Makowski v. Granholm, Michigan Supreme Court (6/3/14) Constitutional Law, Criminal Law Plaintiff-appellant Matthew Makowski filed an action in the Court of Claims against the Governor and the Secretary of State, seeking a declaratory judgment and injunctive relief to reverse then-Governor Jennifer Granholm's decision to revoke her commutation of plaintiff's nonparolable…
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Robinson v. Legro, Colorado Supreme Court (5/27/14) Injury Law A bicyclist was attacked by two ranch dogs herding sheep while participating in a mountain bike race. The cyclist and dogs were on federally owned land on which the attack took place, subject to a sheep grazing permit and a recreational…
Petrella v. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc., US Supreme Court (5/19/14) Civil Procedure, Copyright, Entertainment & Sports Law The Copyright Act protects works published before 1978 for 28 years, renewable for up to 67 years, 17 U.S.C. 304(a). An author’s heirs inherit renewal rights. If an author who has assigned rights dies before…
Bain, et al. v. MJJ Productions, Inc., et al., US DC Cir. (05/13/14) Civil Procedure Raymone Bain and her firm filed suit against Michael Jackson and his production company, MJJ Productions, Inc., claiming to be owed substantial sums for various services rendered. Defendants moved to dismiss, relying principally on a…
Town of Greece v. Galloway, United States Supreme Court (5/5/14) Constitutional Law, Government & Administrative Law Since 1999, Greece, New York has opened monthly town board meetings with a roll call, recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance, and a prayer by a local clergy member. While the prayer program is…
Envtl. Prot. Agency v. EME Homer City Generation, L. P., United States Supreme Court (4/29/14) Environmental Law, Government & Administrative Law The Clean Air Act (CAA) requires national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for pollutants at levels that will protect public health, 42 U.S.C. 7408. Once EPA establishes NAAQS, it…
Legal news coverage was dominated this week by the Supreme Court Shuette decision, which upheld Michigan's affirmative action ban for college admissions. Read a summary below of the Court's decision along with a few other interesting opinions picked out by our writers this week. Schuette v. Coal. Defend Affirmative Action,…
State v. DeMarco, Connecticut Supreme Court (4/22/14) Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law Upon following up on complaints from Defendant’s neighbor relating to Defendant’s keeping of animals in his residence, a police officer concluded that a “welfare check” was necessary and made a warrantless entry into Defendant’s home. Defendant subsequently…
McCutcheon v. Fed. Election Comm’n, United States Supreme Court (4/2/14) Civil Rights, Communications Law, Constitutional Law, Election Law The Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 and the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, impose base limits, restricting how much money a donor may contribute to a particular candidate or committee,…
United States v. Bergman, US 10th Cir. (3/28/14) Constitutional Law, Criminal Law Defendant-appellant Gwen Bergman was arrested when the hit-man she thought she hired to kill her husband was in fact an undercover police officer. After trial, it emerged that defendant’s lawyer was not a lawyer-in-fact, but a con man.…