Posts

Transcript: Bullying Panel 1: A distressed round character stands surrounded by three others who are looking at the character menacingly. One is pointing, another is jeering, and a third looks gleefully on with a cellphone in tow. Above the distressed character is a thought bubble that says “Is bullying illegal? What about cyberbullying?" Panel 2: A big rectangular, anthropomorphized document with the words “LAW” and drawings of states stands defiantly in the middle of the panel....

Have you ever asked yourself: “How many frivolous appeals does it take before the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals threatens to sanction a pro se litigant?” The answer is 13. This week, the Seventh Circuit rejected another appeal from Scott Wallis, who is contesting USA Baby, Inc.’s liquidation, and warned that Wallis would be sanctioned if he continued to waste the courts’ time with frivolous appeals. USA Baby was formed in 2003 to franchise stores that sell children’s products....

US v. Kyles, No. 06-4196, involved defendant’s appeal from the district court’s orders amending his restitution schedule while he was incarcerated. The court of appeals affirmed in part, holding that although the Victim and Witness Protection Act did not expressly confer such authority, it inhered in the authority that statute conferred on district courts to permit an award of restitution to be paid in periodic installments, rather than immediately. However, the court vacated the orders in part insofar as they provided for increases in defendant’s restitution schedule in accordance with the Inmate Financial Responsibility Program, because that was an impermissible delegation of judicial power to the Bureau of Prisons....

Parole-Related Habeas Petition In Curtis v. Chester, No. 09-3338, a habeas petition under 28 U.S.C. section 2241 challenging the U.S. Parole Commission’s decision to revoke his parole and set an above-guidelines reconsideration date of 15 years, the court affirmed the denial of the petition where 1) the police report regarding petitioner’s offenses, the police officer’s testimony, and petitioner’s own testimony provided sufficient indicia of reliability under Kell to permit the admission of the victim’s statements; and 2) the use of evidence of dismissed charges did not violate petitioner’s rights, especially since the board needed only find a violation by a preponderance of the evidence....

Mezo v. Holder, 09-3336, concerned a challenge to the BIA’s denial of an Iraqi citizen’s motion to reopen, claiming that she received ineffective assistance of counsel. In vacating the BIA’s denial and remanding, the court held that there is no evidence in the record to support the BIA’s conclusion that petitioner’s untimely filed appeal resulted from her own lack of diligence. Therefore, if the Board finds that petitioner received ineffective assistance of counsel and that she was prejudiced by the ineffective assistance, equitable tolling would apply and the motion to reopen would be timely....

An alleged marijuana smuggler was deprived of his right to challenge the reliability of a drug-sniffing dog, the Ninth Circuit ruled Thursday in United States v. Thomas. Defendant Jonathan Thomas was arrested at a Border Patrol checkpoint with 150 pounds of marijuana in a toolbox. He was then indicted for possession with intent to distribute marijuana in 2010. Then in 2011, a superseding indictment added a charge of conspiracy to distribute marijuana....

Plaintiff’s class action lawsuit against cell phone manufacturers and retailers claiming unsafe exposure to radio frequency radiation dismissed Farina v. Nokia Inc., 08-4034, concerned a challenge to the district court’s dismissal of plaintiff’s complaint on the ground that the claims are preempted by regulations promulgated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), in a class action lawsuit against various cell phone manufacturers and retailers of wireless handheld telephones, claiming that cell phones, as currently manufactured, are unsafe to be operated without headsets because they may expose the user to dangerous amounts of radio frequency (RF) radiation....

In Freedom Holdings, Inc. v. Cuomo, No. 09-0547, Sherman Act and Commerce Clause challenges to New York’s Escrow and Contraband Statutes, enacted in furtherance of a 1998 Master Settlement Agreement between cigarette manufacturers and all but four states, the court affirmed judgment for defendants where plaintiffs failed to point to record evidence that precluded the district court from finding, as it did, that the challenged statutes were unilateral state actions that did not mandate or authorize private parties to restrain trade or, in any event, that the statutes were not subject to Sherman Act preemption by virtue of the state action immunity doctrine....

In an action claiming that defendant-employer violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by terminating plaintiff based on her failure to pass a physical capacity evaluation, summary judgment for defendant is reversed where the district court erred in holding that the evaluation was not a medical examination within the meaning of 42 U.S.C. section 12112(d)(4)(A). Read Indergard v. Georgia-Pacific Corp., No. 08-35278 Appellate Information Argued and Submitted June 4, 2009...

Statistics say homicides declined at the turn of the 21st century, and researchers say cell phones could explain it. According to the new theory, drug dealers and other criminal types used cell phones to work around turf wars. It didn’t keep crime off the streets, but it kept the homicides down. It’s not the only explanation for the decline in violent crime, but is a new take on the statistic....

The hottest new product in the cannabis industry is called Delta-8 THC, and it is making a lot of money for people who claim it’s totally legal. But is it? Before we delve into that question, maybe we should attempt to explain what Delta-8 THC really is. Marijuana and hemp are essentially the same plant, with one large difference: Marijuana has much higher concentrations of Delta-9 THC, the psychoactive ingredient that makes people high....

In an action seeking a declaration that the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) did not apply to plaintiffs’ planned cultivation of cannabis pursuant to licenses they obtained from the State of North Dakota, dismissal of the complaint is affirmed where the Supreme Court’s decision in Gonzales v. Raich, 545 U.S. 1 (2005), disposed of plaintiffs’ argument that the CSA could not be interpreted to reach their intrastate cultivation and processing of cannabis without violating the Commerce Clause....

It need not be decided whether District court’s denial of a motion for preliminary injunction filed by the National Hockey League, the Office of the Commissioner of Baseball, and the National Collegiate Athletic Association was proper where, as a matter of law, the elements of Delaware’s sports lottery violates the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, 28 U.S.C. section 3701. Read Office of the Comm’r of Baseball v. Markell, No. 09-3297...

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments earlier this month over whether those jailed in Ohio right before Election Day are entitled to the same absentee voting exemptions as those who are hospitalized. Although state law prohibits convicted felons from voting, the rules are different for those detained and awaiting trial. Generally, a person who is confined or hospitalized in Ohio can submit an absentee ballot by noon on the Saturday before Election Day....

Thomson Reuters is a massive, massive company. Among its many, many products are FindLaw.com (that’s us!) and West Publishing, whose blue screens of research filled your sleep-deprived nights in law school. Marcy A. Johnson isn’t too happy about that practice. She alleged, on behalf of herself and all similarly-situated people in the class, that the act of bulk aggregation of DMV data and the sale of such data violated the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act (DPPA)....

A Pennsylvania judge ordered a Montgomery County clerk to stop issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. As expected, the court determined that a court clerk does not have the authority to decide whether state rules are constitutional. The big lesson: Despite monumental LGBT-friendly legal shifts on the horizon, court clerks don’t have the right to preemptively decide the constitutionality of a law. The state’s Health Department sued Orphans’ Court of Montgomery County clerk, D....

In an action brought by the Governor of Illinois challenging certain recommendations brought under the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act, district court judgment is modified and affirmed where the governor’s actions in invoking 32 U.S.C. sec. 104(c), which prohibits redeployment without gubernatorial consent, for the declared purpose of excluding its one base from the Commission’s realignment program is forbidden by the Realignment Act, as the Act supersedes any statute that is incompatible with the Act’s all-or-none feature....

The United States Supreme Court dealt a blow to gun advocates today by rejecting a pair of appeals, each seeking to overturn state law restrictions on firearms. One of the appeals involved the Maryland ban on assault rifles and high capacity magazines, and the other involved Florida’s ban on the open carry of handguns. Notably, the High Court has not heard a major gun case since 2010. At that time, it held that handguns could not be banned by state and local governments for protection in a home....

The Iowa Caucus is less than two weeks away, which means the 2012 election cycle is officially upon us. This year’s presidential election will be the first employing the relaxed campaign expenditure restrictions from the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, which has prompted a number of challenges to state and local campaign laws. This week, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a contested New York City campaign finance law, rejecting arguments that the law imposed an unconstitutional burden to contributors’ First Amendment rights....

Michigan’s petition for review of the EPA’s final ruling redesignating the Forest County Potawatomi Community lands to Class I status and issuing two companion announcements concluding dispute resolution proceedings with Wisconsin and Michigan is dismissed as Michigan failed to allege a cognizable injury in fact and thus lacks standing where: 1) Michigan may not establish standing by simply identifying a procedural defect in the redesignation process; 2) even if assuming that Michigan is the injured party, there is no evidence in the record indicating that the new restrictions affect Michigan directly; and 3) Michigan’s argument that the redesignation creates numerous complications and unworkable conflicts in its air pollution programs is outside the scope of the court’s review....