U.S. Appeals Court Judge Richard Posner, whose acerbic wit and legal opinions made him a legend in legal circles, has announced that he is retiring.

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Enormous rats are making their way through the federal court system. But they're not wet-nosed, living rodents. They're rubber, inflatable ones.

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Formidable 7th Circuit Judge Richard Posner recently published in the winter edition of the legal journal "Green Bag" the delightfully readable first installment of a two-part article: What is Obviously Wrong With the Federal Judiciary, Yet Eminently Curable.

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A federal court has ruled that an Illinois sheriff violated a classifieds website’s First Amendment right to freedom of expression by pressuring credit card companies to cut ties with the website.

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A Wisconsin law that requires abortion providers to get admitting privileges at nearby hospitals is unconstitutional, a federal appeals court panel ruled Monday.

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A federal court has ordered Caterpillar to allow a union inspector into its South Milwaukee plant to investigate the 2011 death of a crane operator.

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A federal appeals court panel heard arguments Thursday over a Wisconsin law requiring doctors who provide abortions to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals, with the presiding judge saying there is "not a rational basis" for the requirement.

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A doctor who aggressively litigated his case against the hospital from which he was fired had his appeal thrown out Tuesday.

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In another interesting decision, 7th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Richard Posner has allowed Native Americans to hunt deer at night, debunking concerns about safety.

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Less than a day after the U.S. Supreme Court stayed Wisconsin’s voter ID law, 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Richard Posner wrote a blistering takedown of the law and what he sees as its effects.

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Two lower court rulings that said Wisconsin's same-sex marriage ban is unconstitutional will stand, immediately ending delays on marriages around the state.

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The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has put its decision overturning same-sex marriage bans in Indiana on hold until the U.S. Supreme Court decides what it will do with the cases.

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A stinging rejection of same-sex marriage bans in Wisconsin and Indiana, issued by a unanimous and unequivocal U.S. appeals court, has brought hope to those fighting the laws that the U.S. Supreme Court will feel pressure to rule soon in their favor.

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A federal appeals court has upheld decisions by Wisconsin and Indiana judges to strike down their respective state's bans on same-sex marriage.

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Federal appeals judges bristled on Tuesday at arguments defending gay marriage bans in Indiana and Wisconsin, with one Republican appointee comparing them to now-defunct laws that once outlawed weddings between blacks and whites.

Tagged with: 7th Circuit ACLU Barbara Crabb David Hamilton Defense of Marriage Act gay marriage J.B. Van Hollen Richard Posner

The best way to write an opinion is the subject of some debate, but there is no denying that a concise, no-words-minced ruling that cuts through the unnecessary legalese and posturing is an easier and more enjoyable read, and thus, one more likely to affect more people.

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Not every judge would feel comfortable writing in an opinion that “the sight of a shackled litigant is apt to make jurors think they’re dealing with a mad dog.”

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Trust is at the heart of the court system.

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An emerging pattern of aggressive and often baseless lawsuits from three litigious Madison residents is irritating judges and lawyers in state and federal courts.

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Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Richard Posner is raising eyebrows with this opinion, in which he gleefully admits that he went out and bought safety equipment and timed three clerks as they put it on and took it off in chambers in order to test the reasonableness of the poultry-plant workers’ claims in a “donning and doffing” case.

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A Madison woman who performs as “The Banana Lady” – and has filed several pro se lawsuits against people she claims damaged that image – had another appeal shot down Monday.

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A Kenosha-based construction company might be on the hook for more than $1 million in settlement and legal fees stemming from a 2009 injury at the St. Catherine’s Medical Center construction site.

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The latest rejection of Milwaukee County’s attempt to levy real estate transfer taxes on two federal enterprises reinforces an emerging national trend.

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An appellate court on Tuesday questioned a lawyer for the state of Wisconsin about why lawmakers singled out abortion clinics in requiring their doctors to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals, as judges heard arguments about a hotly debated law.

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Tensions between the Social Security Administration and the judicial community boiled over recently, as evidenced in a terse decision issued by Eastern District of Wisconsin Judge J.P. Stadtmueller.

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At the trial of Michael Patino, who was charged in Rhode Island state court with the beating death of his girlfriend’s young son, prosecutors were armed with cellphone data and other documents obtained with valid search warrants.

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The next big issue in the national debate over guns -- whether people have a right to be armed in public -- is moving closer to Supreme Court review.

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Justice Antonin G. Scalia has thrown sharp barbs at 7th Circuit Judge Richard Posner in their ongoing public spat about the role of history in legal interpretation.

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Earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court held that need for rehabilitation is not an appropriate basis for imprisonment.

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Arguably, any 18-year-old in Wisconsin who uses the Internet to arrange a consensual sexual encounter with a 17-year-old faces 10 years to life in federal prison.

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