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All judges are supposed to be impartial and unbiased; this is all the more important when your job is on the highest court in the land. But Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has repeatedly been in the spotlight for perceived partisanship, often linked to the activism of his wife, Virginia “Ginni” Thomas. Last week, The Washington Post obtained 29 text messages exchanged between Ginni Thomas and former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows following the 2020 election....

A whistleblower who isn’t fired for whistle-blowing can’t win a wrongful termination lawsuit, according to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Plaintiff Jason Halasa was the College Director of ITT Technical Institutes’ Lathrop, California Campus for six months. ITT says that Halasa was fired for exhibiting poor management skills and delivering inadequate results; Halasa alleges that he was fired in violation of the False Claims Act after identifying and reporting irregularities in ITT practices....

A lawsuit over the licensing rights to Jimi Hendrix’s likeness in Washington state threatened to place many undergraduate dorm rooms’ decoration decisions in jeopardy. Thankfully, the Ninth Circuit stepped in to resolve the dispute so that there will be no shortage of Hendrix posters in college towns across America come move-in day. Experience Hendrix owns Jimi Hendrix’s post-mortem publicity rights in Washington state, and other Hendrix trademarks nationally. It licenses these to people like Andrew Pitsicalis, who create or license original art featuring depicting Hendrix....

While the U.S. may lag far behind other developed countries when it comes to mandating paid parental leave, many companies are at least catching up to the notion of offering fathers the same kind of leave options as mothers. Even the face of Facebook took time off when his daughter was born, noting: “Studies show that when working parents take time to be with their newborns, outcomes are better for the children and families....

Have you been hearing nightly bursts of fireworks for the last few weeks now? You’re not the only one. People across the country have been reporting a sudden uptick in the use of fireworks both in cities where the pyrotechnics are illegal and in places where they’re permitted, though officials have yet to determine an exact reason why. One possible explanation is that localities across the country have gradually relaxed fireworks laws over the last few years....

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals will “ride circuit” next month with its first-ever hearing in Vermont. Second Circuit Chief Judge Dennis Jacobs recently announced that a three-judge panel will hold court in the United States Courthouse and Post Office in Rutland, Vermont on Friday, October 5, 2012. The panel will hear the following appeals in the newly renovated and restored historic courtroom on the second floor starting at 10 a....

Every term, the High Court hears a handful of cases that impact the scientific community, and the natural world at large (or small). This term is no different, particularly as nature lovers surely noticed that the first case heard this term involved endangered frogs and whether the feds could force private land to be converted into a suitable frog habitat. The SCOTUSblog argument analysis seemed to indicate the matter could go either way....

A trade group of non-brick-and-mortar retailers, the Direct Marketing Association, sued Colorado in federal court over several issues related to interstate commerce and the dormant commerce clause. But this case isn’t even about that. Today, the U.S. Supreme Court determined whether the case could be brought in federal court at all. Writing for a unanimous Court, Justice Clarence Thomas said that a federal law called the Tax Injunction Act didn’t prevent the plaintiffs from using federal, rather than state, court....

If you often find yourself lamenting the ambiguity in the Supreme Court’s harassment jurisprudence, you’re in for a treat during the 2012 Term. Last week, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Vance v. Ball State University, a harassment case out of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, according to the ABA Journal. Maetta Vance was the only African-American working in her department at Ball State University. She began filing complaints with Ball State about her coworkers’ offensive conduct in 2005....

John and James Doe – seventh graders at Waynesboro Middle School – were bullied in the WMS locker room. A number of eighth graders subjected John and James, (and other basketball team members), to games of “lights out,” which involved “turning off all the lights … and then humping and gyrating on the seventh graders.” The eighth graders also played a game called the “blind-folded sit-up.” They challenged James to prove he could do a sit-up blind-folded....

The Lion’s Den, an adult store in Upton, Kentucky, gets most of its business from interstate travelers. That is why it relies in part on advertising to motorists traveling on I-65. Perhaps some of our readers may have noticed a sign on the side of a semi tractor-trailer just off Exit 251 reminding passerby that for the “Lion’s Den Adult Superstore Exit Now". The sign is not itself obscene, but nonetheless raised alarm....

Two Olive Garden patrons from Iowa and Nebraska have filed Cyclospora lawsuits against the chain’s parent company. Federal court documents show Kelly Kunc of Hiawatha, Iowa, and Joyce Nendza of Holt County, Nebraska filed the lawsuits against Darden Corporation of Orlando, Florida, which owns the Red Lobster and Olive Garden chains, reports The Associated Press. Both plaintiffs are being represented by Minneapolis attorney Ryan Osterholm. His firm, Pritzker Olsen, specializes in food-safety and food-poisoning cases....

There’s a sneaking suspicion among many people charged with a crime that the cops who detained, arrested, or interrogated them are “dirty.” Sadly, this notion isn’t always wrong. And evidence that an officer has lied, falsified evidence or reports, or previously assaulted citizens could be useful in a criminal trial. But how can defendants – and their attorneys – find out whether an officer has been accused of or committed misconduct in the past?...

Action Seeking Indemnification From Insurer In 10 Ellicott Square Court Corp. v. Mountain Valley Indemn. Co., No. 10-0799, an action seeking defense and indemnification from defendant insurance company based on an underlying personal injury lawsuit, the Second Circuit certifies the following question to the New York Court of Appeals: In a case brought against an insurer in which a plaintiff seeks a declaration that it is covered under an insurance policy issued by that insurer, does a certificate of insurance issued by an agent of the insurer that states that the policy is in force but also bears language that the certificate is not evidence of coverage, is for informational purposes only, or other similar disclaimers, estop the insurer from denying coverage under the policy?...

Political activism in Missouri may have just gotten a little easier. The 8th Circuit recently sided with grassroots activist Ron Calzone, finding that as applied to him, the state’s lobbying laws violate Free Speech. Calzone regularly meets with legislators, both in private meetings and before Missouri’s General Assembly, often through his non-profit corporation, Missouri First. The state government viewed Calzone as a lobbyist, saying he would need to follow the registration and reporting requirements of the Missouri Ethics Commission....

Perdue v. Kenny A., No. 08-970, involved a civil rights action alleging deficiencies in the Georgia foster care system. The Supreme Court reversed the district court’s award of attorney’s fees to plaintiffs’ counsel, holding that the calculation of an attorney’s fee based on a lodestar may be increased due to superior performance, but only in extraordinary circumstances. As stated in the majority decision, delivered by Justice Alito: “This case presents the question whether the calculation of an attorney’s fee, under federal fee-shifting statutes, based on the “lodestar,” i....

Quinnipiac University is known for its polling institute, not its athletic programs, but it still has to comply with Title IX. When the school announced in March 2009 that it would eliminate its varsity sports teams for women’s volleyball, men’s golf, and men’s outdoor track and field, while simultaneously creating a new varsity sports team for women’s competitive cheerleading, five disgruntled volleyball players took to a different kind of court, and spiked a Title IX lawsuit into Quinnipiac’s lap....

Several times during his campaign this year, President-elect Joe Biden said that he favored a national mandate requiring people to wear face masks in public to reduce the spread of the coronavirus. Now that he’s ready to step into office on Jan. 20, can we assume that masks will be required everywhere? In a word, no. Only governors have the power to issue that kind of order, not presidents. This explains the wording about mask mandates that appears on a Biden transition team website that outlines how the new administration intends to tackle the pandemic....

In a dispute involving insurance liability coverage, district court judgment is affirmed where defendant is not obligated to indemnify plaintiffs under the consent judgment as defendant did not have a duty to defend and provide coverage to the plaintiffs, and therefore it did not breach any duty and was not estopped from asserting the consent clause as a bar to coverage. Read Castronovo v. National Union Fire Ins. Co., No. 08-3316Appellate InformationAppeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, Hammond Division....

For immigration attorneys practicing before the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, jurisdiction can be a very important topic. When the Board of Immigration Appeals shoots down your case, you may have to consider whether the Eighth Circuit can even hear your case. A recent case was tossed by the federal appeals court for exactly that reason– lack of jurisdiction. The case involved a Mexican citizen, Victor Castillo-Castillo, who was to be removed by the Department of Homeland Security, essentially for being an unlawful alien....