Category: Courts

Courts, Lawyering

Covington Accused Of Switching Sides In Litigation To Make Millions

Prestigious law firm Covington & Burling has found itself in an embarrassing position of having its former corporate client, 3M, charge it with betraying its confidence and switching sides in environmental litigation. There is little affection left in the relationship after Covington decided to represent Minnesota in a claim that could bring millions to the law firm. For 3M, the worse moment came when Covington lawyers deposed the same 3M in-house counsel that the law firm once represented on the same subject matter. The company alleges that Covington orchestrated the move to drop it “like a hot potato” to cash in with Minnesota. The lawsuit could prove the most uncomfortably revealing moment since a Covington partner pulled down his pants before a shocked international audience.

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Bizarre, Courts, Society

Philadelphia Defies Court Order To Ensure Minimum of Due Process In Parking Citations

Philadelphia appears to be defying a court order to require the most minimal due process protection for drivers in parking violation cases. Common Pleas Judge Leon Tucker issued an order weeks ago that drivers were entitled to some basic protections in ticking such as the right to know where the violation allegedly occurred and to have the right to question the ticket givers. City officials however have declared the protections to be simply not “practical” and appear to be ignoring it according to a columnist. The decision is an important victory for citizens who are often clipped by cities as a source of additional revenue through parking tickets.

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Courts, Torts

New York Court Rules Non-Emergency Surgery Constitutes Spoliation

There is an interesting case in New York this week concerning destruction of evidence. Supreme Court Justice Charles J. Markey handed down a decision on July 31, 2012 in a personal injury case that the plaintiff electing to have surgery effectively denied the defendant evidence to contest her claim stemming from a fall on a bus. The case is Mangione v Jacobs and is worth reading.

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Courts, Criminal law, Justice, Lawyering, Politics

Federal Court Rules Against Obama Administration in Black Panther FOIA Case

There has been relatively little attention given a remarkable ruling by United States District Court Judge Reggie Walton. In ruling that the conservative watch dog group Judicial Watch was entitled to attorneys fees, Walton found that Obama political appointees not only influenced the decision in the controversial Black Panther case but withheld documents that should have been turned over under federal law.

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Bizarre, Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Environment, Military, Politics, Society, Supreme Court

Rocket Launchers and the Second Amendment

Respectfully submitted by Lawrence Rafferty (rafflaw) Guest Blogger

I have discussed the Second Amendment and the difficulties I have in allowing citizens to own semi-automatic weapons and large capacity clips of ammunition in the past, but Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, in a recent Fox News interview, just took my concern over semi-automatic weapons and shot it down.. with a shoulder firing rocket!  Continue reading “Rocket Launchers and the Second Amendment” →

Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Media, Politics, Religion, Society

Sister Wives Case Goes Back To Court Today

I am in Salt Lake City today for the hearing on the government’s second motion to dismiss the challenge to the state’s bigamy law by the Brown family — the cast of TLC’s Sister Wives program. As always in dealing with my own cases, I have to be circumspect in any public comments on the case. [Update: The court has promised a decision soon on whether it will proceed to rule on the constitutionality of the state law]

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Academia, Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Justice, Lawyering, Media, Politics, Religion, Society, Uncategorized

Collateral Damage of the Police

Submitted by: Mike Spindell, guest blogger

This past week Professor Turley had two posts regarding the innocent victim of a police shooting: http://jonathanturley.org/2012/07/17/florida-police-pound-on-wrong-door-looking-for-suspect-without-identifying-themselves-thenves-then-shoot-and-kill-innocent-man-who-answers-the-door-with-weapon/#comments  and http://jonathanturley.org/2012/07/20/report-police-allegedly-increased-suspects-alleged-crime-after-shooting-third-person/#more-51907  These can fairly be called the latest installments of an ongoing series that details deaths and injuries sustained by people who are the victims of policing errors. There were a fair number of comments all lamenting yet another example of careless police work, in tandem with a propensity to shoot first and hope for the best. After awhile the comments petered out because this instance is but one of many that have been publicized by Professor Turley. He tries to focus attention on what seems to be blatant disregard for the rights of individual citizens. After all, what does one say after expressing their outrage at egregious behavior and impotently raging against the expected ensuing cover-ups? Emotionally, I personally feel horror and outrage when something like this happens and I desire justice in the form of stiff punishment for the avoidable errors that took an innocent life. Yet this occurs time and again as outrage simmers and yet another story captures our attention. It seems that nothing is ever really done with the macro-cosmic problem, even when on the individual level, though very occasionally, the people responsible are held to account. When I thought about the issue of police killing the wrong person it occurred to me that this is not something that has recently developed in our country, or indeed the rest of the world. In fact it seems to me that such occurrences represent a norm of human history that stems from how the entire concept of policing first came about. Policing had its origins in protecting wealth, property and the status quo of autocratic authority.  Continue reading “Collateral Damage of the Police” →

Animals, Courts, Environment, Torts

The Greatest RICO Claim On Earth? Ringling Brothers Allowed To Pursue Animal Rights Organizations in Racketeering Action

There is an interesting decision out of Washington this month where U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan has ruled that Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus can proceed with a racketeering lawsuit against a coalition of animal rights groups. The lawsuit was brought by corporate parent Feld Entertainment Inc., under the Racketeer Influence and Corrupt Organizations Act based on the alleged payment of a former Ringling Brothers trainer Tom Rider by the animal right groups. The trainer later became a plaintiff in an action against the Circus for animal cruelty. The case is Feld Entertainment Inc. v. American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, 07-1532 EGS, D.D.C.

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Courts, Free Speech, Religion

Vatican Sues Over Satirical Magazine Cover

-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger

The Vatican went to court to obtain a temporary injunction against the German satirical magazine Titanic in regards to its July cover, shown at left. The translation is: “Hallelujah in the Vatican: The leak has been found!” The cover refers to the Vatileaks scandal.

The Vatican claims that the covers are illegal and “harm the holy father’s legal rights.” That must refer to the right not to be offended.

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Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Politics, Society, Supreme Court

Poll: Supreme Court’s Standing Falls Further After Health Care Decision

During the recent coverage on the health care decision, I had repeated occasion to disagree with co-commentators who heralded the Roberts decision as a triumph for the Court in regaining credibility and getting beyond ideological divisions. That seems curious to me since the vote was still 5-4 and was fractured into multiple opinions. The Roberts opinion in my view was also fundamentally in conflict with itself and re-wrote the federal law in a new image. It appears that the opinion did not alter the opinion of the public, either. If anything the public’s view of the Court has worsened after the decision.

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Bizarre, Courts, Criminal law, Lawyering

Something Did Not Stay In Vegas: Florida Father Jailed For Contempt in Consenting To 16-Year-Old Son To Marry

There is an absolutely fascinating contempt finding in Florida where Millionaire Dan Rotta, 65, has been sent to jail for 180 days for criminal contempt in a divorce case — for allowing his 16 year old son to get married in Las Vegas. The court had ordered that the boy be sent to a special school in Utah — at the request of his mother Rene Rotta — in light of his problems with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Oppositional Defiant Disorder. However, by marrying with the consent of one parent in Vegas, the boy is now legally treated as an adult and is no longer under the jurisdiction of the court as a child in the divorce case.

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Courts, Justice, Lawyering, Media, Politics

Scranton versus the Courts

Respectfully submitted by Lawrence Rafferty (rafflaw)-Guest Blogger

After writing an earlier article about the Pennsylvania Voter ID law, I saw another article about a Pennsylvania issue that seems a little hard to comprehend.  Recently, the City of Scranton, PA decided that it could not afford to continue to honor its contractual obligations with its City Fire, Police and Public union workers.  One problem with Scranton’s decision is that a Federal judge had ordered that the City must honor its obligations to the employees under the terms of a temporary injunction that he granted the employees. Continue reading “Scranton versus the Courts” →

Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Free Speech, Justice, Media, Politics

Et Tu Pennslyvania?

Respectfully submitted by Lawrence Rafferty (rafflaw)- Guest Blogger

I guess I should not be surprised when I read of certain states trying to “cleanse” the voting rolls under the guise of voter fraud.  However, I was saddened to read that the State of Pennsylvania was joining the growing list of so-called Red and some not so Red states that are taking steps to disenfranchise voters prior to the November National elections.  The State of Pennsylvania is poised to possibly disenfranchise almost 10 percent of its voting population.  “Pennsylvania’s new voter ID law, which will take effect for the first time this November, may prevent 758,939 otherwise eligible voters, who do not currently have an acceptable ID, from voting.” Think Progress Continue reading “Et Tu Pennslyvania?” →

Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Politics, Society, Supreme Court

Obama Campaign Spokesman: It’s a Penalty, Not A Tax

Some of us were highly critical of the Roberts decision on health care — finding that the federal government could impose the individual mandate as a tax even if it could not be justified under the Commerce Clause. This followed the Court rejecting the tax status for the purposes of the Anti-Injunction Act and the fact that the Obama Administration — including the President — long denying that it was a tax. The Administration changed its position in court and argued that it was a tax, if the Commerce Clause did not sustain the mandate. That has produced a political backlash after the Court recognized it as a tax all along. However, now Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt said that President Obama denies it is a tax and even denying that the Administration ever said it was.

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Courts, Lawyering, Politics

West Virginia Judge In Abusive Video Will Not Face Complaint From Supreme Court Because He Is “Contrite”

We previously discussed the bizarre screaming tirade of Putnam Circuit Judge William Watkins in a divorce case. While the husband, Rev. Arthur D. Hage, 63, charged Watkins with misconduct, Steve Canterbury, the administrator of the West Virginia Supreme Court has announced that he will not seek charges in the case. It leaves some confusion over what it would take to get a charge out of the high court.

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