A Sixth Sense: 6th Circuit Has Surpassed the 9th as the Most Reversed Appeals Court

Dec 1, 2012 9:30 AM CST

After City of Detroit Ignores Civil Rights Suit, Federal Judge Declares Default, Awards $1.1M

The City of Detroit is facing a $1.1 million judgment in a civil rights suit, after failing to respond to the litigation and being held in default by a federal judge. Caleb Sosa, who is now 19, says he was coerced at age 14 into initialing a confession he couldn’t…

Nov 21, 2012 8:35 PM CST

Federal Judge Replaces Jury Foreman Accused of Bullying, Tells Jury to Begin Deliberations Anew

A federal judge in Nashville has dismissed a jury foreman accused of bullying other jurors, replacing him with an alternate and telling the jury to begin deliberating anew in a drug conspiracy case. U.S. District Court Judge Aleta Trauger said she had received multiple notes from the jury and noted…

Nov 16, 2012 5:51 PM CST

En Banc 6th Circuit Overturns Voter-Mandated Affirmative Action Ban in Michigan

An en banc federal appeals court has struck down a voter-approved ban on affirmative action in Michigan as a violation of the equal protection clause. The Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the ban on affirmative action in university admissions placed an unfair burden on supporters of racial…

Nov 16, 2012 1:22 PM CST

6th Circuit: Lawyer Must Pay $300K for Using Stock Photos to Create Morphed Child Porn Trial Exhibit

A federal appeals court has approved a $300,000 award against an Ohio lawyer rejecting the attorney’s arguments that he had a First Amendment right to morph stock photos into child pornography as part of a defense trial exhibit and that no one was harmed by his doing so. Dean Boland…

Nov 12, 2012 6:08 PM CST

Jury Convicts Former Tenn. Judge of Lying to Cover Up Prescription Drug Conspiracy

A federal jury in Knoxville, Tenn., on Friday convicted a former criminal court judge there of lying to cover up a prescription drug conspiracy that reportedly involved some defendants in the court system. After deliberating for four days, the jury convicted Richard Baumgartner on five counts of misprision of a…

Nov 2, 2012 8:05 PM CDT

Michigan Can Reject Bus Ads Criticizing Islam, 6th Circuit Says

A proposed bus advertisement for RefugefromIslam.com can be rejected by Michigan’s Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday, because the agency rejects all political advertising. According to the Wall Street Journal Law Blog, the American Freedom Defense Initiative wanted to place the…

Oct 25, 2012 6:43 PM CDT

In Second Loss for Ohio in Election Disputes, 6th Circuit Upholds Counting of Wrong-Precinct Ballots

A federal appeals court based in Cincinnati has ruled that Ohio must count ballots cast in the wrong precinct but the right polling place. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled (PDF) that the ballots should count if poll workers caused the error, report the Wall Street Journal Law…

Oct 12, 2012 12:04 PM CDT

Medical Pot Law Doesn’t Protect Fired Wal-Mart Worker, 6th Circuit Rules

A federal appeals court has ruled for Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in the case of a worker who claimed he should not have been fired for using medical marijuana. The Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Michigan’s medical marijuana law does not protect Joseph Casias, who was fired after…

Sep 21, 2012 10:50 AM CDT

6th Cir. OKs Civil RICO Class Suit Against Edwards Wildman, Client Insurer re Tax-Shelter Marketing

Reversing a lower court’s dismissal of a civil racketeering class action against a law firm and a client insurer, a federal appeals court in Cincinnati on Wednesday gave the lawsuit a green light. The suit was filed because of the defendants’ marketing of a tax shelter later determined by the…

Sep 20, 2012 4:15 PM CDT

In Case of First Impression, 6th Circuit Nixes Lie-Detecting MRI in Criminal Case

A health-care fraud defendant who sought to bolster his testimony with a functional MRI scan indicating he was truthful has lost his federal appeal in a criminal case of first impression. The Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the conviction of Dr. Lorne Semrau, who had sought to…

Sep 7, 2012 6:55 PM CDT

Disbarred Lawyer Gets 5 Years in Federal Prison for Embezzling $1M From Elderly Clients

A lawyer for Louis M. Smith said his Parkinson’s disease is at least in part responsible for the now-disbarred Kentucky lawyer’s alleged embezzlement of over $1 million from two elderly women from his church and sought a sentence of home detention for his ailing 63-year-old client. But a federal prosecutor…

Sep 5, 2012 4:50 PM CDT

Irked About Discipline Complaint Over Federal Suit, Lawyer and Kin of Murdered Kids Contact Media

A Michigan lawyer is fighting back against a legal ethics complaint made by a county prosecutor’s office concerning what it contends is a frivolous federal district court lawsuit. Paul Hughes said at a Wednesday news conference that he is outraged to be subjected to an ethics complaint over the suit,…

Aug 29, 2012 7:07 PM CDT

6th Circuit Upholds Conviction for Threat to Judge in YouTube Song

The First Amendment doesn’t bar the prosecution of a former Army sergeant who sang and rapped a threat to a judge on YouTube, a federal appeals court has ruled. The Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the conviction of Franklin Delano “Dale” Jeffries Jr., report the Knoxville News…

Aug 28, 2012 12:53 PM CDT

DC Circuit Strikes Down FDA Rules Requiring Graphic Images on Cigarette Packaging

Federal rules which require graphic warning images on cigarette packages were struck down today in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, on the basis that the mandates violate corporate speech rights. One of the images featured a man exhaling smoke through a hole in his throat,…

Aug 24, 2012 4:00 PM CDT