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While the Sixth Circuit is certainly buzzing today with the news of the Supreme Court’s unanimous reversal in Hosanna-Tabor Lutheran Church and School v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, there’s another employment law case out of the circuit this week that could generate just as much attention. On Monday, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated a terminated United Parcel Service (UPS) employee’s discrimination and retaliation claims under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), finding that the district court erred in restricting the scope of the employee’s discovery to a single, similarly-situated employee and granting summary judgment....

Judge Jeffrey Miller has an international border case that is beyond his reach. It is hard enough that the case is about wastewater flowing from Mexico border town Tijuana to nearby San Diego County, California. But it is even more complicated than the course of pollution spilling into waterways and ocean bays. City of Imperial Beach v. International Boundary Water Commission is the first case of its kind. It asks the court to address a Clean Water Act violation from polluted waters entering United States from another country....

Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin’s primary medical witness, former Maryland chief medical examiner David Fowler, failed to convince a jury that the defendant did not murder George Floyd. And by testifying that Floyd’s death should have been classified as “undetermined," Fowler created a possible legal mess for himself. On April 24, the offices of the Maryland governor and attorney general announced they will be launching an investigation of Fowler’s 17-year career as chief medical examiner which ended in 2019....

In US v. Billian, No. 09-3385, the Seventh Circuit faced a challenge to a conviction for drug and firearm related crimes, claiming that an officer’s affidavit failed to establish probable cause and contained material falsehoods and omissions. As stated in the decision: “Billian wants us to decide the probable-cause question without regard to the fact that both a state judge and a federal district judge have found probable cause. After a federal district judge holds an evidentiary hearing and finds probable cause for the search, it would be almost inconceivable for a court of appeals to find probable cause so obviously lacking that the evidence must be suppressed....

Veterans’ benefits appeals are governed by very specific statutes that confer subject matter jurisdiction upon certain courts. If a litigant brings an appeal in a different court, he will lose his case. A recent decision from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals about Filipino World War II veterans’ benefits highlights the problems with the trying to circumvent the statutorily-dictated appellate process. Qualifying U.S. citizens receive $15,000 under the FVEC, while non-citizens receive $9,000....

The latkes are getting soggy, Hanukkah Harry has gone away, and one of Judaism’s more “meh” holidays is over. But forget that, let’s talk about the Supreme Court. In what’s got to be a great Maccabean coincidence, there have now been eight Jewish Supreme Court justices, one for each light on the menorah. Less than a hundred years ago, the first Jewish justice was appointed to the Supreme Court. That gave rise to a single “Jewish seat” on the Court....

The Ninth Circuit has ruled that the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) erred in not considering imputed political opinion as a ground for asylum in an Armenian man’s case. Petitioner Hayk Khudaverdyan sought asylum in the United States. He claimed that he was unable to return to Armenia because he was persecuted by the military police for whistleblowing to the press. Khudaverdyan, a manager at a hotel restaurant, was beaten by a local police chief’s bodyguards after the chief was dissatisfied with the food and service....

Suspecting that a particular Chevy Tahoe might be involved in a methamphetamine-trafficking ring, DEA agents radioed the Lexington (Kentucky) Police, telling them that they “didn’t know who was in the vehicle, didn’t know anything about any weapons but basically the group was involved in meth.” Officer Adam Ray, who responded, found the Tahoe and observed the driver, Marcus Adkins, fail to use a turn signal. He also suspected the tint on the windows was too dark....

A car’s license plate, once just a means to identify the vehicle, has increasingly become a way for drivers to express themselves. Vanity plates allow their owners to add a splash of personality to their plates, and many states have license plates promoting specific organizations or causes. License plates have become so customizable, you might even think they’ve become a forum for the free expression of ideas. You’d be wrong, at least according to the Second Circuit....

Happy Groundhog Day, SCOTUS-watchers. America’s seasonal oracle, Punxsutawney Phil, saw his shadow this morning, according to The Washington Post. You can forget that balmy weather outside, because “winter” is here for six more weeks. (Our calendar indicated that winter was here until March anyway. Perhaps Phil’s shadow is predicative of the winter in our hearts rather than the vernal equinox?) The Supreme Court is out of justice’s shadow for its winter recess, so today we’re going to spring forward from 2/2 to 2/22, when the Nine will hear Stolen Valor Act arguments....

In an intentional infliction of emotional distress action against the U.S. based on an Army Reserve disciplinary proceeding, the dismissal of the complaint is affirmed, where Plaintiff’s claim arose out of an injury to a serviceman where the injuries arose out of the course of activity incident to service. Read Lovely v. US, No. 08-3524 Appellate Information Argued June 18, 2009 Decided and Filed June 26, 2009 Judges Opinion by Judge Moore...

A federal appeals court affirmed a contempt ruling against a man who refused to give authorities passwords to his electronic devices known to have child pornography. The U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that the defendant was in contempt of a trial court order to provide the passwords. The defendant claimed a right against self-incrimination, but the appellate court said the government already knew the devices contained child pornography and that it was “a foregone conclusion” the defendant knew the passwords....

In a murder prosecution, denial of a habeas petition is affirmed where petitioner offered no evidence indicating that defense counsel was unreasonable or ineffective for selecting his chosen trial strategy, as the strategy was intended to and did prevent petitioner from receiving the death penalty. Read Matylinsky v. Budge, No. 08-15459 Appellate Information Argued and Submitted May 5, 2009 Filed August 18, 2009 Judges Opinion by Judge Tallman Counsel For Appellant:...

Law enforcement took a turn for the futuristic in North Dakota when a farmer in the state became the first person to be convicted following the use of a Predator drone, raising questions about the legality of warrantless drone searches. Rodney Brossart was arrested in 2011 for refusing to return his neighbor’s cows and for allegedly “terrorizing” police officers who tried to arrest him. That’s when things took a turn for the creepy....

Like any other business, the name a firm chooses is vital to their success. It’s how clients will find you, remember you, and recommend you. Recently, some law firms have begun to move away from the “Partner Name, Pardner Name & Partner Nane” convention, because let’s face it: I misspelled two of those words and more than a few people probably didn’t notice. For attorneys, it’s not as easy as pulling a name out of a hat....

If we had to analogize Arizona to a child, we’d say it was suffering from “middle child syndrome.” What else could explain the policies and legislation that comes out of that state? Perhaps Arizona just wants more attention from her parents the Federal Government. (Sidebar: Jan Brewer is the second child – just saying). The challenged Arizona law du jour is Ariz. Rev. Stat. Ann § 28-3153(D), which prohibits the issuance of licenses to young immigrants (under Gov....

As SCOTUS takes the bench this week for the Fall 2017 term, there are several cases that will be worth watching. As the notorious RBG herself said at a recent Georgetown Law event, “There is only one prediction that is entirely safe about the upcoming term, and that is it will be momentous.” While the travel ban may be fresh in the minds of the public, other big issues are set to be decided....

The Supreme Court stayed John Balentine’s execution on Wednesday, giving the man more time to prove that his trial lawyer was ineffective. It was the Texas death row prisoner’s third stay of execution, reports Reuters. He was scheduled to die by lethal injection just one hour later. The question in John Balentine’s case is not one of guilt or innocence. In January 1998, Balentine entered his ex-girlfriend’s home and shot her brother, Mark Caylor, Jr....

After all that Charles Murphy suffered at the hands of prison guards, his case is going to the U.S. Supreme Court over another issue: attorney’s fees. The High Court has docketed the case, Murphy v. Smith, to decide whether a portion of a judgment means “up to 25 percent” or “exactly 25 percent” for attorney’s fees under 42 U.S.C. Section 1983. The U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals said that Murphy has to pay 25 percent of the fees from his award....

In an action for breach of a mortgage loan purchase agreement, judgment for defendant based on the district court’s finding that the action was champertous is reversed where the challenged assignment allowed plaintiff directly to enforce its pre-existing interest in the loan. Read Trust for the Cert. Holders of the Merrill Lynch Mortgage Investors, Inc. v. Love Funding Corp., No. 07-1050 Appellate Information Argued: September 26, 2008 Decided: January 11, 2010...