Libraries are bridges to information and knowledge.

by

To view the full-text of cases you must sign in to FindLaw.com. All summaries are produced by Findlaw.

June 3-4, 2009.

CIVIL PROCEDURE, EDUCATION LAW, INJURY AND TORT LAW O’Connor v. Pierson , No. 07-1758 In an action brought by a public school teacher against a school, alleging various state and federal tort claims, district court’s of defendant’s motion for summary judgment on grounds that plaintiff’s claim is barred by res judicata is affirmed where: 1) the state court decision against plaintiff on his intentional infliction claim was decided on the merits and bars his pursuit of the substantive due process claims in federal district court; 2) the parties in the state and federal actions are in privity for purposes of res judicata; and 3) plaintiff had a fair and adequate opportunity to litigate his claims, even if they may have eventually been separated from one another.

Continue reading

by

QUESTION:

Recently, Connecticut and New Jersey have sought to remove funding completely for their county and court law libraries through budget bills and separate legislative actions. Has anyone experienced this threat from their state legislature recently?

SOME RESPONSES:

Continue reading

by

To view the full-text of cases you must sign in to FindLaw.com. All summaries are produced by Findlaw.

June 1-2, 2009.

CRIMINAL LAW & PROCEDURE, SENTENCING US v. Timewell, No. 07-4587 Sentence for drug crimes and making false statements to federal agents is vacated and remanded where the district court erred in neglecting to answer the question posed by the Crosby remand of defendant’s original sentence of whether the court would have imposed a materially different sentence under the post-Booker sentencing regime based on the circumstances at the time of the original sentence, and this error was not harmless

Continue reading

by

To view the full-text of cases you must sign in to FindLaw.com. All summaries are produced by Findlaw.

June 1, 2009.

CIVIL PROCEDURE, INJURY AND TORT LAW, PER CURIAM, TRANSPORTATION CSX Transp., Inc. v. Hensley, No. 08-1034 In an action brought under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act, based on Plaintiff’s fear of developing cancer due to asbestos exposure, judgment for Plaintiff is reversed where the trial court denied an instruction that Plaintiff must have a “genuine and serious fear” to recover damages, because that instruction was required by the Court’s prior decision in Ayers v. Norfolk & Western R. Co., 538 U.S. 135 (2003). Read more…

Continue reading

by

Web based criminal justice issues cannot be addressed in a rational manner without also the establishment and ongoing maintenance of a trusted and resilient information and communications infrastructure. Realizing the paramount importance of these objectives the Obama administration has been engaging in a mumber related activities including President Obama’s recent call for the creation of a cybersecurity coordinator who will orchestrate and integrate federal cybersecurity policies and agendas, and the release by the White House of a Report: Cyberspace Policy Review: Assuring a Trusted and Resilient Information Infrasturcture

These measures could not be more timely. The increasing rate that information on the web is being compromised in many ways including identity theft, willful distortion of information,and illegal wiretapping to name a few. Other organizations such as the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) have long been concerned with issues related to the continuing integrity or authenticity of information on the web and are actively engaged in developing recommendations and helping others understand the importance of achieving and maintaining information authenticity of the web but additional help and support is needed. It is therefore most encouraging to see indications that the Obama administration is interested in taking an active role in addressing these and related issues.

The following are links to documents and articles discussing recent cybersecurity initiatives of the Obama administration.

Continue reading

by

To view the full-text of cases you must sign in to FindLaw.com. All summaries are produced by Findlaw.

May 25-29, 2009.

U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, May 27, 2009 Pyke v. Cuomo, No. 07-0334 District court’s grant of summary judgment to defendants on plaintiffs’ claim that defendants’ response to a period of violent unrest on an Indian reservation violated their equal protection rights is affirmed where: 1) plaintiffs failed to show that defendants’ actions constituted an express racial classification; and 2) plaintiffs failed to provide sufficient evidence of racially discriminatory intent and impact.

U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, May 29, 2009 Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Steamboat Co. v. Bridgeport Port Auth., No. 08-3886 District court judgment declaring a fee imposed on ferry passengers unconstitutional and enjoining collection of the fee until revised is affirmed where: 1) the existing fee violated the Commerce Clause as defendant failed to show that using a portion of the passenger fees to pay for services was based on a fair approximation of the ferry passengers’ use; and 2) the fee violated the Tonnage Clause as it was used for the impermissible purpose of raising general revenues and for projects which did not benefit the ferry passengers.

U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, May 28, 2009 Am. Atheists, Inc. v. Detroit, No. 07-2398 In an Establishment Clause challenge to a city’s building refurbishment program in which religious organizations were allowed to participate, judgment for Plaintiff is reversed, where the program allocated generally available benefits on a neutral basis and without a hidden agenda, and thus did not have the effect of advancing religion.
Continue reading

by

To view the full-text of cases you must sign in to FindLaw.com. All summaries are produced by Findlaw.

May 25-29, 2009.

U.S. Supreme Court, May 26, 2009 Haywood v. Drown, No. 07-10374 In a 42 U.S.C. section 1983 action by a prisoner, judgment for Defendant-Officers is reversed where Correction Law section 24, as applied to Section 1983 claims, violates the Supremacy Clause, because New York’s policy of shielding correctional officers from liability for conduct performed in the scope of their employment is contrary to Congress’s judgment that all persons who violate federal rights while acting under color of state law shall be held liable for damages.

U.S. Supreme Court, May 26, 2009 Montejo v. Louisiana, No. 07-1529 Capital murder conviction is vacated, where Michigan v. Jackson, 475 U.S. 625 (1986), is overruled, because requiring an “initial invocation” of the right to counsel in order to trigger the Jackson presumption might work in states that require an indigent defendant formally to request counsel before an appointment is made, but not in more than half the states that appoint counsel without request from the defendant. .

U.S. Supreme Court, May 26, 2009 Abuelhawa v. US, No. 08-192 Drug distribution conviction is reversed and the case remanded, where Defendant’s drug purchases from a third party over the phone constituted misdemeanors, because using a telephone to make a misdemeanor drug purchase does not “facilitate” felony drug distribution in violation of 18 U.S.C. section 843(b).
Continue reading

Contact Information
ATTORNEY ADVERTISING

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Please do not include any confidential or sensitive information in a contact form, text message, or voicemail. The contact form sends information by non-encrypted email, which is not secure. Submitting a contact form, sending a text message, making a phone call, or leaving a voicemail does not create an attorney-client relationship.

Copyright © 2016 – 2025, David Badertscher
JUSTIA Law Firm Blog Design