Posts

Abbott v. Abbott, No. 08-645, concerned a petition seeking an order requiring petitioner’s son’s return to Chile under the Convention and the implementing statute, the International Child Abduction Remedies Act (ICARA). The Court reversed the Fifth Circuit’s affirmance of the district court’s denial of the petition, holding that petitioner had a right of custody under the Convention by reason of that parent’s ne exeat right under Chilean law, because: 1) Chilean law determined the content of petitioner’s right, while the Convention’s text and structure resolved whether that right was a right of custody; 2) that the child was wrongfully removed from Chile in violation of a right of custody was shown by the Convention’s text, by the U....

Benjamin Franklin (paraphrasing Christopher Bullock) said “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” This April, there is one more certainty on Tax Day: The final session of the Supreme Court’s 2012 Term will kick off with arguments about gene patenting on Monday, April 15. Alas, today is the sad day that we are sharing the final Supreme Court oral argument schedule for the final sitting of the term....

In an action by a child protection agency seeking contact information for the guardians or legal representatives of students in a special education class in which mistreatment of students was alleged, dismissal of the action is reversed where: 1) the district court erred in holding that probable cause under the Developmental Disabilities Act (DD Act) required some showing that abuse and neglect were ongoing or likely to recur; and 2) the Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act did not override plaintiff’s authority under the DD Act to demand guardian or representative contact information from the school district....

District court’s denial of defendant’s petition for habeas relief from a conviction for the first-degree murder of a four-month-old infant and sentence to 60 years in prison is affirmed as the record does not support defendant’s contention that state courts unreasonably applied clearly established federal law in rejecting his claims. Read Ellison v. Acevedo, No. 08-2977 Appellate Information Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division...

FLSA Challenge to Police Training Cost Repayment Policy In Gordon v. City of Oakland, No. 09-16167, a Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) challenge to the City of Oakland’s policy requiring police officers to repay a portion of their training costs if they voluntarily leave the City’s employment before completing five years of service, the court affirmed summary judgment for defendant where because the City issued plaintiff a paycheck exceeding the minimum wage amount, the City’s reimbursement demand did not violate the FLSA’s minimum wage provision....

The Eighth Circuit affirmed the lower trial court’s ruling against Greater Omaha Packing Co., a meat packing company whose unsanitary conditions led to numerous cases of e. coli littering headlines from 2007 to 2010. The circuit court also affirmed the lower court’s decision to affirm summary judgment against Greater Omaha on its countersuit for “tortious interference of business expectation.” Here we will focus exclusively on reviewing Greater Omaha’s counterclaim. Basic Background Cargill, the giant meat distribution company, was awarded $9 million in damages from Greater Omaha Packing Co....

In a pair of cases in March, the Illinois Supreme Court unanimously struck down the state’s eavesdropping law. Illinois was a two-party consent state, meaning both parties had to consent to the recording. As interpreted by the court, however, the law’s fatal flaw was that it also applied to speech made even in a place where people had no privacy expectation – like out in public. Apparently not one to say “no,” both houses of Illinois’ legislature passed a new version of the law that critics say suffers from the same constitutional defects as the old one....

The recent SCOTUS ruling in the Lamps Plus v. Varela case may not say much about the merits of the plaintiff’s claim, but it certainly sends a clear message to employers: The High Court’s conservative majority is on their side, at least when it comes to arbitration. But ask any lawyer, and they’ll tell you, arbitration can be just as frustrating, if not more so, than actual litigation. If you’ve ever had to fight over whether your case belongs in court or arbitration, you might know all too well how much more frustrating it can be to have to litigate tangential issues that don’t even touch the merits of the underlying case....

On April 1, the U.S. House passed a bill to end the federal ban on marijuana. But it’s probably not time just yet to pop a Champagne cork or fire up a fatty. Despite the House passage and despite a recent Gallup poll showing that more than two-thirds of Americans favor legalization, the U.S. Senate appears poised to just say no. The House voted 220-204 to pass the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act, which would remove marijuana from the federal list of controlled substances and eliminate criminal penalties for individuals who possess, grow, or distribute it....

In a dispute involving fraudulent wire transfers, district court grant of summary judgment for defendant is affirmed where: 1) plaintiff’s action is governed by the Uniform Commercial Code and thus its claim that defendant wrongfully debited its account is time-barred by the UCC’s one-year statute of repose; and 2) plaintiff’s common law negligence claim is precluded by U.C.C. Article 4A. Read ReAmerica, S.A. v. Wells Fargo Bank Int’l, No. 08-1927...

The Supreme Court has reinstated a conviction against an Ohio man accused of burying his roommate alive. In a per curiam opinion, the Court overturned the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, which previously ruled that police coerced the murder suspect’s confession. Archie Dixon and Tim Hoffner murdered Chris Hammer in order to steal his car. The men beat Hammer, tied him up, and buried him alive; pushing the still-struggling victim down into his grave while they shoveled dirt on top of him....

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals has reinstated a prison sex abuse lawsuit brought by female prisoners against the New York Department of Correctional Services (DOCS) alleging that guards in the state’s prisons violated prisoners’ civil rights. The court found that District Judge Kevin Duffy erred in dismissing the case, Amador v. Superintendents of Dep’t of Corr. Servs, on the grounds that the plaintiffs lacked standing due to subsequent release....

Anybody with a bit of romantic imagination knows there’s a man or woman in the moon. Or maybe, if you’re from China, it’s a rabbit. Or, if you’re a member of the Salish Tribe in the Pacific Northwest, a toad. Wherever you’re from, you know there’s something special about the moon. It’s not just craters, rocks, and dust. It’s an object of adoration, the subject of countless ballads and poems....

Frederick Abrams was a detective with the Connecticut Department of Public Safety who’d tried unsuccessfully since 1998 to join the Department’s “Major Crimes Van.” The Van unit is an elite squad of detectives that solve major cases; membership in the Van is considered prestigious. After years of trying – but failing – to get into the Van, Abrams sued the Department, claiming that he was denied a job in the Van unit because of his race....

Conviction and sentence for drug crimes and firearms possession is affirmed where: 1) the district court did not err by imposing a consecutive five-year sentence as the prefatory clause of the Armed Career Criminal Act refers only to alternative minimum sentences for violations of the Act; and 2) the court did not err in denying defendant’s motion to suppress physical evidence found on his person as there was probable cause that the house in question was being used for a criminal enterprise, and thus the search of all persons present inside the house was justified....

With SCOTUS basically split along partisan lines, Justice Anthony Kennedy’s swing vote is expected to decide the closely watched Wisconsin gerrymandering case. During oral arguments this week, Justice Kennedy’s line of questioning may have hinted at what he’s considering in this case. First off, he did not bother questioning the plaintiffs in the case who successfully challenged the law in the lower courts. Instead he only asked questions of the state’s attorney, and led by asking what would result if the Court decided that gerrymandering along political lines was a First Amendment issue....

U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearings this week boasted an impressive and diverse group of judges nominated by President Biden. Ninth Circuit nominees included the circuit’s first Korean-American female nominee and second Black female nominee. And to replace the late Judge Peter Hall on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, Biden has tapped Vermont Supreme Court Justice Beth Robinson. If confirmed, Justice Robinson will be the first openly gay woman to be a judge in the federal circuit courts of appeals....

Debra Kauffman worked as a hairdresser at a nursing home. Part of her duties involved regular hairdresser-type stuff, but two days a week, she had to wheel residents who were in wheelchairs to and from their appointments in the nursing home’s beauty shop. The trip from residential room to beauty shop took her 500 feet, at most, and over some ramps. Residents ranged in weight from 75 to 400 pounds, with an average of about 120 pounds....

Marriage equality is the law of the land. That much is settled. Despite this, a recent, very unexpected ruling from a federal judge in Puerto Rico, found otherwise – holding that the rights guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment and last summer’s gay marriage decision, Obergefell v. Hodges, don’t apply to the la isla del encanto. Don’t worry, gay marriage advocates, the ruling will be overturned. But, it might force courts to seriously address the Insular Cases, a group of truly awful Supreme Court decisions that denied many of the protections of the Bill of Rights to U....

Headlines from the beginning of the year detailed the unsealed federal domestic terrorism charges against Taylor Michael Wilson, and recently, additional federal gun charges have been heaped upon the defendant. In October 2017, Wilson boarded an Amtrak train in California, headed home to Missouri. However, while the train was in Nebraska, train authorities discovered Wilson in one of the engine cars of the train playing with the controls after applying the emergency break....