9th Circuit Court

Why scraping publicly available information online isn’t a crime

To criminalize public website scraping castrates an open internet by curtailing access to information, says ABA Journal Legal Affairs Writer Jason Tashea. This isn’t just an issue for internet startups and academic researchers but also the legal community.

Sep 23, 2019 6:30 AM CDT

Supreme Court says US can implement rule that bans most asylum applications at southern border

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday evening allowed a Trump administration rule to take effect that effectively bans asylum applications by most immigrants at the southern border.

Sep 12, 2019 9:58 AM CDT

Afternoon Briefs: New win for flag burner in SCOTUS case; Johnson & Johnson seeks mistrial for stricken closing

News Roundup

Sep 11, 2019 4:00 PM CDT

Ban on political robocalls violates First Amendment, 9th Circuit rules

A Montana law that bans political robocalls is a content-based restriction that violates the First Amendment, a federal appeals court has ruled.

Sep 11, 2019 12:51 PM CDT

Afternoon Briefs: Jeffrey Epstein’s accusers speak; judge gives assignment for veteran lies

Jeffrey Epstein’s accusers speak at unusual hearing For more than an hour on Tuesday, women who accused financier Jeffrey Epstein of sexually abusing them when they were young spoke about the impact in an unusual federal court hearing. Many of the women urged prosecutors to continue investigating Epstein’s associates after…

Aug 27, 2019 4:06 PM CDT

9th Circuit rules for noncitizen drug trafficker who claimed violation of his statutory right to a lawyer

Noncitizens subject to expedited removal have a statutory right to a lawyer, at their own expense, in proceedings before immigration judges to determine whether they have a reasonable fear of persecution in their home country, a federal appeals court has ruled.

Aug 21, 2019 11:02 AM CDT

Afternoon Briefs: Former judge pleads guilty to murder; parents sue over Sharpie haircut punishment

Former judge pleads guilty to murder of his ex-wife Former Ohio judge Lance Mason pleaded guilty Tuesday to fatally stabbing his ex-wife, Aisha Fraser, in November. Mason had resigned his judgeship in 2015 after a previous guilty plea for assaulting the same woman. A University of Michigan law grad, Mason…

Aug 20, 2019 4:06 PM CDT

As federal anti-hacking law turns 35, its meaning, reach and effectiveness are still murky

What had started as a pre-internet computer crime law affecting national security and finance has become a statute that prosecutors, plaintiff attorneys and defense counsels agree isn’t right for its time, and maybe never was. Even with broad agreement on the problem, however, the solution is less clear.

Aug 19, 2019 6:00 AM CDT

9th Circuit refuses to disturb order requiring US to give immigrant children soap and toothpaste

A federal appeals court left intact Thursday an order requiring the government to supply soap and toothpaste to detained immigrant children, even though the items are not specifically mentioned in a 1997 settlement agreement.

Aug 16, 2019 9:44 AM CDT

Tony the truck-stop tiger wasn’t an individual under FOIA, 9th Circuit rules

A captive tiger named Tony wasn’t an individual under a Freedom of Information Act provision that allows expedited processing of some records requests, a federal appeals court has ruled.

Aug 15, 2019 11:48 AM CDT

Afternoon Briefs: First Step Act frees crack cocaine offender; judge vacates port-of-entry asylum rule

• A San Antonio man sentenced to life in prison for dealing crack cocaine has been freed under the First Step Act, the criminal justice reform measure that reduces the sentencing disparity for crack and powder cocaine offenses. Alta Lee Kemper, 62, had served 27 years in prison. (My San…

Aug 5, 2019 4:00 PM CDT

New trial won for inmate convicted of plotting wood-chipper murder of federal judge

An inmate convicted in 2016 for seeking hit men to kill those who sent him to prison for scamming an elderly couple has won a new trial. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at San Francisco overturned the conviction of John Walthall because he was denied the right to…

Jul 30, 2019 12:19 PM CDT

Supreme Court lifts injunction that had blocked military funding for border wall

U.S. Supreme Court

Jul 29, 2019 9:54 AM CDT

Strangers in a strange land: ‘Metering’ makes asylum rights meaningless, immigrant advocates say

Metering has created further barriers of all kinds in the legal process, including barriers to finding a pro bono lawyer, to those lawyers’ ability to provide effective representation and even to notifying the immigrants of their hearings. Most concerning to immigrant rights advocates, it leaves immigrants so unsafe that they may be deterred from claiming asylum in the first place.

Jul 24, 2019 6:00 AM CDT

Will ‘qyburnian resurrection’ enter the lexicon? Judge references ‘Game of Thrones’ in 2 opinions

Judge John Owens has looked to Game of Thrones to illustrate points in at least two opinions that he has written for the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at San Francisco. In the most recent opinion, Owens used the reference to express his dissatisfaction with the show’s final season,…

Jul 10, 2019 1:37 PM CDT