RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A federal judge rejected a key provision of the Obama administration’s health care law as unconstitutional Monday, ruling the government cannot require people to buy insurance, in a dispute that both sides agree will ultimately be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson is the first federal judge to strike down ...
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Ohio prospective juror cites Dahmer, is excused
CLEVELAND (AP) — An Ohio man was excused from jury service after mentioning he was friends growing up with serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer.
Read More »Supreme Court justices ousted in Iowa
New York - Gay-rights activists celebrated a few bright spots on Election Day, but they also suffered some major setbacks - including losses by key supporters in Congress and the ouster of three Iowa Supreme Court judges who had ruled in favor of same-sex marriage.
Read More »US judges agree to pilot study of cameras in court
Washington - The nation's federal judges agreed Tuesday to a pilot project that could televise some civil trials -- 16 years after the judges ended a similar experiment.
Read More »09-4080 Kingstad v. State Bar of Wisconsin
Constitutional Law Freedom of speech; mandatory bar associations The Wisconsin State Bar’s Public Image Campaign did not violate the free speech rights of its members. “The Ninth Circuit’s generous approach to germaneness in Gardner is consistent with the portion of Thiel that remains binding, where we found that all of the particular activities at issue were germane to the purpose ...
Read More »10-1347 U.S. v. Szymuszkiewicz
Wiretap Act Sufficiency of the evidence Where an employee directed all of his supervisor’s email messages to be forwarded to him, the evidence was sufficient to convict him under the Wiretap Act for intentionally intercepting an electronic communication. “Szymuszkiewicz’s argument is based on the belief that Infusino’s computer did the forwarding after each email arrived there. The evidence permitted the ...
Read More »Who’s Doing What
Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren s.c. announces the addition of David G. Peterson, an experienced litigator, to the firm’s expanding Waukesha office. Peterson joins the firm as a shareholder in the Litigation Practice. He has close to 20 years of experience in commercial litigation matters. Peterson was recently elected to the Board of Directors of the Milwaukee Bar Association. Peterson received ...
Read More »Slavin on apostrophes; Scheuerman on legal education
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Read More »09-3017 Mozdzen v. Holder
United States Court of Appeals CIVIL OPINIONS Immigration Removal Even if aliens did not engage in fraud in obtaining I-551 passport stamps, they are removable where they did not obtain them leally. “The Mozdzens argue that they were lawfully admitted in 1999, but the definition of admission for an alien and someone with LPR status differ. For an alien, admission ...
Read More »09-2652 & 09-3011 U.S. v. Rea
Sentencing Firearms Where a defendant convicted of drug offenses possessed an AK-47, his sentence was properly enhanced for possessing a firearm in connection with a drug crime. “We conclude that the government carried its initial burden by proving by a preponderance of the evidence that Rea possessed the firearms and that there was a sufficient connection between the guns and ...
Read More »09-1733 Socha v. Pollard
Habeas Corpus AEDPA; equitable tolling Where a state prisoner thought he would be represented by the Innocence Project for almost a year, and was in segregation with access to the law library only a few hours per month, it was error to deny him an extension to file for habeas corpus. “[T]he district court erred by focusing too closely on ...
Read More »09-2560 Stock v. Rednour
Habeas Corpus Confrontation Clause Where reasonable minds could differ whether to admit impeachment evidence in a state court trial, the district court properly denied the prisoner’s petition for habeas corpus. “The trial court in Stock’s case was aware of the fine lines that it was asked to draw. The court endeavored to balance Stock’s ability to challenge Najera’s testimony against ...
Read More »09-1138 U.S. v. Yancey
Firearms Possession of firearm by drug user; constitutionality Congress acted within constitutional bounds by prohibiting illegal drug users from firearm possession because it is substantially related to the important governmental interest in preventing violent crime. “Ample academic research confirms the connection between drug use and violent crime. For example, nearly four times as many adults arrested for serious crimes had ...
Read More »08-3511, 08-3549, 08-3885 & 08-4144 U.S. v. Blitch
Criminal Procedure Jury bias Where the district court failed to inquire into whether the jury was biased, a new trial is required. “We are mindful of the discretion district judges have when determining whether a jury is biased and of the deference we pay to a district judge’s determination that a jury can remain impartial. As the Supreme Court said ...
Read More »09-2043 Goodman v. National Security Agency, Inc.
Employment Equal Pay Act Where a female employee was paid more, not less, than a comparable male employee, summary judgment was properly granted to the employer on her Equal Pay Act claim. “Moore’s testimony is partly confirmed by the company’s payroll records, which show that he was hired at the same rate as Goodman, but received only a 40- cent ...
Read More »09-2578 Carlson v. Bukovic
Civil Rights Excessive force Mere physical contact by a police officer does not automatically qualify as a seizure. “[T]he district court correctly submitted the matter to the jury. Even accepting the evidence in the light most favorable to Officer Bukovic, we cannot characterize the situation as the sort of de minimis touching that, as a matter of law, has no ...
Read More »10-2417 Wilson v. O’Brien
Civil Procedure Interlocutory appeals; privilege Where a non-party complies with an order to disclose, despite his claim of privilege, an interlocutory appeal from the order is moot. “From Nims’s perspective, this matter is moot. He complied with the district judge’s order. The privilege (if there is one) belongs to Wilson, not to Nims, who interviewed the mental patient as Wilson’s ...
Read More »08-4013 SEC v. Hyatt
Civil Procedure Contempt; due process A court cannot find a party in contempt when the show-case notice only said that that the SEC was seeking a show-cause order, but not that the court would immediately adjudicate whether they were in contempt. “Rule 45(e) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure specifically provides that a person who fails ‘without adequate excuse ...
Read More »09-1892 Bodum USA, Inc., v. La Cafetiere, Inc.
Civil Procedure Foreign law; expert testimony Expert testimony about the meaning of foreign law is unnecessary when the foreign law at issue is France’s. “Sometimes federal courts must interpret foreign statutes or decisions that have not been translated into English or glossed in treatises or other sources. Then experts’ declarations and testimony may be essential. But French law, and the ...
Read More »09-1883 Flying J., Inc., v. Van Hollen
Antitrust Minimum-markup laws Wisconsin’s minimum-markup law does not violate the Sherman Act. “It may well be that gasoline retailers are getting together with each other and agreeing on how to estimate their costs or what final price to charge, or that retailers and wholesalers are colluding to manipulate the average posted terminal price. ‘However, we have been given no indication ...
Read More »2009AP916-D OLR v. Coplien
Professional Responsibility Reciprocal discipline Where attorney Sandra K. Coplien was suspended for six months in Illinois, reciprocal discipline is imposed. “We approve and adopt the referee’s findings and conclusions, which are unchallenged. By virtue of having been suspended by the Illinois Supreme Court for her violation of the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct, Attorney Coplien is subject to reciprocal discipline ...
Read More »Redacted attorney bills sufficient
When requesting attorney fees in federal court, pursuant to a contractual fee-shifting provision, rather than a statute, the attorney can submit redacted bills that omit descriptions of the work performed.
Read More »Feds won’t speed up state courts
Longstanding precedent holds that federal courts can't enjoin state court proceedings, despite the state court defendant's claim that the proceedings violate federal rights. Younger v. Harris, 401 U.S. 37 (1971).
Read More »Who’s Doing What
Stafford Rosenbaum LLP, with offices in Madison and metro Milwaukee, announced that Connie Anderson and Paul Kent, formerly of Anderson & Kent, S.C., have joined the firm in its Madison office.
Read More »Bauer on deterrence; Pettit on fair housing
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Read More »10-1374 U.S. v. Hernandez Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Andersen, J., Wood, J.
Sentencing Concurrent sentences Where the district court erroneously believed it lacked authority to impose a sentence concurrent to a state court sentence, the sentence must be vacated. “The only difference between Campbell’s case and Hernandez’s case is the offense of conviction. Hernandez faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years for his drug conviction, while Campbell faced a mandatory minimum of ...
Read More »08-1957 Weber v. Universities Research Ass’n., Inc.
Employment Sex discrimination Where an employee spent 16 hours per week on non-work related websites, her termination was not sex discrimination. “Weber identified a number of male URA employees that had outside employment, conducted personal business while at URA, viewed pornography on URA computers, or viewed websites that could have been related to their outside employment. She argues that all ...
Read More »10-1750 U.S. v. Taylor
Sentencing Bank robbery; physical restraint Even though a bank robber only pushed a victim to the ground and ordered her into another room while holding a firearm, he properly received an enhancement under U.S.S.G. 2B3.1(b)(4)(B) for physically restraining a victim. “Carter governs our case. It accords with the decisions in all the comparable cases that we’ve found in the other ...
Read More »10-1443 U.S. v. Slaight
Criminal Procedure Miranda warnings Even though police told a suspect he was not in custody and was free to leave, his unmirandized statements are inadmissible, where the officers show of force was overwhelming. “The government acknowledges as it must that appellate review of a judge’s finding that an interrogation was not custodial is plenary. Thompson v. Keohane, supra, 516 U.S. ...
Read More »2009AP2070 In re the commitment of Christopher Melendez
Sexually Violent Persons Due process; retroactivity Christopher Melendrez appeals the judgment entered upon a jury verdict finding that he was a sexually violent person under Wis. Stat. ch. 980 (2007-08). He also appeals the circuit court’s order denying his motion for postcommitment relief. Melendrez makes two primary arguments on appeal. First, he contends that he is entitled to dismissal of ...
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