Counsel Will Waive Hefty Legal Fees If Mass. Doesn’t Appeal Inmate’s Sex-Change Surgery Award

A federal judge in Boston has ruled that the Massachusetts Department of Correction will have to pay legal fees for the plaintiff in a successful civil rights suit in which she won an award of state-paid sex-change surgery. The attorney’s fees in the case are “likely to be large,” pointed…

Sep 17, 2012 8:07 PM CDT

Woman Who Sued Newsweek to End Ban on Female Writers Questions Purported ‘Ambition Gap’

In the 1960s, aspiring women journalists at Newsweek were limited in their career choices. One of those women was Lynn Povich. “At Newsweek, women were hired on the mail desk to deliver mail, then to clip newspapers, and, if they were lucky, became researchers or fact checkers,” Povich tells NPR…

Sep 17, 2012 11:00 AM CDT

Federal Court Service Animal Ruling Sought: Can a Companion Cat Fill the Paws of a Companion Dog?

Diane Orenstein has been approved for Social Security disability benefits, and her doctor, psychologist and social worker say the 55-year-old brain-damaged woman would benefit from having a trained companion dog as a service animal. But the board in charge of the Minneapolis condominium association in which she has been a…

Sep 14, 2012 8:27 PM CDT

Lawyer Sues Tampa Police for Shocking Him with Stun Gun at Code Violation Hearing

A Florida lawyer claims in a lawsuit that a Tampa police officer shocked him twice with a stun gun at a code enforcement hearing. According to the police version of events, the stun gun was used on Carl Roland Hayes after he slapped an officer escorting him from the meeting,…

Sep 12, 2012 1:32 PM CDT

New Breastfeeding Policy Debate Follows Anthropology Prof’s Decision to Bring Baby to Class

An assistant anthropology professor at American University has ignited new debate about the parameters of breastfeeding law and policy by bringing her baby to the first day of class when the child unexpectedly awakened with a fever that day. As Adrienne Pine explains in a Counterculture essay last week, she…

Sep 11, 2012 7:32 PM CDT

9th Circuit Says Los Angeles Can’t Treat Personal Belongings of Homeless Individuals Like Trash

Upholding a federal court’s injunction that prevented the city of Los Angeles from treating as trash the personal belongings that homeless individuals left unattended for a short time, a federal appeals court Wednesday said government workers could seize their property only if it is has clearly been abandoned, poses an…

Sep 5, 2012 8:34 PM CDT

Those with Criminal Tendencies Who Like Tattoos Might Want to Rethink Ink

With the increasing popularity of tattoos has come a growing problem for those with criminal tendencies. Aware that the skin decorations can provide an inked evidentiary link to identify a suspect or help add up to a conviction, police increasingly are keeping track of tattoos and including information about them…

Sep 4, 2012 7:19 PM CDT

In Landmark Ruling, Federal Judge Says Sex-Change Surgery for Murder Inmate Is Medically Necessary

Ruling Tuesday in a seven-year-old civil rights suit in which a transgender prison inmate has been seeking to have the state of Massachusetts pay for sex-change surgery, a federal judge in Boston agreed with Michelle Kosilek and prison doctors that the operation needs to be performed. “This fact that sex…

Sep 4, 2012 6:27 PM CDT

Letters of the Law: National Security Letters Help the FBI Stamp Out Terrorism But Some Disapprove

Sep 1, 2012 10:20 AM CDT

National Security Letters: Building Blocks for Investigations or Intrusive Tools?

Sep 1, 2012 10:10 AM CDT

Breaking the Shackles: More Must Be Done to End Human Trafficking and Help Victims

Sep 1, 2012 9:50 AM CDT

Hip-Hop at Law: Course Samples Hip-Hop’s Bottom-Up Critique of the Law

Sep 1, 2012 9:40 AM CDT

Keeping Watch: NYC’s Stop-and-Frisk Policing Inspires New Video App

Sep 1, 2012 9:30 AM CDT

Marriage Proposal: Court May Weigh Levels of Scrutiny for Same-Sex Couples

Sep 1, 2012 8:09 AM CDT

Raising Awareness: New President Laurel Bellows Puts Human Trafficking on Her Hit List

Sep 1, 2012 5:30 AM CDT