11th Circuit Court

Afternoon Briefs: DUI lawyer arrested for alleged bizarre attack; judge warned for law license lapses

• A prominent DUI lawyer from Petersburg, Virginia, has been charged with his wife in an alleged attack on their driver that began during a limo ride and ended at the home of the alleged victim. Prosecutors charged lawyer Charles Vanevera Hardenbergh and his wife, Mari, with assault, abduction, trespassing,…

Jul 30, 2019 5:05 PM CDT

11th Circuit affirms removal of ‘horrifying’ juror who ‘laid on the couch,’ disrespected female jurors

A federal appeals court has affirmed a decision to remove a holdout juror from a case after he called female jurors “bitches” and referred to others as “white asses.” The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at Atlanta ruled in an unpublished, per curiam opinion Monday, Law360 reports. A federal…

Jul 30, 2019 10:34 AM CDT

Afternoon Briefs: James Comey’s daughter prosecutes Epstein; cop accused of planting drugs in cars

• A daughter of former FBI Director James Comey is one of the lead prosecutors in the federal sex trafficking case against billionaire Jeffrey Epstein. Maurene Comey is an assistant U.S. Attorney in Manhattan. President Donald Trump and former President Bill Clinton were both acquaintances of Epstein, leading some conspiracy…

Jul 11, 2019 4:30 PM CDT

ADA questions remain over web accessibility cases and the lack of DOJ regulations

Disability rights advocates say web accessibility, the practice of designing and coding websites so that people with disabilities can use them, can be accomplished through simple changes, such as changing color contrast and adding video captions. However, the legal landscape surrounding web accessibility has become more complex.

Jul 1, 2019 2:15 AM CDT

Lawyers, songs and money: Music that changed the law

Some songs or albums move the law. A band or artist will be involved in a lawsuit so groundbreaking and important that it will set a precedent, either enshrined in law or otherwise binding future generations.

Jul 1, 2019 12:05 AM CDT

Justice Thomas weighs in on ‘dismemberment abortions’ and the undue burden standard

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas said Friday the Supreme Court’s abortion jurisprudence “has spiraled out of control” and has to be reevaluated. “We cannot continue blinking the reality of what this court has wrought,” he wrote. Thomas expressed his views in a concurrence to the Supreme Court’s refusal to…

Jun 28, 2019 1:56 PM CDT

SCOTUS agrees to decide whether annotated state laws can be copyrighted

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Monday to decide whether annotations of the Georgia state code can be copyrighted. The court agreed to decide Georgia’s appeal in its suit for copyright infringement against open law advocate Carl Malamud. Malamud had bought and scanned 186 printed volumes of Georgia’s annotated code and…

Jun 24, 2019 1:53 PM CDT

Dentist may pursue infringement case over cribbed before-and-after smile photos, 11th Circuit says

Copyright Law

May 2, 2019 11:18 AM CDT

SCOTUS will consider sexual orientation, transgender discrimination under Title VII

On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court accepted three petitions regarding whether Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act prohibits workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and transgender status.

Apr 22, 2019 1:01 PM CDT

Supreme Court liberals criticize majority’s ‘middle of the night’ decision lifting execution stay

The U.S. Supreme Court has lifted a stay that blocked the execution of an Alabama man who sought to die by nitrogen hypoxia. The action prompted a dissent by the court’s liberals, who criticized the “middle of the night” decision that didn’t allow for discussion Friday morning.

Apr 12, 2019 9:20 AM CDT

Bankruptcy judge has ordered at least 10 people jailed, including 2 lawyers

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge John Olson of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, is by all accounts a brilliant man. But controversy swirls around him because of his tough actions against lawyers and litigants who draw his ire. Olson has ordered the detention of at least 10 people, including two lawyers, the Daily Business…

Apr 1, 2019 7:00 AM CDT

Federal appeals court allows release of grand jury records in 1946 lynching

A federal appeals court on Monday upheld the release of grand jury records in the 1946 lynching of two black couples in Georgia. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at Atlanta ruled 2-1 that the records may be released to historian Anthony Pitch, who wrote a 2016 book on…

Feb 13, 2019 9:19 AM CST

SCOTUS allows execution of Muslim prisoner to go forward without his imam present in 5-4 decision

Updated: The U.S. Supreme Court granted a request on Thursday night by the Alabama Office of the Attorney General to let it proceed with the execution of a Muslim inmate who won a stay Wednesday after he claimed that the prison violated his religious rights by refusing to allow his…

Feb 7, 2019 1:15 PM CST

District attorney accused of retaliatory defamation is protected from suit, 11th Circuit says

Qualified immunity protects a former Georgia prosecutor accused of defaming a man in retaliation for his bid for wrongful-conviction compensation, a federal appeals court has ruled. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at Atlanta tossed the suit by former prisoner Douglas Echols against Spencer Lawton, who was Chatham County’s…

Jan 30, 2019 7:00 AM CST

ABA urges Supreme Court to review constitutionality of fixed-bail system

The ABA has filed an amicus brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to consider the constitutionality of money bail systems that don’t give adequate consideration to ability to pay.

Jan 29, 2019 12:04 PM CST