Top Legal Stories Named for 2012, Though Some Details Are Missing

The New Yorker is looking ahead with a list of the top five legal stories of 2012. The No. 5 story, however, is lacking some details. “A celebrity will be arrested,” the magazine says. “Analysis will ensue.” Other predictions name the topic, but hedge on the outcome. At No. 1…

Dec 7, 2011 11:30 AM CST

Ohio Fetal Heartbeat Bill Divides Abortion Opponents

Abortion opponents are divided over a pending bill in Ohio that would ban abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected. Ohio Right to Life and the state Catholic conference have refused to endorse the bill because of fears it could result in legal precedent reaffirming Roe v. Wade, the…

Dec 5, 2011 4:44 PM CST

9th Circuit Lifts Ban on Pay for Bone Marrow Blood Draws

Bone marrow harvested from a donor’s blood should not be included in a federal law that bans compensation for organ transplants, the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled yesterday. When the National Organ Transplant Act became law in 1984, the extraction method for bone marrow was painful…

Dec 2, 2011 6:23 PM CST

Unhappy Patient Sues When Dentist Seeks to Enforce Contract Banning Bad Reviews

A dental patient unhappy with a bill totaling nearly $4,800 is suing to overturn a contract he signed banning him from criticizing his dentist. Public Citizen filed suit on behalf of Robert Lee, who now lives in Huntingtown, Md., according to Ars Technica’s Law & Disorder blog, the New York…

Dec 1, 2011 2:53 PM CST

Patents and Patients: Personalized Medicine Is at the Heart of High Court Case

Dec 1, 2011 9:30 AM CST

Conrad Murray Gets 4-Year Max in Death of Michael Jackson; Judge Cites ‘Cycle of Horrible Medicine’

Citing “a cycle of horrible medicine” by Michael Jackson’s personal physician, Conrad Murray, a judge in Los Angeles today sentenced him to the four-year maximum after his involuntary manslaughter conviction in the famous pop singer’s death. The defense had sought probation. Testimony at trial revealed that Murray had given Jackson…

Nov 29, 2011 7:19 PM CST

Legal Aid Lawyer Has Helped 89 Kids Win State Payments for Orthodontic Work

A former nurse who now works as a legal aid lawyer in eastern Missouri has developed a legal expertise in crooked teeth and bad bites. Jo Anne Morrow of Legal Services of Eastern Missouri has helped 89 children obtain Medicaid reimbursement for orthodontic work since she began pursuing the cases…

Nov 29, 2011 11:30 AM CST

Will Justices’ Fear of Sound Bite Preclude TV Coverage of 5-Hour Oral Argument in Health Care Case?

Despite intense public and media interest in the constitutional challenge to President Barack Obama’s health care reform law, it’s unlikely that the U.S. Supreme Court will agree to allow scheduled oral arguments of more than five hours to be televised, predicts Adam Liptak in a New York Times (reg. req.)…

Nov 29, 2011 1:25 AM CST

Don’t Try This at Home, Experts Warn Parents Tempted to Infect Kids With Chicken Pox via Web Aids

Thinking to protect their children against a vaccine some are fearful of, parents have put an Internet twist on a longtime custom of intentionally infecting their kids with chicken pox. But this is a bad idea for a number of reasons, experts warn. Among them, it is a federal offense…

Nov 29, 2011 12:51 AM CST

Merck to Take Misdemeanor Plea, Play $950M for Encouraging Off-Label Vioxx Use

Without admitting wrongdoing, Merck & Co. has agreed to pay a total of $950 million and a division will plead guilty to a misdemeanor to settle criminal and civil actions over its marketing and sale of its Vioxx painkiller for off-label uses, the U.S. Department of Justice announced today. The…

Nov 23, 2011 12:00 AM CST

Common Cause Prez Sees ‘Stunning Breach of Ethics’ in Law Firm-Sponsored Dinner Honoring Justices

A Federalist Society dinner honoring Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas is getting some attention in the press because of the law firm sponsors. Almost two dozen firms helped sponsor the dinner, according to the Los Angeles Times blog Politics Now. One of them is Bancroft, the firm of former…

Nov 16, 2011 12:29 PM CST

Five-Plus Hours of Oral Argument on Health Care Law Isn’t That Long, Historically Speaking

The 5½ hours allotted for oral argument on the legal issues raised in a challenge to the Obama administration’s health care law is unusual, but it isn’t that long, historically speaking. A rule change in 1970 gave most U.S. Supreme Court cases just an hour of argument time, the Wall…

Nov 15, 2011 7:30 PM CST

Supreme Court to Hear Challenge to Health-Care Law; Case Arrives ‘On a Winning Streak’ for US

Updated: The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear challenges to the Obama administration health-care law. The court granted cert today in three cases and allowed extra oral argument time when the case is heard in March, SCOTUSblog reports. As a result of the schedule, the case will be decided…

Nov 14, 2011 2:27 PM CST

Judge Says New York’s Refusal to Issue ‘Choose Life’ License Plates Violates First Amendment

A federal judge in Syracuse has found the state of New York violated the First Amendment when it rejected a nonprofit group’s request to sponsor “Choose Life” license plates. Senior U.S. District Judge Neal McCurn ruled in favor of the Children First Foundation, a group that supports adoption as an…

Nov 10, 2011 7:13 PM CST

Mississippi Voters Reject Anti-Abortion Constitutional Amendment on ‘Personhood’

Mississippi voters on Tuesday rejected a proposed state constitutional amendment that says a fertilized egg is a person. In October, observers were predicting the so-called personhood amendment would succeed. Opponents said the measure would have classified abortion and some kinds of birth control as murder. CNN, the New York Times…

Nov 9, 2011 12:24 PM CST