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We knew it was coming and now it’s started. Ever since Justice Scalia’s sudden death in mid-February, the Supreme Court has been down a justice, evenly divided, four against four, between its more conservative and liberal wings. A deadlocked Court was inevitable and today the Court released its first equally divided ruling since Justice Scalia’s passing. Expect to see more of this in the future. The Court’s one sentence per curiam opinion signaled the start of a new (and hopefully brief) era:...

The California video game law case was decided this week. Decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, that is. Several years back the case had already been decided by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. In its decision on Monday, the Supreme Court held that the California video game law was unconstitutional and in violation of the First Amendment’s right to free speech. The disputed law placed a limitation on the sale of violent video games to minors....

Illinois law bars people from carrying loaded, accessible guns. There are exceptions for police and other security personnel, hunters, and members of target shooting clubs. There are more exceptions for a person on his own property or in his home. An apartment dweller can have a gun in his unit, but not in the building’s common areas. Carrying an unloaded gun in public is prohibited, unless carried openly outside a vehicle in an unincorporated area without accessible ammo....

It’s midnight, you suddenly crave a snack, and then you remember that package of yummy honey-baked deli ham in the fridge. You open the fridge door, salivating, but when you extract said package you notice a troubling item on the label: The five-day-old expiration date. So you weigh the options: Shall I roll the dice? And if I do, might I experience a trip to the emergency room? Or a painful death?...

Chief Justice Alice Moor Batchelder of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals was one of only six women in her graduating class at Akron University School of Law in 1971. Now, she sits as the Chief Justice of a federal appeals court. And she might almost have been a U.S. Supreme Court nominee, once. Batchelder came into the spotlight in 2005, as her name was thrown around as a potential replacement for U....

The Supreme Court has clarified that plaintiffs must meet a “but for" standard when alleging racial bias under §1981 of the Civil Rights Act. The Supreme Court’s decision could impact civil rights litigation involving contracts, employment agreements, and other allegations of racial bias, and resolves a split among circuit courts. A $20 Billion Lawsuit At stake is a potential $20 billion lawsuit brought by Allen Media Group against Comcast. According to the complaint, Comcast declined to enter into a contract with the Allen Media Group to carry its television content due to it being minority-owned....

Millions of us have gotten our W-2s and we’re getting ready to file our taxes. We may be worried about how much we owe, or excited to get our return. The only problem? Scammers know this, and are ready, willing, and able to take advantage of unsuspecting tax payers. Whether it’s impersonating the IRS or impersonating you, cybercriminals will be active this tax season. So here’s how to stay safe....

Action to Enjoin New Mexico From Regulating Alcohol on Flights In US Airways, Inc. v. O’Donnell, No. 09-2271, an action in seeking to enjoin defendant New Mexico state officials from regulating, pursuant to the New Mexico Liquor Control Act (NMLCA), the alcoholic beverage service that airlines provided to passengers on flights, the court reversed summary judgment for defendants where New Mexico’s regulatory scheme was impliedly preempted as it fell within the field of aviation safety that Congress intended federal law to occupy exclusively, but the Twenty-First Amendment required a balancing of New Mexico’s core powers and the federal interests underlying the Federal Aviation Act....

Defendant’s firearm possession conviction and sentence are affirmed where: 1) the arresting officer possessed probable cause to believe that a traffic violation occurred when he observed Defendant not wearing a seatbelt; and 2) the duration of the detention and questioning were reasonable. Read US v. Canipe, No. 08-5534 Appellate Information Submitted: June 11, 2009 Decided and Filed: June 30, 2009 Judges Opinion by Circuit Judge Griffin Counsel For Appellant: Clifton L....

Conviction of defendant for wire fraud and investment advisor fraud is confirmed where: 1) the district court did not abuse its discretion in determining that a victim-witness was unavailable to testify at trial and allowing testimony by videotaped deposition as the court repeatedly noted the witness’s medical problems were severe and chronic; and 2) district court was correct to reject defendant’s motion to dismiss on statute of limitation grounds as wire communications that lull a victim into a false sense of security, such as the eighteen calls to the victim in this case, after the victim’s money had already been obtained is sufficient to further the scheme....

In a prosecution for drug- and firearm-related offenses, grant of defendant’s motion to suppress all physical evidence and statements stemming from his encounter with police is reversed where the court erred when it held defendant was seized prior to his physical contact with the officers as there was no show of authority by the police officers in the first alleged seizure, and he did not indicate submission to the officers’ show of authority in the second alleged seizure....

We think Reza Baniassadi suspected that his reputation in the Chicago legal community would be compromised when the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals dedicated one-third of its opinion in a recent immigration appeal to criticizing his performance as an attorney. Baniassadi’s client, Alicja Wroblewska, is a Polish citizen who came to the U.S. in 1994 on a visitor’s visa. She overstayed her visa and was caught allegedly trying to bribe an immigration officer in November 1999 in Operation Durango, an Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) operation that the Seventh Circuit previously described as “a shady sting....

Just in time for back to school, the legal world got a brand new ranking. And no, it’s not U.S. News reselling the same list of the top 14 law schools in America again (and again, and again). A new study by researchers at the University of St. Thomas Law School in Minneapolis, Minnesota, looks at the influence legal scholars have on the profession, by tallying how often their works are cited in court opinions....

Most employers aren’t excited when their employees choose to unionize, but the National Labor Relations Act limits an employer’s ability to discourage unionization. The employer can, however, challenge the validity of a union election. When waging a unionization vote challenge, it’s important for an employer to plead its case with specificity, as we learn in today’s Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals case. Employees of Brentwood at Hobart, an assisted living facility, voted to unionize and use the Service Employees International Union as their collective-bargaining representative in September 2009....

Warrantless pat-down suspects could learn a thing or two from the Don’t-Touch-My-Junk passenger. Sure, a traveler who opts out of full-body, virtual strip searches at the airport still must submit to a full-body, enhanced pat-down, but the “don’t touch my junk” request can still be useful for stopping non-TSA, warrantless pat-downs. A three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last week that a warrantless, full-body pat-down, which included a little groin-area groping, was a reasonable search that did not exceed the suspect’s consent....

Persuasive writing can be a dangerous thing in the hands of a lawyer. It’s not just something to play around with in law school. Serious persuasive writing comes from the school of hard knocks. That’s because judges don’t usually compliment lawyers for their writing – even when they rule in their favor. If you really want to become a killer writer, do it like your life depends on it. Here are some weapons:...

In what The Associated Press called “a surprise,” the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals announced that it would hear same-sex marriage appeals from South Dakota, Arkansas, and Missouri in a consolidated oral argument held the week of May 11 in Omaha, Nebraska. The court agreed not only to consolidate all the cases, but to expedite the appeals. The court’s ruling will definitely be influenced by the U.S. Supreme Court’s opinion in the Sixth Circuit same-sex marriage cases, which it will hear some time this term....

Trickle-down equality. After Windsor. After Latta v. Otter. After all of the high-profile appellate cases comes controlling precedent and typing up loose ends. The Montana case seems like it’s headed for summary judgment. A few motions for en banc rehearing by the Ninth Circuit are pending, but likely won’t be granted. And a few other states have thrown in the towel, making gay marriage legal in just a few more jurisdictions....

Environmental and community advocates won’t be able to force stricter pesticide emissions restrictions in California, the Ninth Circuit ruled on Friday. A coalition of groups, lead by El Comite para el Bienestar de Earlimart, had challenged the state’s Clean Air Act pesticide regulations, arguing that they did not reduce emissions enough and would lead to excessive levels of exposure for Latino youth. The regulations in question were first proposed in 1994 to ensure compliance with the Clean Air Act....

This week, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a Sacramento man’s conviction for mailing fake anthrax to people to promote his book about anthrax. Quelle surprise! That sort of thing isn’t protected by the First Amendment. Marc Keyser wrote “Anthrax: Shock and Awe Terror” to spread the message that an anthrax attack could wreak havoc on the country. In an attempt to secure publicity for the book, Keyser did what any normal person nutcase would do: He mailed a package to the Sacramento News & Review in 2007....