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Anthoine v. N. Central Counties Consortium, No. 08-16803, concerned an action claiming that defendant terminated plaintiff public employee for reporting to management that his immediate supervisor had misrepresented the status of the employer’s compliance with its legal obligations. The court of appeals affirmed summary judgment for defendant in part, holding that the evidence plaintiff set forth was not specific and substantial, and did not create a triable issue of fact as to the ultimate issue of gender-based discrimination....

In plaintiff-church’s suit against defendant-village under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act to allow it to relocate to the business district, district court’s denial of plaintiff’s motion for preliminary injunction to allow it to relocate to the property in the interim is affirmed as the church has only a slim chance of success on the merits and any irreparable harm it may suffer does not significantly outweigh the potential harm to the village....

Man sells heroin to a drug addict. He goes a wee bit overboard and mixes the Big H with a few other opiates. He dies, the path leads back to “Lil C”, the alias of Marcus Burrage. The feds charge Burrage with distributing a controlled substance and distributing a controlled substance leading to death. The problem here is obvious, isn’t it? When a man takes a cocktail of drugs, how can you blame one drug more than the others?...

There’s a metaphorical pot of gold at the end of the sentencing rainbow for defendants who cooperate with the authorities. A defendant who accepts responsibility for his actions can receive a sentence reduction under USSG §3E1.1. The opposite is true for defendants who try to thwart law enforcement efforts. A district court can enhanced a defendant’s sentence under USSG §3C1.1 for obstruction of justice. And that’s what happened in Robert Dufresne III’s case....

Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA), students with disabilities are entitled to a free and appropriate education (FAPE) tailored to their specific needs through the use of an individualized education plan (IEP). If the district fails to provide a FAPE, the parents can look elsewhere and enroll the child in a private facility - on the original school district’s dime. Elizabeth’s parents eventually enrolled her in a residential treatment center and accredited educational institution in Idaho and sought reimbursement from Jefferson County under the IDEA due to their failure to provide a FAPE....

The Tenth Circuit has ruled that Novell Inc. has no viable claims left after an eight-week long trial against Microsoft that occurred in Utah in 2011, reports The Associated Press. While the case spans nearly 20 years of contentious legal battles, the court focused on what it could, and was left with one final decision: with respect to Novell, Microsoft did nothing unlawful. According to the AP,& the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals held, “Novell complains that Microsoft refused to share its intellectual property with rivals after first promising to do so....

When I, an old person, took the California bar, the airplane hangar-sized tent at the fairgrounds contained a mix of those taking the test on laptops and those writing their answers by hand. And when I realized I had mis-analyzed a question and my entire response needed rewriting, I thanked several deities that I was one of those on a computer, and could delete, cut, and move my words around rather than cross off page after paper page of wrongheadedness....

Defendant’s assault sentence is affirmed, where Defendant restrained the victim and thus assisted another person in stabbing the victim, and accordingly the District Court properly applied the enhancement under U.S.S.G. section 3A1.3 for physical restraint. Read US v. Old Chief, No. 08-30317 Appellate Information Argued and Submitted June 5, 2009 Filed July 6, 2009 Judges Opinion by Judge Goodwin Counsel For Appellants: J. Mayo Ashley, Helena, MT Evangelo Arvanetes, Assistant Federal Public Defender, Great Falls, MT...

Conviction for drug crimes is affirmed where an officer’s decision to stop the car did not violate Fourth Amendment and the evidence obtained from the subsequent search of the minivan was not the fruit of a constitutional violation, as there was reasonable suspicion to believe that the vehicle did not display valid proof of vehicle registration, and the operator was thus in violation of Nebraska’s vehicle registration statutes. Read US v....

Finding of Liability Against Owners of Coal-Fired Electric Power Plants Reversed US v. State of New York, 09-3344, concerned a challenge to the jury’s finding of liability against the defendants in the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) suit against affiliated owners of a number of coal-fired electric power plants in the Midwest, claiming that defendants violated section 165(a) of the Clean Air Act by modifying a number of the plants without first obtaining from the agency a permit that the agency claims was required by a regulation, 40 C....

Lawyers don’t exchange their views as private citizens for a license to practice law. However, they do need to be careful when it comes to advocating to lawmakers. The line between lawyer and lobbyist is a fine one, and ambiguities can leave everyone wondering whose side you’re on in any given moment. Just look at the confusion swirling around Rudy Giuliani. A lobbyist’s activities are subject to federal, state, and local laws; meanwhile, attorneys have their own rules of professional responsibility to uphold....

So far, the Supreme Court has agreed to hear just over 30 cases during the upcoming term, but that number is sure to balloon in the coming weeks and months. Next week, for example, the Court will begin its “long conference,” going through the cert petitions that have accumulated over the summer, followed by more cert reviews as the term goes on. But the Court’s makeup could be pushing it to accept some petitions while passing on others....

What can one say about the Ninth Circuit? The rest of the nation, my former black-robed employer included, thinks that we’re a bit looney. And the Circuit constantly contends for the “most reversed by SCOTUS” title. Guilty as charged. But at least we have fun (and sunshine) while doing it. Here is just some of the fun that we had this year: Can we just go ahead and call 2013 the “Year of Kozinski?...

Three months ago, the Ninth Circuit struck down Arizona’s ban on abortions performed after 20 weeks, citing stare decisis that set the line for constitutional restrictions on abortion at the point of viability. Twenty weeks, both sides agreed, was not viable, even though the state and the reluctant concurrence agreed that fetuses, at twenty weeks, could feel pain. That wasn’t Arizona’s only controversial restriction on abortion, however. Both the 20-week ban and another law, that prevented Medicaid patients from receiving care from medical providers that perform elective abortions, were passed in 2012, and both are now defunct....

The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday in Blueford v. Arkansas that the State of Arkansas can re-try a defendant for murder, even after the jurors unanimously found him not guilty. Arkansas avoided the dreaded scourge of double jeopardy in the case because the jury never actually acquitted the defendant in question. Arkansas charged petitioner Alex Blueford with capital murder for the death of a one-year-old child, and the lesser included offenses of first-degree murder, manslaughter, and negligent homicide, reports The New York Times....

For California licensed lawyers, the deadline to submit your fingerprints to the state bar, the state DOJ, and the FBI is rapidly approaching. And if you’re licensed in the state and you haven’t heard about how the bar messed up all our fingerprint records, then consider yourself lucky to be reading this now, as the deadline to submit your prints without penalty is April 30. After April 30, you can still submit your prints, but you will be assessed a late fee (and could face disciplinary action if you don’t submit by December 2019)....

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect the economy and keep unemployment rates high, some people may be looking for more affordable housing options. If you are in this boat as a renter considering breaking your lease, you should be aware that the pandemic does not grant an exception to the terms of your lease unless otherwise stated by state or local laws, lease terms, or landlord agreement. Lease Terms and Local Laws The terms and conditions of each lease may vary, with some containing specific conditions in the case of a tenant breaking the lease....

Arizona Cattle Growers’ Assn. v. Salazar, No. 08-15810, involved a challenge to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service’s (FWS) designation of critical habitat for the Mexican Spotted Owl. The court of appeals affirmed summary judgment for defendants, on the grounds that 1) the FWS permissibly interpreted the word “occupied” in the Endangered Species Act to include areas where the owl was likely to be present and, applying this definition, the FWS designated only “occupied” areas; 2) the FWS did not arbitrarily and capriciously treat unoccupied areas as occupied; and 3) even if the FWS listed the species concurrently with designating critical habitat, listing the species is a necessary antecedent to designating habitat....

Sullivan v. DB Inv. Inc., 08-2784, concerned a challenge to the district court’s certification of two putative classes and an order overruling objections to the settlement fund of $295 million in plaintiffs’ suit under sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act, and under the antitrust, consumer protection and unjust enrichment laws of all fifty states, against the De Beers corporation for fixing prices in the wholesale market for gem-quality diamonds....

When the Baja Men repeatedly asked listeners “who let the dogs out,” they probably had no idea that the answer to that question would be critical in determining whether a search violated a suspect’s Fourth Amendment rights. But in the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, it is. (Congratulations to the K-9 overachiever, for winning props as the latest FindLaw Top Dog!) When the dog and his police officer-handler arrived at the scene, the driver’s window was down....