A judge wants a competency evaluation to see if a former janitor understands what will happen if he drops the appeal of his conviction and 20-year sentence for aiding the terrorist group al-Shabaab, reports the Pioneer Press. In an order last Friday, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals sent the case of Mahamud Said Omar, 47, back to the lower court to hold a hearing at the judge’s request. Chief U....
One thing I love about California? It’s never boring. Last week we went over some new, and proposed, laws and today, we look at two recent cases initiated in California courts, as well as another proposed law. One case alleges violation of state labor laws, while the other one is a novel approach to dealing with those pesky mugshot websites – misappropriation of likeness for commercial gain. Finally, the proposed law would limit the use of antibiotics on livestock....
If you - or your clients - have long dreamed of packing heat on the Alameda County Fairgrounds, you could be in luck. On Monday, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed to reconsider its 1999 ruling that an Alameda gun ban on county property was constitutional as long as it did not impose a “substantial burden” on the right to bear arms. Plaintiffs Russell and Sallie Nordyke aren’t challenging the law to form a fairground militia or bring a handgun to a carnival; they just want to host gun shows at the fairground....
Walmart must provide hepatitis B vaccinations to warehouse workers who volunteered for an injury-response team, a federal appeals court said. In Wal-Mart Stores East v. Acosta, the U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals said the superstore had to comply with federal health requirements. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration mandates certain workers receive vaccinations. Walmart argued that volunteers were exempt because giving first aid was not their primary job. The Eighth Circuit cleaned that mess up and upheld a $26,000 fine against the company....
FOIA Action Regarding Prison Murder Photos In Prison Legal News v. Exec. Offc. for US Attys., No. 09-1511, a Freedom of Information Act action, the court dismissed in part plaintiff’s appeal from the district court’s order exempting from mandatory disclosure a video depicting the aftermath of a brutal prison murder and autopsy photographs of the victim, with respect to the portion of the appeal pertaining to records that had been released by Executive Office for United States Attorneys....
In an appeal from the district court’s denial of appellant’s motion to intervene as of right in a securities fraud action, the order is affirmed where appellant was improperly attempting to enforce a restitution order in a parallel criminal action in a manner outside the scope of 18 U.S.C. section 3664(m)(1)(B). Read Schultz v. US, No. 08-17304 Appellate Information Argued and Submitted December 11, 2009 Filed February 9, 2010 Judges...
In United States Air Force’s (USAF) suit against Commemorative Air Force (CAF) for breach of contract, replevin, and a declaratory judgment that it violated the terms of a 1996 donation certificate concerning an F-82 aircraft, district court’s order granting summary judgment in favor of plaintiff and denying CAF’s motion for summary judgment is affirmed, as there is no genuine issue of material fact that CAF’s attempt to trade the F-82 violated the terms of the 1996 donation certificate, which called for title to revest in the USAF if CAF no longer desired to return the aircraft....
The Supreme Court announced that it would rehear Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin on the very last day of its last term. It would be the second time the Justices had taken up the case, the first being in its 2012 term, and granting cert. didn’t come quickly. The Court sat on petition for not one, not two, but six scheduling conferences before the Justices agreed to hear the case....
Mack v. Kuckenmeister, No. 09-15290, concerned an action in federal court seeking to interplead $500,000 in retirement pension funds formerly owned by a murder victim. The Ninth Circuit reversed the dismissal of the action on the ground that state courts had subject matter jurisdiction to decide that a state court issued domestic relations order was a Qualified Domestic Relations Order, as defined by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. State of Cal....
Have you ever listened to a song and heard the faint and often vague whisper of a familiar sound from another artist’s song? Well, that’s not by accident. Such sampling is rather common and is at the epicenter of a recent Ninth Circuit ruling in favor of everyone’s favorite material girl, Madonna. The court ruled that Madonna’s very minor sample from a 1976 song in “Vogue” was small enough to be excusable....
On Monday, we started wondering what the 12 days of Christmas would look like viewed through the Supreme Court’s jurisprudentially-colored glasses. The problem with starting down that rabbit hole is that we can’t turn back now. (No, really. Our editor won’t let us.) Let’s keep moving down the countdown, folks. It’s our only way out. In 2004, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals held that “checkoff” advertising under the Dairy Promotion Stabilization Act is subject to First Amendment scrutiny, and that the Act violated a dairy-farming couple’s free speech and association rights by compelling them to subsidize the “Got Milk?...
Any small business can be the target of crime, from outsiders or employees. And as small businesses have ramped up their technological know-how, so have scammers. So cybersecurity, credit card fraud, and sham office supply schemes are just a few of the concerns the average business owner needs to add to her already full plate. Here are seven of the most prevalent small business crimes and scams, and what you can do to protect your small business, from our archives:...
It’s the end of the road for Native American tribes that tried to invoke sovereign immunity to protect patents. In Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe v. Mylan Pharmaceuticals, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a petition to review a decision against Allergan for transferring a drug patent to the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe. The company transferred the patents, then leased them back, to get around an inter partes challenge to the patents....
With the convenience of technology comes new risks as well. Although identity theft can occur without using the internet, it does make this crime easier to commit. Having your identity stolen can be very difficult, especially since you may not discover it until much later on. Often you won’t know until a credit card app, security app, or credit report alerts you that a social security number, credit card number, or sensitive personal information was stolen....
While economic indicators in the legal industry are largely encouraging, client demands are continuing to cast doubt on the long-term sustainability of the current law firm model. This blog recently noted we have a healthy, if somewhat stagnant, legal market, but current trends, including a focus on low-cost labor, will continue. Alternative fees and alternative legal services models will increase. Firms must adjust to new ways of doing business. In short, a fundamental shift in the legal industry is underway; one that may marginalize traditional law firms by the close of the decade....
When arguing at the U.S. Supreme Court, what, oh, what do you wear? That was kind of the question during oral arguments in Minnesota Voters Alliance v. Mansky, a case that turns on what voters can wear to the polls. The justices puzzled over the issue, repeatedly asking the lawyers what clothes could be prohibited under the First Amendment. The problem seems to be, where do you draw the line on political speech?...
Last week, a federal judge dismissed a challenge to the Illinois ban on carrying guns in public, finding that the Second Amendment only provides a narrow right to the right to bear arms. Plaintiffs in the case, Moore v. Madigan, have filed a notice of appeal with the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, indicating that they plan to challenge the ruling. Illinois has some of the toughest gun laws in the U....
A recent fact-check on Snopes revealed that many social media users are still unclear about the privacy such platforms afford. According to Snopes, a recent Snapchat post from “Team Snapchat” claimed that social media posts could “now be used as evidence” in court – unless you replied and stated your wish to opt out. Similar hoaxes have appeared on other platforms, most obnoxiously a post on Facebook that refuses to die, apparently written by someone who read an end-user license agreement once a few years before....
After a college party, Jackie went up to her date’s bedroom where his Phi Kappa Psi fraternity brothers were waiting in the dark. Someone grabbed her by the shoulders; another punched her in the face. One said: “Grab its motherf***** leg.” “As soon as they said it, I knew they were going to rape me,” she told Rolling Stone, which grabbed 2.7 million views for its online edition. The problem was, it was fake....
Three cases. Three panels. Three conflicting results. In one case, three opinions from a three-person panel. All of this comes in just a wee bit more than three months’ time. And all of it demonstrates the desperate need for the Sixth Circuit’s planned en banc reconsideration of United States v. Blewett, where the court found that the Fair Sentencing Act was retroactive because Equal Protection demanded it – a conclusion that was vacated shortly thereafter....
