“Man gets 5-year sentence after throwing chair at cop”: In August 2014, The Chicago Sun-Times published an article that begins, “A black plaintiff who threw a courtroom chair at a white Joliet cop after he lost a civil rights trial was on Thursday sentenced to five years in prison for ‘assault with a dangerous weapon.'”
Today, in an opinion written by Circuit Judge Richard A. Posner, a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed the defendant’s conviction and sentence.
“7th Circuit Creates Circuit Split: Non-Citizens are ‘The People’ Under the Second Amendment.” Josh Blackman has this post at his blog discussing a decision that a divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit issued today.
“Markel estate intends to sue CDA”: Sean Rossman of The Tallahassee Democrat has this report.
“Anonymous Internet subscriber revealed in Stephenson County libel case”: The Journal-Standard of Freeport, Illinois has a news update that begins, “A Freeport attorney who has worked for various county departments since 1998 is the anonymous Internet subscriber who is accused by Stephenson County Board Chairman Bill Hadley of posting a libelous online comment.”
And The Associated Press reports that “Comcast reveals subscriber in online comments case.”
“U.S. Urges Supreme Court to Reject Iran Central Bank’s Appeal on Judgments for Terrorism Victims; Solicitor general asks high court to let stand lower-court rulings on $2 billion in frozen assets”: Brent Kendall of The Wall Street Journal has this report.
“Pa. Supreme Court will hear appeal of corruption conviction of ex-Rep. Mike Veon”: Matt Miller of The Patriot-News of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania has this report.
And The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports that “Pennsylvania Supreme Court to hear Mike Veon’s appeal.”
You can access today’s order of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania at this link.
“The benefit of friends: Big business goes after class actions in SCOTUS Tyson case.” Alison Frankel’s “On the Case” from Thomson Reuters News & Insight has this report today.
“Benchslaps Fly Over Judges Doing Factual Research On The Internet”: David Lat has this post at “Above the Law.”
“House lawsuit against Obama is turning into a real problem for the president”: David G. Savage has this article in today’s edition of The Los Angeles Times.
The Pa. Superior Court has affirmed a $4 million judgment in a prescription drug personal injury appeal that I argued on behalf of the plaintiffs-appellees in late October 2014: Today’s ruling consists of a majority opinion and a dissenting opinion (concerning an issue of Virginia law).
My oral argument preview post contained a link to my clients’ Brief for Plaintiffs-Appellees.
I argued this case last October together with a related case that produced a unanimous ruling in favor of the plaintiffs (also my clients) in March 2015, as noted in this earlier post.
“Dr. Posner Will See You Now: 7th Circuit Judges Reignite a Spirited Debate over Judicial Internet Research.” Thomas L. Shriner, Jr. has this post today at the “Wisconsin Appellate Law” blog.
My earlier coverage of yesterday’s Seventh Circuit ruling can be accessed here and here.
En banc Fifth Circuit decides student off-campus First Amendment free speech dispute in Taylor Bell v. Itawamba County School Board: You can access today’s en banc ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit at this link.
The Associated Press covered the Fifth Circuit’s previous actions in the case in articles headlined “Miss. student wins challenge to rap song suspension” (reporting on the divided three-judge panel’s original ruling) and “Mississippi student back in court over rap song” (reporting on the Fifth Circuit’s grant of rehearing en banc).
The student did not prevail in today’s en banc ruling.
“How Texas Could Set National Template for Limiting Abortion Access”: Kim Soffen has this article in today’s edition of The New York Times.
“Justice Dept. Presses Civil Rights Agenda in Local Courts”: Matt Apuzzo has this front page article in today’s edition of The New York Times.
“Raisin ruling seen as lifeline for endangered species”: Jeremy P. Jacobs of Greenwire has this report.
“The Liberty to End One’s Life: How the marriage equality movement led the way for death with dignity.” Mark Joseph Stern has this jurisprudence essay online at Slate.
“Ten Years of the Roberts Court: Current and former Assistant Solicitors General, who have argued dozens of cases before the Supreme Court, talked about the first ten years of the Roberts Court and predict what’s ahead in the coming term.” C-SPAN has posted the video of this recent panel discussion at this link. Added bonus — only moments into the video you can hear Kannon K. Shanmugam pronounce his own name.
“[W]e consider whether Congress may prohibit individuals from engaging in non-commercial ‘illicit sexual conduct’ after they ‘travel in foreign commerce.'” Yesterday, a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued a decision rejecting a Foreign Commerce Clause challenge to the constitutionality of 18 U.S.C. sec. 2423(c).
“Appeals court: Prenda lawyer who drained cash from his law firm must pay up; ‘Piercing the corporate veil’ of Paul Hansmeier’s law firm was justified.” Joe Mullin of Ars Technica has this report on an unpublished opinion that the Minnesota Court of Appeals issued Monday.
“Who Wins in the Supreme Court? An Examination of Attorney and Law Firm Influence.” Adam Feldman has posted this article online at SSRN (via Bloomberg BNA).
“Copyright Case Asks: What is a Cheerleading Uniform?” Jacob Gershman has this post at WSJ.com’s “Law Blog” about a ruling that a divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued yesterday.
“Dissenter blasts Posner’s Internet research in inmate’s suit over acid reflux treatment”: Debra Cassens Weiss has this post online today at the ABA Journal.
And Josh Blackman has a blog post titled “Judicial Fact-Finding Run Amok: Dr. Posner Cites MayoClinic.org To Contradict Expert Witness’s Testimony.”
My earlier coverage of yesterday’s Seventh Circuit ruling can be accessed here.
One of the more interesting aspects of yesterday’s ruling is the fact that the blistering dissent, in a case that ruled in favor of a prisoner in a healthcare access lawsuit, was written by perhaps the Seventh Circuit‘s most liberal judge on matters of prisoner rights, Circuit Judge David F. Hamilton.
“Talking About the Death Penalty, Court to Court”: Linda Greenhouse has this essay online today at The New York Times.
