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258 entries in 'Legal Business' |
2023/09/17
A Supreme Court redistricting ruling gave hope to Black voters
2023/09/15
Hunter Biden is indicted on federal firearm-purchasing charges after plea deal fails
2023/09/06
Lawyers claim cable TV and phone companies also responsible in Maui fires
2023/08/23
After Roe v. Wade, the fight over abortion access moves to New Mexico
2023/06/25
Court sides with Jack Daniel’s in dispute with makers of dog toy
2023/06/11
Texas court dismisses GOP donor’s defamation lawsuit
2023/06/02
Federal appeals court overturns 1991 death sentence in Fresno double murder
2023/05/23
Tunisian court releases prominent radio director from prison
2023/05/12
Supreme Court rejects challenge to California pork law
2023/05/04
Donald Trump seeks to move NY criminal case to federal court
2023/03/10
German woman risks tougher sentence over Yazidi girl’s death
2023/03/06
EU legal advisor: Homegrown player quotas clash with EU law
2023/02/26
Panel scolds Wisconsin justice for remarks in Trump case
2023/02/19
Pakistani court acquits parents of activist in treason case
2023/02/16
Maryland mulls ending child sexual abuse lawsuit time limits
2023/02/02
South Korean court says stolen statue must return to Japan
2022/12/06
Former Nazi camp secretary voices regret, seeks acquittal
2022/10/17
Court rejects appeal to give American Samoans citizenship
2022/09/27
Appeals ruling leaves Trump fate in defamation suit in flux
2022/08/11
Federal horserace authority rules again blocked in 2 states
2022/07/29
Massachusetts governor signs bill protecting abortion access
2022/07/18
Abortion clinic goes before judge to challenge WVa ban
2022/06/14
Supreme Court rules against Navajo Nation member
2022/04/18
Suit seeks to overturn renewed Philadelphia mask mandate
2021/10/18
Judge agrees to delay in sentencing for Gaetz friend
2021/09/07
Consumer Protection Law Attorney Website
2021/08/06
West African court to rule on Venezuelan’s extradition to US
2021/08/02
Men ordered to pay back $2.4M in health care fraud case
2021/07/31
How to Make Calls to Action Works
2021/06/21
High court sides with ex-athletes in NCAA compensation case
2021/04/27
Court to hear appeal of Dallas officer who killed neighbor
2021/04/19
US deports woman who lied about role in Rwandan genocide
2021/01/18
Groups ask court to restore protections for US gray wolves
2021/01/10
Louisiana Supreme Court has a new chief justice, John Weimer
2020/12/10
High court rejects GOP bid to halt Biden’s Pennsylvania win
2020/11/23
Trump's legal team cried vote fraud, but courts found none
2020/11/15
Chapter 7 bankruptcy - The Bankruptcy Means Test
2020/11/10
GOP tries again to get high court to ax health care law
2020/11/02
Legal armies ready if cloudy election outcome heads to court
2020/09/26
Ginsburg makes history at Capitol amid replacement turmoil
2020/09/19
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg dies at 87
2020/07/14
New Orleans councilman, attorney plead not guilty to fraud
2020/07/03
High court won't hear abortion clinic 'buffer zone' cases
2020/06/13
International Criminal Court condemns US sanctions order
2020/05/30
Supreme Court rejects challenge to limits on church services
2020/05/12
Supreme Court appears likely to reject Trump immunity claim
2020/05/07
Ginsburg, from hospital, joins in on 'Obamacare' arguments
2020/04/12
Texas clinics ask Supreme Court to abortions during pandemic
2020/03/22
Court affirms conviction in hot-grease injuries to wife
2020/03/17
Australian highest court to rule on Cardinal’s appeal later
2020/02/22
Arkansas candidate's political ties targeted in court race
2020/02/20
Florida can’t bar felons who served their time from registering to vote
2020/02/10
Ruling ends court fight over merger of 2 school districts
2020/01/30
Wood County commissioner reprimanded by Supreme Court
2020/01/11
Former IAAF president’s corruption trial opens in Paris
2020/01/08
Greek court postpones retrial in US tourist's beating death
2019/12/29
Court: Washington drivers must use turn signals to turn
2019/12/24
Roberts will tap his inner umpire in impeachment trial
2019/12/18
Protests of Indian law grow despite efforts to contain them
2019/12/14
Kansas Supreme Court getting new member, new chief justice
2019/11/25
Supreme Court says Ginsburg released from hospital
2019/11/16
EU court refers doubts on Polish judiciary to national court
2019/10/20
The Latest: EU Parliament to be flexible on ratifying Brexit
2019/10/18
Supreme Court takes up case over quick deportations
2019/10/13
Arkansas judge: Court to hear 19 adoption scheme cases
2019/09/30
Egypt court asks religious figure to weigh in on sentences
2019/09/26
Transgender woman in Supreme Court case 'happy being me'
2019/09/22
Bulgarian court to eye revoking parole for Australian man
2019/08/30
Brazil court overrules Rio mayor on gay kiss book ban
2019/08/22
K-Global @ SiliconValley - Future is on 5G
2019/08/16
Mexico high court to Health officials: Regulate medical pot
2019/08/12
Gun-control backers concerned about changing federal courts
2019/08/10
Supreme Court rebuffs Alabama officer charged with murder
2019/07/27
Cyprus police frees 5 Israelis, 7 held in hotel rape probe
2019/07/05
Swedish court detains rapper A$AP Rocky on assault charge
2019/06/20
Supreme Court upholds cross on public land in Maryland
2019/06/17
High court avoids new case over same-sex wedding case
2019/05/20
Former Nissan chairman Ghosn appears in Tokyo court
2019/05/14
Supreme Court conservatives attack lame-duck arguments
2019/04/30
EPA reaffirms glyphosate safe for users as court cases grow
2019/04/26
Kansas court bolsters abortion rights, blocks ban
2019/04/23
Myanmar court rejects appeal of jailed Reuters reporters
2019/04/15
6 appear in court on charges they sent mosque attack images
2019/04/06
Parkland sheriff removal case heads to Florida Supreme Court
2019/03/28
Group takes oil refinery fight to North Dakota's high court
2019/03/25
High court won’t referee dispute over Michael Jordan images
2019/03/19
DC-area sniper shootings case to have Supreme Court hearing
2019/02/20
Florida school shooting suspect due back in court
2019/02/13
Court case to tackle jails' medication-assisted treatment
2019/01/01
Court extends detention for Nissan ex-chair Ghosn by 10 days
2018/12/22
NC court: Counties not responsible for school underfunding
2018/12/19
Human rights court rules against Greece in Sharia law case
2018/12/04
EU court adviser: Britain could change its mind on Brexit
2018/11/24
Government asks high court to hear transgender military case
2018/10/12
Manhattan DA drops part of Weinstein case
2018/10/11
Supreme Court wrestles with case on detention of immigrants
2018/09/14
Court: British surveillance violates European law
2018/09/07
Court: No review of 100-year sentence for attempted murders
2018/08/28
German court mulls jail for some over Munich air pollution
2018/08/13
Court: EPA violated law on harmful pesticide, orders ban
2018/08/08
Child remains found at New Mexico compound, man due in court
2018/08/01
Officer involved in militia leader's death named in court
2018/07/24
Top court: Social media posts violate no-contact order
2018/07/06
The Latest: Trump promises 'great' pick for Supreme Court
2018/07/06
The Latest: Trump promises 'great' pick for Supreme Court
2018/06/10
Kansas Supreme Court sends DNA request back to lower court
2018/06/06
Congressional Dems take Trump to court over foreign favors
2018/06/03
High Court Rules in Dispute Over Immigrant Teen's Abortion
2018/06/02
Romania: Court tells president to fire anti-graft prosecutor
2018/05/27
The Latest: Colorado governor announces Supreme Court pick
2018/05/25
Court: Montana minimizes impact of mining near Yellowstone
2018/05/07
Court asked to toss more cases tied to drug lab scandal
2018/04/29
Bakery appeals to UK Supreme Court in gay-rights cake case
2018/04/25
Court won't reconsider making public family slain autopsies
2018/04/23
Lake County courts to switch to online filing system in May
2018/04/08
Indian court grants bail to Bollywood superstar Salman Khan
2018/03/22
Courts weighing numerous challenges to political boundaries
2018/03/05
Philippine gov't asks Supreme Court to expel chief justice
2018/02/23
Pennsylvania congressional map battle lands in Supreme Court
2018/02/11
Find Lawyers, Law Firms & Legal Services
2018/01/29
Malaysia's top court annuls unilateral conversions of minors
2018/01/28
Top Pakistani court orders arrest of escaped police officer
2018/01/24
Court rules Puigdemont must return to Spain for re-election
2018/01/18
Court halts execution of Alabama inmate with dementia
2017/12/28
State high court won't hear Mateen Cleaves sex assault case
2017/12/22
Ohio court to hear big online school's funding case Feb. 13
2017/12/21
Ohio court indefinitely suspends law license of ex-judge
2017/12/04
Russian court keeps theater director under house arrest
2017/12/04
Asbestos Court to resolve hundreds of claims
2017/11/16
Free Speech Is Starting to Dominate the US Supreme Court's Agenda
2017/11/16
Court gives go-ahead for minimum alcohol price in Scotland
2017/11/03
Telescope permit decision appealed to Hawaii Supreme Court
2017/10/30
Court: No right to copy court reporter’s recordings
2017/10/26
Court gives government a win in young immigrants' cases
2017/10/14
Court agrees to take on US-Microsoft dispute over emails
2017/10/01
Supreme Court declines Michigan emergency manager law case
2017/09/24
Protests continue at Spanish court over secession arrests
2017/09/11
Chicago's lawsuit over sanctuary city threat goes to court
2017/09/07
Supreme Court's Kagan says Scalia death forced compromises
2017/08/30
Dispute over rights to Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan goes to court
2017/08/20
Court file: Michigan girl who killed toddler heard voices
2017/08/18
Kentucky governor, attorney general clash before high court
2017/08/14
Wyoming raises court fees for courtroom technology updates
2017/08/03
Personal Injury Website Design by Web Promo, Inc.
2017/07/18
Kansas faces skeptical state Supreme Court on school funding
2017/07/11
Supreme Court deadline nears for suit over wetland loss
2017/07/07
More court challenges expected for Trump's new travel ban
2017/06/21
EU Court: Vaccines Can Be Blamed for Illnesses Without Proof
2017/06/21
High Court ruling may hurt claims of talc link to cancer
2017/06/15
Groups sue seeking court oversight of Chicago police reforms
2017/06/06
Court to hear challenge to speed up California executions
2017/06/03
Trump admin asks Supreme Court to restore travel ban
2017/05/29
Court: Russian hacker can be extradited to US or Russia
2017/05/22
Former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio loses another round in court
2017/05/15
Court likely to question if Trump's travel ban discriminates
2017/05/13
South Dakota and Flandreau Santee Sioux tribe clash in court
2017/05/10
Man arrested near UK Parliament in court on terror charges
2017/05/06
Indiana high court rejects appeal in malnourished teen case
2017/05/05
Trump 'absolutely' considered breaking up 9th Circuit Court
2017/05/01
Indiana high court to take up police unreasonable force case
2017/04/29
4th Arkansas inmate executed in 8 days lurches on gurney
2017/04/26
Judge W. Brent Powell Appointed to Missouri Supreme Court
2017/04/22
White officer headed to court ahead of civil rights trial
2017/04/04
Arkansas asks court to block order on execution drugs
2017/03/30
S Korea's Park questioned at court hearing on arrest request
2017/03/06
Oklahoma tribe sues oil companies in tribal court over quake
2017/02/12
Partisan struggle over NC governor's authority back in court
2017/01/05
Appeals court: Minnesota sex offender program constitutional
2016/12/05
Alabama inmate seeks execution stay from US Supreme Court
2016/10/28
Ted Cruz's Supreme Court remark draws White House criticism
2016/10/24
High court steps into fight on Vanderbilts' Breakers mansion
2016/10/19
As time runs out, dozens of judge nominees waiting on Senate
2016/10/17
Lithuania wants Gorbachev to testify in war crimes trial
2016/10/14
Free-speech rights of panhandlers argued in court
2016/09/28
Suspected people smuggler charged in Australian court
2016/09/12
Appeals court sympathetic to voting rules challenge
2016/08/23
Court considers Kansas rule that voters prove citizenship
2016/07/14
Appeals court orders Utah to fund Planned Parenthood branch
2016/07/13
Kyrgyzstan sends case of jailed journalist back to court
2016/07/12
Candidate filing begins Monday for appeals court seat
2016/06/09
Bollywood filmmaker challenges censoring of drug-abuse film
2016/06/07
High court rejects Google's appeal in class action lawsuit
2016/05/11
Planned Parenthood shooting defendant returning to court
2016/04/15
Obama's power over immigration drives Supreme Court dispute
2016/04/06
New York's top court: Parents can legally eavesdrop on kids
2016/03/24
Karadzic convicted of genocide, sentenced to 40 years
2016/03/15
White S.C. trooper pleads guilty in shooting of unarmed black man
2016/02/25
Court records: Apple's help sought in another iPhone case
2016/02/10
Supreme Court puts Obama's climate change plan on hold
2016/01/12
High court rejects appeal over Homeland Security records
2015/12/18
Japan court says requiring same surname in marriage is legal
2015/12/03
Court papers: Witness ID'd man in playground shooting
2015/11/17
Ruling gives Sandusky back $4,900-a-month Penn State pension
2015/11/07
Mississippi Supreme Court narrowly grants same-sex divorce
2015/11/02
California appeals court rejects right-to-die lawsuit
2015/10/16
Court again considers fate of seized gold coins worth $80M
2015/09/30
El Paso abortion clinic reopens amid Texas court battles
2015/09/23
Court suspends Pennsylvania attorney general's law license
2015/09/22
Court quashes some District of Columbia gun laws
2015/09/04
Clerk in gay marriage case to appear in federal court
2015/08/01
Federal report finds bias in St. Louis County family court
2015/07/28
Zimbabweans linked to illegal lion hunt appear in court
2015/07/22
Crimean Filmmaker Pleads Not Guilty in Terrorism Trial
2015/07/20
Wife says Chinese rights lawyer being denied legal counsel
2015/06/04
Brazil court convicts 2 firefighters in nightclub fire
2015/06/01
High court: Bankrupt homeowners can't void second mortgage
2015/03/31
Court rejects Duncan's death sentence appeal
2015/01/12
High court won't hear challenge to Vermont campaign law
2014/11/08
New York International Criminal Law Attorney
2014/09/04
Texas abortion clinic to reopen after court ruling
2014/07/11
Apple wins EU court case on store design trademark
2014/04/15
SC Supreme Court hears appeal in fatal dog attack
2014/03/05
Court: Broad protection for whistleblowers
2014/02/13
Nevada Officials Won't Defend Gay Marriage Ban
2014/01/27
Lawmakers push back against Washington high court
2014/01/20
Texas Supreme Court limits insurance exclusions
2014/01/06
Supreme Court Puts Utah Same-Sex Marriage on Hold
2013/12/23
Gay couples wed in Utah after judge overturns ban
2013/12/12
Court: Exec guilty over faulty French implants
2013/12/02
Seattle lawyer left $188 million charitable trust
2013/11/19
Spain court rejects handing pedophile to Morocco
2013/11/08
High court wrestles with prayer in government
2013/11/02
The Mavroudis & Guarino Litigation Group
2013/08/26
SC trial lawyer Ron Motley dies at age 68
2013/08/06
Federal court officials fear budget cuts
2013/07/13
Iowa top court: Firing of attractive aide is legal
2013/06/04
US Supreme Court orders 6 death row cases reviewed
2013/05/14
Court dismisses lawsuits in power plant deaths
2013/01/18
Lawyer questions memory of Philadelphia accuser
2013/01/10
Court weighs warrantless blood tests in DUI cases
2012/10/27
Fla. to execute mass killer after court lifts stay
2012/10/19
Supreme Court views not 'liberal or conservative'
2012/10/08
Ex-NFL WR Hurd pleads not guilty to new charges
2012/09/29
Federal court upholds Texas open meetings law
2012/09/20
MacDonald goes to court in 'Fatal Vision' case
2012/09/05
W.Va. court hears 'rescue' funding arguments
2012/08/29
Ohio man pleads not guilty to Pitt threat charges
2012/08/22
Appeals court affirms oil company polar bear rules
2012/08/08
Appeals court affirms that cheering is not a sport
2012/08/03
Court spurns religious claim to name change
2012/07/20
Goldman agrees to settle mortgage debt class action
2012/05/07
Fed court reverses order for VA system overhaul
2012/01/31
Bernstein Liebhard LLP Announces Class Action
2011/07/11
Law Firm To Collect $35M In Forfeited Bonds
2011/05/05
Nevada Supreme Court hosting Law Day Live program
2011/04/27
Conn. high court hears death penalty appeal
2011/03/10
Lawyer-legislator says ethics opinion clears Prattville lawmaker
2011/02/02
Too big to stop? Obama's overhaul lumbers on
2010/01/05
UW Madison's patenting arm wins lawsuit
2009/11/23
Lawsuit: Botched Diagnosis Led to 30-Year-Old New York Teacher's Brain Hemorrhage Death
2009/09/21
Microsoft Lawsuit Shows Malicious Advertising a Growing Issue
2008/10/24
GOP argument: Don't give President Obama a blank check
2008/03/19
Mayor Addresses Philadelphia Bar Association
2008/03/09
Upcoming NY Events in the Legal Community
2008/02/29
Upcoming Events in the NY Legal Community
2008/02/28
National Institute on White Collar Crime March 5-7
2008/02/27
Advanced Negotiation & Dispute Resolution Seminar
2008/02/26
Brooklyn Bar Assoc. Hosts New Appellate Justices
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A Supreme Court redistricting ruling gave hope to Black voters
Legal Business |
2023/09/17 19:10
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The Supreme Court’s decision siding with Black voters in an Alabama redistricting case gave Democrats and voting rights activists a surprising opportunity before the 2024 elections.
New congressional maps would have to include more districts in Alabama and potentially other states where Black voters would have a better chance of electing someone of their choice, a decision widely seen as benefiting Democrats.
It’s been more than three months since the justice’s 5-4 ruling, and maps that could produce more districts represented by Black lawmakers still do not exist.
Alabama Republicans are hoping to get a fresh hearing on the issue before the Supreme Court. Republican lawmakers in Louisiana never even bothered to draw a new map.
Khadidah Stone, a plaintiff in the Alabama case, said the continuing opposition was “appalling” but “not surprising.” She noted that Alabama is where then-Gov. George Wallace blocked Black students from integrating the University of Alabama in 1963.
“There is a long history there of disobeying court orders to deny Black people our rights,” she said.
A similar dynamic is playing out in Florida, where Republicans are appealing a ruling favorable to Black voters to the Republican-majority state Supreme Court.
Lawsuits over racially gerrymandered congressional maps in several other states, including Georgia, South Carolina and Texas, quickly followed the Supreme Court’s landmark Voting Rights Act decision in June. But the continued pushback from Republican legislatures in control of redistricting means there is great uncertainty about whether –- or how soon -– new maps offering equal representation for Black voters will be drawn.
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Hunter Biden is indicted on federal firearm-purchasing charges after plea deal fails
Legal Business |
2023/09/15 02:10
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Hunter Biden was indicted Thursday on federal firearms charges, the latest step in a long-running investigation into the president’s son that puts the case on track toward a possible high-stakes trial as the 2024 election looms.
Biden is accused of lying about his drug use when he bought a firearm in October 2018, a period when he has acknowledged struggling with addiction to crack cocaine, according to the indictment filed in federal court in Delaware by a special counsel overseeing the case.
The indictment comes weeks after the collapse of a plea deal that would have averted a criminal trial and distracting headlines for President Joe Biden.
The court fight doesn’t seem likely to end soon. Hunter Biden’s defense attorney argues he didn’t violate the law and remains protected by an immunity provision that was part of the plea deal. The charges, meanwhile, are rarely filed as stand-alone counts and a federal appeals court recently found the measure he was charged under unconstitutional.
He’s also been under investigation for his business dealings, and the special counsel has indicated that tax charges could be filed at some point in Washington or in California, where he lives.
The legal arguing comes as a political fight also plays out. The House has formally opened an impeachment inquiry into the Democratic president, seeking to tie the elder Biden to his son’s businesses and divert attention away from former President Donald Trump’s own legal woes. Trump’s include federal indictments over the handling of classified documents and efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden.
Republicans have unearthed no significant evidence so far of wrongdoing by the elder Biden, who as vice president spoke often to his son and stopped by a business dinner with his son’s associates. The White House maintains Joe Biden was not involved in his son’s business affairs.
Republicans had slammed the plea agreement that spared Hunter Biden jail time as a “sweetheart deal.” Rep. James Comer, the lead Republican pursing the impeachment inquiry, called the gun charges “a very small start” and pushed for investigation of whether the president was involved in his son’s business dealings. Trump also pointed to the lack of connection to Joe Biden in the gun charge plea agreement. |
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Lawyers claim cable TV and phone companies also responsible in Maui fires
Legal Business |
2023/09/06 15:40
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After a visit to a warehouse where Hawaiian Electric Company is housing power poles and electrical equipment that may be key to the investigation of last month’s devastating fires on Maui, lawyers for Lahaina residents and business owners told a court Tuesday that cable TV and telephone companies share responsibility for the disaster because they allegedly overloaded and destabilized some of the poles.
The lawyers said the cables were attached in a way that put too much tension on the poles, causing them to lean and break in the winds on Aug. 8 when flames burned down much of Lahaina, killing at least 115 people and destroying more than 2,000 structures.
LippSmith LLP has filed a proposed class action against Hawaii’s electric utility and Maui County in state court in Hawaii. Attorney Graham LippSmith is now asking the court to add multiple telecommunications companies and public and private landowners to the original suit.
“In a disaster of this magnitude, it takes some time for all the potentially responsible parties to come into focus and be brought into court. Our investigation thus far shows a constellation of many serious failures that together led to this horrible tragedy,” MaryBeth LippSmith, co-founder of the Hawaii- and California-based firm, said in an interview Tuesday.
Pacific Gas & Electric in California filed for bankruptcy in 2019 due to a succession of harrowing wildfires ignited by its long-neglected electrical grid in Northern California.
But LippSmith rejected the suggestion the firm is seeking extra defendants in the event that Hawaiian Electric declares bankruptcy. Rather it’s trying to get at the root of multiple failures in order to prevent this kind of tragedy in the future, she said. The lawsuit seeks damages and injunctive relief, including a court order to force the defendants to address fire risk. |
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After Roe v. Wade, the fight over abortion access moves to New Mexico
Legal Business |
2023/08/23 22:38
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The sanctuary in Grace Covenant Reformed Church was packed.
People stood shoulder to shoulder wherever they could — near the stained glass windows depicting scenes from the Bible, behind the neatly lined rows of chairs that serve as pews, against a wall covered in crosses made from painted wood, wire, glass and ceramic red chiles.
Bibles and hymnals rested under every seat, but they weren’t used that Monday night last September. There was no sermon, because this wasn’t a church service.
Residents of Clovis, a town of some 40,000 people a mere 20-minute drive to the Texas state line, crammed into this little brick building that night to discuss a plan of action to ban abortion.
Just three months earlier, the U.S. Supreme Court had issued its ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson, overturning Roe v. Wade, the landmark case that had legalized abortion in the U.S. for almost 50 years.
As trigger laws banning the procedure began going into effect across the nation — in places including neighboring Texas — abortion providers took up residence in New Mexico, which has some of the most permissive abortion laws in the U.S.
“As the laws in this country change before our very eyes,” Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said on the day Roe was reversed, “I will continue to fight for the right to a safe, legal abortion in New Mexico and stand as a brick wall against those who seek to punish women and their doctors just because they seek the care they need and deserve.”
In the year since Dobbs, New Mexico has been a brick wall and a safe haven — for those who provide abortions and those who desire or need them.
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Court sides with Jack Daniel’s in dispute with makers of dog toy
Legal Business |
2023/06/25 22:28
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The Supreme Court on Thursday gave whiskey maker Jack Daniel’s reason to raise a glass, handing the company a new chance to win a trademark dispute with the makers of the Bad Spaniels dog toy.
In announcing the decision for a unanimous court, Justice Elena Kagan was in an unusually playful mood. At one point while reading a summary of the opinion in the courtroom Kagan held up the toy, which squeaks and mimics the whiskey’s signature bottle.
Kagan said a lower court’s reasoning was flawed when it ruled for the makers of the rubber chew toy. The court did not decide whether the toy’s maker had violated trademark law but instead sent the case back for further review.
“This case is about dog toys and whiskey, two items seldom appearing in the same sentence,” Kagan wrote in an opinion for the court. At another point, Kagan asked readers to “Recall what the bottle looks like (or better yet, retrieve a bottle from wherever you keep liquor; it’s probably there)” before inserting a color picture of it.
Arizona-based VIP Products has been selling its Bad Spaniels toy since 2014. It’s part of the company’s Silly Squeakers line of chew toys that mimic liquor, beer, wine and soda bottles. They include Mountain Drool, which parodies Mountain Dew, and Heini Sniff’n, which parodies Heineken beer.
While Jack Daniel’s bottles have the words “Old No. 7 brand” and “Tennessee Sour Mash Whiskey,” the toy proclaims: “The Old No. 2 on Your Tennessee Carpet.” The original bottle notes it is 40% alcohol by volume. The parody features a dog’s face and says it’s “43% Poo by Vol.” and “100% Smelly.”
The packaging of the toy, which retails for around $20, notes in small font: “This product is not affiliated with Jack Daniel Distillery.”
Jack Daniel’s, based in Lynchburg, Tennessee, wasn’t amused. Its lawyers argued that the toy misleads customers, profits “from Jack Daniel’s hard-earned goodwill” and associates its “whiskey with excrement.”
At the center of the case is the Lanham Act, the country’s core federal trademark law. It prohibits using a trademark in a way “likely to cause confusion ... as to the origin, sponsorship, or approval of ... goods.”
A lower court never got to the issue of consumer confusion, however, because it said the toy was an “expressive work” communicating a humorous message and therefore needed to be evaluated under a different test. Kagan said that was a mistake and that “the only question in this case going forward is whether the Bad Spaniels marks are likely to cause confusion.”
Kagan also said a lower court erred in its analysis of Jack Daniel’s claim against the toy company for linking “its whiskey to less savory substances.”
The opinion was one of four the court issued Thursday, including a 5-4 ruling in favor of Black voters in Alabama in a congressional redistricting case. The case had been closely watched for its potential to weaken the landmark Voting Rights Act.
The case is Jack Daniel’s Properties, Inc. v. VIP Products LLC, 22-148.
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Texas court dismisses GOP donor’s defamation lawsuit
Legal Business |
2023/06/11 04:40
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A Texas appeals court on Friday dismissed a billionaire’s defamation lawsuit against Democrat Beto O’Rouke that was brought after O’Rourke criticized a $1 million campaign contribution to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott.
The ruling by the Third Court of Appeals in Austin comes more than a year after O’Rourke repeatedly made critical remarks about the donation during a failed run for governor, at one point saying that it “looks like a bribe to me.”
The contribution came from Kelcy Warren, chairman of pipeline company Energy Transfer, which reported about $2.4 billion in earnings related to the catastrophic February 2021 winter storm that sent natural gas prices soaring in Texas.
Warren, a major Republican donor, accused O’Rourke of trying to humiliate him and discourage other Abbott supporters from making campaign donations.
In the court’s opinion, Chief Justice Darlene Byrne wrote that a reasonable person would view O’Rourke’s statements as “the type of rhetorical hyperbole that is commonplace in political campaigns.”
Dean Pamphilis, an attorney for Warrren, said the decision would be appealed to the Texas Supreme Court.
Abbott’s campaign said at the time that it was not involved in the lawsuit. The governor went on to easily beat O’Rourke and win a third term.
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Federal appeals court overturns 1991 death sentence in Fresno double murder
Legal Business |
2023/06/02 17:04
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A federal appeals court in a rare move overturned the death sentence of a man who was convicted of robbing and killing two people in Fresno in 1988, saying prosecutors knowingly presented false testimony from a key witness.
The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in its Wednesday ruling upheld Colin Dickey’s robbery conviction and said prosecutors could decide whether to retry him for murder. Dickey remains in prison.
“This is an exceptional case in which the prosecutor deliberately elicited, and then failed to correct, false and misleading testimony from the State’s star witness,” the court said in a ruling overturning Dickey’s 1991 death sentence.
The Fresno County prosecutor elicited the testimony from key witness Gene Buchanan, who told the jury he had not met with prosecutors or accepted any benefits from them. In fact, the court said, they had met a dozen times during the investigation, and the district attorney’s office had dismissed drug charges against him and helped him collect a $5,000 reward for implicating Dickey, one of his roommates.
Dickey was convicted in the murders of two neighbors, Marie Caton, 76, and Louis Freiri, 67, who were beaten and stabbed to death in November 1988 at Caton’s home in Fresno, where Freiri was a boarder, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Both Dickey and Buchanan lived with Caton’s grandson, Richard Cullumber, who according to witnesses was a drug user who frequently requested money from Caton. Five days after the attack, the court said, Cullumber fled police in a car, said he had “killed a woman,” was cornered after a high-speed chase and shot himself to death.
According to another roommate, Dickey said he had gone to Caton’s house with Cullumber to help him get the money but had nothing to do with the killings. But Buchanan testified that Dickey told him he was at the scene of the attacks, saw Freiri lying with his head slumped down, and decided that “if you kill one you might as well kill them both.”
Buchanan’s testimony “was the centerpiece of the state’s case” and without his dubious statements, “the state’s case against Dickey was weak” and lacked any direct evidence of intent to kill, Judge Morgan Christen said in the 3-0 ruling.
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