Posts

The town of Fremont, Nebraska voted to uphold an ordinance prohibiting employers and landlords from hiring or renting to undocumented immigrants. The measure, approved in 2010, survived a constitutional challenge before the Eighth Circuit. Despite staving off a slew of legal challenges and passing yet again by popular vote, the ban may not be free from legal scrutiny just yet. The housing measure was mired in controversy and remained in limbo because of legal challenges....

We’ve all become accustomed to the president using his personal twitter account to communicate his position on current issues or call out those who disagree with him. His tweets reach more than 85 million followers, plus millions of others through retweets and shares on other social media platforms. The rest of us can easily block bothersome people on social media. But if the president is using this platform in his official capacity, does he have the right to block Twitter users he doesn’t like?...

In a motion to quash a summons issued by the IRS and served on the U.S. more than twenty days after it was issued, the District Court’s order dismissing the action for lack of jurisdiction is reversed where, although a party filing a motion to quash must commence a proceeding to quash the summons within twenty days after the notice is given, the party is permitted 120 days to serve the motion on the U....

Perfect 10, purveyor of copyright lawsuits and internet nudity, has been thwarted in yet another claim against Google for copyright infringement. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals refused to grant Perfect 10’s request for a preliminary injunction on Wednesday because the skin site had failed to demonstrate irreparable harm in its claim against the Internet giant. In case you missed Superbad, Perfect 10 is a website that creates and copyrights photographic images of nude models for commercial distribution through its subscriber-based website....

Getting suspended from school might not sound that bad sometimes. After all, school days are long, so what’s wrong with a little vacay from the school year every now and then? However, out-of-school suspensions likely become part of your permanent school record. (And your parents get Big Mad too.) But don’t freak out yet. While the procedures for school discipline may be different depending on state law and your school’s code of conduct, public school students have specific rights if punished with disciplinary action that removes them from the school setting....

In US v. Deegan, No. 08-2299, the court of appeals affirmed defendant’s murder sentence, on the grounds that 1) defendant did not object to the adequacy of the district court’s explanation of her sentence or request any elaboration; 2) the district court’s discussion of the guidelines was an accurate statement about the general purpose and methodology behind the sentencing guidelines; and 3) a court reasonably could view defendant’s offense as “unusually heinous, cruel, and brutal,” and deserving of harsh punishment....

The Armed Career Criminal Act’s mandatory minimum guidelines applies to any person who has been convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm, and who has three previous convictions for “violent felonies” or serious drug offenses. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled this week that a Tennessee conviction for facilitation of aggravated robbery qualifies as a “violent felony” under the Act. In August 2009, Anthony Gloss pleaded guilty to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm....

In a rather strange move for the Trump administration, which just tweeted out a message in support of LBGTQ Pride, the State Department has refused to grant any U.S. embassy permission to fly the rainbow flag beneath the U.S. flag. Flying the rainbow flag during Pride had become a tradition for U.S. embassies in recent years. But that tradition ended this year, after a new policy required embassies to seek permission to do so....

The moment that many eagerly awaited — or feared — arrived last week. In a closely watched address, President Joe Biden announced a sweeping new expansion of COVID-19 vaccine mandates. The plan, which has a goal of covering about two-thirds of all American workers, involves using existing regulatory authority and not relying on Congress to pass any new laws. As expected, the announcement quickly drew the ire of people opposed to getting the vaccine and those philosophically opposed to vaccine mandates and presidential overreach....

In a civil forfeiture action seeking the proceeds of medical marijuana distribution, judgment for the government is reversed where the evidence relied upon by the district court was itself tainted by the illegal search and should have been suppressed, and without the suppressed evidence, the government lacked probable cause to connect the defendant currency to a violation of federal law. Read US v. $186,416.00 in US Currency Appellate Information Argued and Submitted March 12, 2009...

In a 28 U.S.C. section 2255 petition alleging ineffective assistance of trial counsel, the petition is denied where the omission of a “viable” issue by counsel did not in and of itself constitute ineffective assistance of counsel, and petitioner’s double jeopardy argument required a non-obvious extension of currently existing law. Read US v. Challoner, No. 08-1335 Appellate Information October 14, 2009 Judges Opinion by Judge Tacha Counsel For Appellant: Robert G....

Conviction and sentence for attempting to solicit a minor for sex is affirmed where: 1) the district court did not abuse its discretion in admitting evidence of defendant’s prior online relationship with another minor; 2) there was sufficient evidence to show that defendant took a substantial step towards the completion of the offense; and 3) the court did not err in its calculation of defendant’s advisory guidelines range for sentencing. Read US v....

Conviction for drug crimes is affirmed where the district court properly denied defendant’s motion to suppress as the use of dog sniff that led to discovery of marijuana stored in defendant’s automobile was not the result of an unconstitutionally prolonged traffic stop, and since there was reasonable suspicion to prolong the stop for additional questioning after the basis for the initial stop had been resolved, the use of dog sniff did not implicate Fourth Amendment and constituted a de minimis extension of the stop....

New York State Attorney General Letitia James has now recommended that New York police cease making regular traffic stops, because of the chance that they will escalate to violence. Why the Change? Last year New York police performed a routine traffic stop where they believed the motorists were not wearing seat belts, though video would later prove that the men were. The incident ended with police fatally shooting Allan Feliz, whose family would later file a wrongful death suit....

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) cannot cap compensation for athletes’ educational expenses, according to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. In a recent decision, a Ninth Circuit panel held that such a cap violates the Sherman Act. However, the NCAA can limit other payments. The Ninth Circuit’s decision upholds a lower courts ruling, and could lead to athletes being compensated more for attending certain schools. NCAA Seeks to Preserve Amateur Status The NCAA had argued that limits on educational expenses for student-athletes is necessary to preserve the amateur status of collegiate sports....

Petition for review of the Department of Labor’s dismissal of plaintiff’s employment retaliation claim is denied where substantive evidence supported an ALJ’s finding that plaintiff failed to sustain the burden of proving that her protected activity was a contributing factor in her termination, as her employer refused plaintiff’s attempt to rescind her resignation because the company was unhappy with her substandard performance and not in retaliation for filing a safety complaint....

In an action by the ACLU against a county challenging a display of the Ten Commandments in a County Fiscal Court, district court’s finding that the hanging of the display was shown to have been motivated by a predominantly religious purpose in holding that the inclusion of the Ten Commandments in the display violated the Establishment Clause is reversed, and the permanent injunction vacated, as the district court erred in its assessment of the record as plaintiffs failed to present sufficient evidence to prove that the Fiscal Court had an impermissible purpose or that the display endorses religion....

Mainstay Business Solutions won its case in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals under the Federal Unemployment Tax Act this week, but the victory is too little, too late. The company was forced to close in April as a result of an ongoing dispute with the California Economic Development Department (EDD). Mainstay provided employee leasing and temporary staffing for small- and medium-sized businesses located in California, Hawaii, and Nevada. Mainstay contracted with each of its clients to hire the client’s employees as its own and then “lease” those employees back to the client....

Millions of Americans across the country have had their driver’s licenses or voting rights suspended because of the same thing: unpaid court fees. California just became the first state to waive these fees for low-income individuals. Here’s what that means. What Are Court Fees? People who have been charged with civil infractions or criminal offenses are charged fees for things like their court representation or as a way for the court to raise funds for other programs....

Denial of social security benefits reversed In Campbell v. Astrue, 10-1314, the court reversed and remanded the district court’s affirmance of the Social Security Administration’s denial of plaintiff’s application for disability insurance benefits and supplemental income as, the ALJ erred in deciding to discount plaintiff’s treating psychiatrist’s assessment of his functional limitations and by failing to apply the factors enumerted in 20 C.F.R. sections 404.1527(d) and 416.927(d) in deciding what weight to give that assessment....