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Justice Stephen Breyer never fails to impress. He officiates weddings, and stays on top of social media trends. He suffers injuries in two bike crashes, and continues cycling. He addresses law school graduates in three languages during the course of a single speech.* And somehow, between hobbies, speeches, exercise, and a rather demanding day job, he finds time to judge the preeminent architecture award, the Pritzker Prize. This will not be Justice Breyer’s first experience passing judgment on architects....

Fernando Bermudez spent 18 years in prison for a murder he did not commit. After a prosecution which was suspect from the beginning – one which included suggestive photo arrays, police coercion, and a failure to investigate other suspects – it took Bermudez almost two decades to get his conviction overturned, despite every witness recanting their testimony. Bermudez will now be able to go forward with a civil suit for damages stemming from his wrongful imprisonment, after the Second Circuit ruled on Monday that there were triable questions of fact as to whether the faulty investigation violated Bermudez’s constitutional rights....

The ballots facing voters in the midterm elections contained the fewest ballot questions in the last two decades. But there were enough of them — 140, to be exact — to provide a picture of what voters think about a variety of subjects. Now that most of the votes have been counted, we can review the returns to see how Americans responded. Here is a summary: Strong Support for Abortion Access Among ballot questions, this is the subject that has drawn the most attention....

FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the internet. “Romance scams” are becoming a growing problem. A romance scam occurs when two people contact each other on a dating app or elsewhere on the internet. Communications unfold between the two people with the purported goal of finding love. However, while one of the two people is intent on finding a dream match, the other person seeks to earn trust to fleece money over time from the innocent dating victim....

We’re among the whiney air travelers who huff and puff every time we’re forced to walk through the backscatter. We don’t like the high-tech airport strip-search, regardless of what the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals says about its legality. (Sidebar: If you’re lounging in a Vegas pool and you realize that you have to leave for the airport NOW because your flight departs an hour earlier than you thought, change into dry clothes before entering the airport security line....

Can you say P.R. nightmare? The owners of PEZ might be doing just that after filing a trademark infringement lawsuit against the Burlingame Museum of PEZ Memorabilia. The brouhaha that Swiss-based Patrafico AG and U.S.-based PEZ Candy, Inc. created after attacking this venerable California shrine to its candy dispenser fanatics might actually be working against the company’s brand-building efforts. Here’s why. The museum is the brainchild of Nancy Doss and Gary Doss, a Bay Area couple who created the museum in 1995 and operated it over the last 14 years....

In the government’s appeal of defendant’s sentence for interstate travel in aid of racketeering, the sentence is affirmed where: 1) the district court committed no procedural error in mentioning defendant’s Iranian-Christian status; and 2) the record supported the weight the district court attached to certain 18 U.S.C. section 3553(a) factors in varying downward from the applicable Guidelines sentence. Read US v. Sayad, No. 08-1366 Appellate Information Filed December 22, 2009...

President Biden took dramatic steps on Oct. 6 to overhaul U.S. marijuana policy, finally acting on a pledge he made during his presidential campaign two years ago. First, Biden pardoned all people convicted of marijuana possession under federal law between 1992 and 2021, a move that affects at least 6,500 men and women plus several thousand more in the District of Columbia. Second, he said that his administration will review whether marijuana should be reclassified so that it is not in the same Schedule 1 drug category as heroin and LSD....

In National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, instead of the large cash bonus he was expecting, Clark Griswold received a one-year subscription to the jelly of the month club as a company Christmas gift. The gift led to one of the funniest rants in cinema. But what would’ve happened if he unleashed that vitriol on Facebook or Twitter instead of just in front of his family? Canadian Worker Fired for Criticism News reports in recent days have highlighted the case of a Canada-based branch manager for Fastenal, an American company that sells construction supplies....

There are plenty of small businesses getting ahead of the curve on environmental causes. As it turns out, going green can be a good look (advertising-wise) and good for your bottom line (tax break-wise). But some cities and states aren’t waiting for businesses to be environmentally friendly on their own, and are instituting anti-pollution measures in the meantime. Washington D.C. became the second city to ban single-use plastic straws and stirrers earlier this year, and has begun issuing official warnings and fines to businesses and organizations that don’t comply....

The International Association of Athletics Federations recently ruled that Caster Semenya cannot race in the 800m at the upcoming Olympics (and other internationally sanctioned competitive events) with other women unless she limits her testosterone levels. The ruling is based upon Semenya’s elevated testosterone levels. Despite the fact that her hormone levels are naturally occurring, the IAAF court found that elevated levels of testosterone in female athletes creates an unfair advantage. Their ruling fully recognized that it is discriminatory, however, the panel stated that the rule to limit testosterone levels is “reasonable, necessary and proportionate....

If you had DUI, cocaine, and lawn equipment on your Florida Man bingo card, congratulations! You win. And let us introduce you to 68-year-old Gary Wayne Anderson, a hero who wouldn’t let a decades-suspended driver’s license, two prior drunk driving convictions, and a blood alcohol concentration three times the legal limit stop him from getting behind the wheel … of a riding mower. And he might’ve gotten away with it too, if he hadn’t clipped the bumper of a Haines City Police cruiser during his escape....

In an Age Discrimination in Employment Act action regarding a statement by a third party retained by defendant that plaintiff was too old for the position at issue, summary judgment for defendant is reversed where an employer may be held liable for discrimination by third parties, including independent contractors, that the employer authorizes to make hiring decisions on its behalf. Read Halpert v. Manhattan Apts., Inc., No. 07-4074 Appellate Information...

In Estrada v. Holder, No. 08-1226, the Seventh Circuit dealt with a petition for review, BIA’s affirmance of IJ’s refusal to examine a Mexican citizen’s challenge to the validity of a 1996 recsission of his lawful-permanent-resident status by the INS. In granting the petition, the court vacated the rescission order as petitioner’s challenge to the sufficiency of the notice he received before the agency rescinded his permanent resident status was reviewable in his removal proceedings....

In October 2013, the Tenth Circuit determined that Abercrombie & Fitch, the nation’s No. 1 purveyor of that weird cologne smell in the mall, didn’t violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act when it refused to hire a Muslim job applicant for wearing a hijab in contravention of Abercrombie’s dress code. The EEOC has since been granted a cert. petition, and filed its opening brief earlier this month. The case has garnered a whole heck of a lot of amici including religious organizations, the Lambda Legal foundation, and the State of Arizona, for some reason....

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is resting comfortably and recovering after undergoing emergency heart surgery earlier today. Last night, during one of her legendary workouts with her personal trainer, she experienced discomfort and was taken to the hospital. This morning, she had a stent put in to alleviate blockage in her right coronary artery. The two-time cancer survivor and leader of the liberal wing of the court is expected to be released in the next 48 hours, reports the Chicago Tribune....

In a challenge to a Department of Education regulation permitting teachers participating in alternative route programs to be considered “highly qualified” under the No Child Left Behind Act, an order granting summary judgment to the Department is vacated with instructions to dismiss the action where plaintiffs lacked standing to challenge the regulation because they could not show that invalidating the regulation would personally benefit them. Read Renee v. Duncan, No. 08-16661...

In US v. Littlewind, No. 08-4000, the defendant was convicted of assault with a dangerous weapon, assault resulting in serious bodily injury, and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence. As the court of appeals wrote: “The evidence at trial, taken in the light most favorable to the verdict, showed the following facts. During the two years preceding the incident precipitating this case, Sylvester Littlewind and Budene Eback shared a residence and carried on a romantic relationship....

With winter comes delayed dawns, early dusks, and the threat of a polar vortex. Stalactites of ice, wintry mixes, and brutal wind chills tempt us to stay home. But most of us traverse the frozen tundra to visit family and friends for the holidays, even if conditions are particularly challenging. According to AAA, about 49 million people will travel by road this holiday season. Almost 40% of weather-related vehicle crashes annually occur due to winter weather....

The Supreme Court decided this week that the Third Circuit Court of Appeals is all kinds of wrong. Wednesday, the Court issued two opinions reversing earlier Third Circuit rulings: Millbrook v. U.S. and Comcast Corp et al v. Behrend. The first case, Millbrook, garnered a fair amount of attention when the Court granted certiorari in October because petitioner Kim Millbrook actually submitted a handwritten petition to the Court. That move paid off, since he has now won his Federal Tort Claims Act appeal....