How Appealing



Tuesday, April 10, 2012

“Court dismisses charges of computer-file pilfering”: Bob Egelko of The San Francisco Chronicle has this news update.

Bloomberg News reports that “Checking Facebook at Work Isn’t Crime, Appeals Court Rules.”

And at Wired.com’s “Threat Level” blog, David Kravets has a post titled “Court Rebukes DOJ, Says Hacking Required to be Prosecuted as Hacker.”

My earlier coverage of today’s en banc Ninth Circuit ruling appears here and here.

Update: Ginny LaRoe of The Recorder reports that “With 9-2 Ruling, Circuit Narrows Scope of Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.”

Posted at 7:18 PM by Howard Bashman



Congratulations to “The Volokh Conspiracy” blog on the occasion of its ten-year anniversary today! As noted here.

The “How Appealing” blog, by contrast, was fashionably late to the party and thus won’t be celebrating its tenth anniversary until May 6, 2012.

Posted at 4:42 PM by Howard Bashman



“Court hears case of fired Fla. teacher”: The Associated Press has a report that begins, ” After fourth-grade teacher Jarretta Hamilton went to the principal of her Christian school with the news she was pregnant, he responded: You’re fired. Her lawsuit against the school came before the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday, and the three-judge panel is wrestling with its decision.”

Posted at 2:50 PM by Howard Bashman



“Fired SEC lawyer wins reversal in case over emails; Trial lawyer Jeffrey Norris had been fired in 2009; One email to Washington Post, another had secret report; Earlier emails questioned Mark Cuban’s patriotism; US appeals court says new evidence should be reviewed”: Jonathan Stempel of Reuters has a report that begins, “A longtime U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission trial lawyer who was fired for sending inappropriate emails deserves a chance to get his job back by presenting medical evidence that those actions won’t happen again, a federal appeals court ruled.”

You can access today’s ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit at this link.

Posted at 2:45 PM by Howard Bashman



“Many employers have adopted policies prohibiting the use of work computers for nonbusiness purposes. Does an employee who violates such a policy commit a federal crime? How about someone who violates the terms of service of a social networking website?” The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit today has issued its en banc ruling in United States v. Nosal. Chief Judge Alex Kozinski wrote the majority opinion.

My earlier coverage of the case appears here, here, and here.

Posted at 1:09 PM by Howard Bashman



“First Amendment lawyer heads to Guantanamo to challenge closures; A consortium of media companies, including The Miami Herald, is protesting the Department of Defense decision to keep secret testimony regarding the detention and treatment of the alleged planner of the attack on the USS Cole”: Carol Rosenberg of The Miami Herald has this report.

Posted at 11:42 AM by Howard Bashman



“False Equivalence Watch, Judiciary Edition: President Obama tried one kind of attack on judicial independence; The Republican candidates have been trying another. Both are bad — but one is worse.” Andrew Cohen has this essay online at The Atlantic.

Posted at 11:37 AM by Howard Bashman



“The University of Minnesota and the Supreme Court: too close for comfort? The University of Minnesota has two cases in the state Supreme Court this year — for both, more than half of the justices won’t have a say because of University-related conflicts of interest.” Minnesota Daily contains this article today.

Posted at 8:17 AM by Howard Bashman