park Jogger. Bernard Goetz’s enraged shooting was somewhat understandable, though over-reactive, on a visceral level. But the rape and near-fatal beating of a solitary woman jogger just boggled the mind. I can’t go running to this day, without giving her a thought....

The baby’s head was swelling from multiple skull fractures. He must have been injured when he rolled off the sofa and fell on the carpet ten days earlier, the parents said. After doctors treated the infant and reported possible child abuse, the father and other parents sued in Thomas v. Nationwide Children’s Hospital. What is wrong with these people? Suspicious Injuries A trial judge granted summary judgment against Burley and the parents of other injured infants who went to Nationwide Children’s Hospital for emergency care....

In October, the Nonhuman Rights Project, a legal advocacy group for chimpanzees, argued that a 26-year-old chimp named Tommy should be recognized as a “person” under New York law and granted a writ of habeas corpus. Chimps, the group argued in a 65-page brief submitted to the New York Supreme Court Appellate Division last March, share genetic information as well as cognitive skills with humans. They understand language and use tools....

In what appears to be a first in the country, the district attorney’s office in Tom Green County, Texas, is requiring a criminal defense attorney to agree to her personal belief in the constitutionality of plea agreements before entering a plea with the court. That defense attorney is now suing Tom Green County for violating her First Amendment rights. The Washington Post covered the lawsuit, which was filed in federal district court in Texas in October....

Summary Judgment for Worker’s Compensation Insurer Affirmed In Fu v. Owens, No. 09-2489, an action against a worker’s compensation insurance carrier, claiming that it wrongfully denied plaintiff’s claim for benefits due to a coworker’s attack upon her, the court affirmed summary judgment for defendants where 1) although the record reflects that the coworker may have harbored racial animus toward plaintiff, it also reflects that she disliked plaintiff for specific, work-related reasons such as plaintiff reporting her allegedly inferior job performance to clinic supervisors; and 2) plaintiffs failed to provide substantial justification for failing to timely disclose a witness’s affidavit nor have they demonstrated that such failure is harmless....

When the federal government started issuing press releases about an Arkansas drug company, it was about as lethal as the lawsuit that followed. The Federal Drug Administration alerted health care professionals and patients not to use drugs from Cantrell Drug Company. Adding injury to insult, the U.S. Department of Justice also issued a press release when it sued the company for allegedly distributing adulterated drugs. Dr. James McCarley, Jr., founder and chief executive of the company, responded by issuing his own press release and filing his own suit against the government....

All eyes have been on Hobby Lobby, the Supreme Court’s decision on the contraceptive mandate. But what about the other Supreme Court decision from the Court’s final day, also authored by Justice Samuel Alito? Is this a dangerous blow against organized labor, a minor setback, or something in between? Here’s a huge takeaway from Harris: the Court very well could have overruled Abood. Instead, it merely narrowed it by excising a chunk of quasi-public employees from the pool of folks who have to pay compulsory dues....

This morning, the Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge to Colorado’s legalized marijuana brought by neighboring states Oklahoma and Nebraska. Both Oklahoma and Nebraska had sued the state over instate crime connected to Colorado’s legal weed industry. The denial should calm the nerves of marijuana enthusiasts, as the case threatened to end Colorado’s experiment with legal pot. But, a dissent to the denial shows that not all of the High Court is ready to let Oklahoma and Nebraska’s complaints slide....

In an action claiming that defendant-employer impermissibly considered plaintiff’s use of Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave in deciding to place her on involuntary leave, summary judgment for defendant is reversed where there was an issue of material fact as to whether the FMLA leave was a motivating factor in defendant’s decision. Read Hunter v. Valley View Local Schs., No. 08-4109 Appellate Information Argued: June 18, 2009 Decided and Filed: August 26, 2009...

Service Employees Int’l. Union v. US, No. 07-17256, involved an appeal of the IRS’s assessment of penalties for late filing of a return. The Ninth Circuit reversed the district court’s order reducing the assessed penalty, holding that penalties on tax exempt organizations for late filing of informational returns may not be reduced by district courts as a matter of discretion. Chandler v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., No. 09-55123, concerned an action seeking car rental costs from an insurer arising out of an auto accident....

In what has been described by some lawyers as shocking and troubling, the Eighth Circuit has ruled that an Iowa hospital was not incorrect in freezing nurses’ raises after their collective bargaining agreement expired. If the ruling remains on the books, it stands to fundamentally change the tenor and validity of CBAs around the country – especially those within middle America. Finley Hospital Iowa’s Finley Hospital is an acute care facility....

“In its majestic equality, the law forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, beg in the streets and steal loaves of bread.” That was Anatole France, describing the rule of law in 1894. In other words, although the laws apply equally to everyone in theory, they will only be applied to certain people in practice. Similarly, the Los Angeles City Council recently reinstated its ordinance prohibiting people from sleeping overnight in vehicles in residential areas or living in a vehicle within a block of a park, school, or day care....

Anthony Whitewater turned a bad day into 240 worse months. He got into a fight at a party, got into a van and shot at people who were leaving the party. He was convicted of various crimes, including being a felon in possession of a firearm. After sentencing, he appealed on the grounds that the photo line-up used to identify him was not fair. The U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals said it was fair enough....

The Supreme Court rejected a religious discrimination appeal this week from Christian organizations seeking funding and campus benefits from San Diego State University (SDSU), reports Inside Higher Ed. The groups, Alpha Delta Chi and Alpha Gamma Omega, were asking the Supreme Court to reverse the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals’ August 2011 decision in Alpha Delta Chi v. Reed. Alpha Delta Chi, a Christian sorority, and Alpha Gamma Omega, a Christian fraternity, have several religious requirements, including a “personal acceptance of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord....

Freedom Bank recruited Belinda Egan to serve as one of its vice presidents. Seven months later, Freedom dismissed Egan. No, she wasn’t stealing from the company, yelling at clients, or doing anything considered bad business behavior. The bank claimed that it was reducing inefficiencies. Egan claimed she was penalized for rejecting sexual advances from a board member, and filed a wrongful termination suit. Sounds like an issue for a jury to decide, right?...

After any election season, there will be a crop of newly-elected officials eager to start changing the world. There will also be a crop of newly-unemployed bureaucrats, who lose their gigs because they backed the wrong candidates. While many employees can’t be fired for their political leanings, those who hold “policymaking positions” can be unceremoniously booted when there’s a changing of the guard. And it’s completely legal under the Elrod-Branti analysis....

In a motion to a district court involved in the ongoing adjudication of a class action settlement regarding whether the settlement committee’s arbitration claim against plaintiffs was barred by res judicata, an order referring the res judicata issue to the panel in a prior arbitration regarding the settlement is reversed where the arbitration agreement provided that applicability of the defense must be determined by a new arbitration panel. Read Shell Oil Co....

If a state attorney is subpoenaed to testify at his boss’s trial, is his speech protected, or made in the course of his employment? Last week, the Seventh Circuit held that an attorney’s eyewitness testimony is protected speech under the First Amendment. Assistant state attorney Kirk Chrzanowski was subpoenaed to testify against his boss Louis Bianchi, the McHenry County State Attorney, for alleged official misconduct. Chrzanowski was subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury, and at trial....