Unknown Motives for Recent Shootings While we may never know what sent 26-year-old Tyler Brehm on a shooting rampage in Hollywood, California on Friday, it is clear that his actions will have a lasting impact on the many that were present during the chaos. At the end of the ordeal, the gunman lay dead, and three individuals who were in the long place at the wrong time were left injured, including a 40-year... (2 views)
No Insider Trading for Congress: Will Bill Put Kibosh On So Called ''Political Intelligence''? Um…don't they put their pants on the same way we do? (2 views)
Illegal Immigrants Aren't Just a Political Hot Button: They're Human Beings Red tape, contradictions and confusion are seemingly the government's stock in trade at times, but this time, it may well have outdone itself. (2 views)
The Inbreeding Defense We've all heard of the insanity defense but last week defense attorney Howard Greenberg took it to another level when he stated that inbreeding may be partially responsible for his client's role in the murder an eight year old boy. (2 views)
9/11 Compensation Deadline Looms While most of us were counting down the days to the New Year, an estimated 1,600 individuals whose health was impacted by the 9/11 terrorist attacks were more focused on the second day of January. Those who filed lawsuits claiming that the dust and smoke from the World Trade Center collapse damaged their health have been given until January 2, 2012 to decide whether to... (2 views)
Attention Students: Will Your Government Allow You to Vote in 2012? College students beware! (2 views)
Soldier's Homecoming Turns Tragic When Army Spc. Christopher Sullivan, returned home after surviving a suicide bombing attack in Afghanistan, his family realized that there was plenty of reason to celebrate and they did just that. Tragically, while celebrating the safe return on their loved one at a homecoming party, Sullivan was shot and left paralyzed from the neck down. (2 views)
Obama's Recess Appointments: Is the President Abusing His Power, or Gittin' R' Done? Two wrongs don't make a right. (2 views)
Judge Postpones Sentencing for Former Wrestler Sentencing for the former professional wrestler Andre Davis has been postponed once again while the judge takes more time to consider the case. Davis, 29, was convicted in November of 14 counts of felonious assault after having sexual relations with 12 women but failing to inform them of his HIV positive status. Sentencing was initially scheduled for December 21 but was... (2 views)
Finally – Joran van der Sloot is Behind Bars Joran van der Sloot, 24 years of age, has been sentenced to 28 years in prison by a Peruvian court after pleading guilty to the murder of Stephany Flores, which eerily enough took place on May 30, 2010 – exactly five years after Natalee Holloway disappeared in Aruba. In addition, he was fined almost $75,000; an amount he was ordered to pay in reparations to the Flores'... (2 views)
Pinkberry Co-Founder Arrested According to its website, Pinkberry believes strongly ''in the power of human connection and service.'' As a co-founder of the frozen yogurt franchise, one would expect Young Lee to abide by this philosophy too but based on his actions last summer, it's probably safe to say that he adheres to a very different value system. (2 views)
Obama's Mandate on Birth Control for Catholic Affiliated Institutions Sparks Outcry Among Conservatives and Liberals Alike Mired in confusion and topped off with an apparent complete lack of focus, the Obama administration's recent mandate that requires Catholic affiliated institutions to cover birth control in their employees' health insurance plans has everyone up in arms, from conservatives to liberals, and is being seen by many as a major overreach of the government. (2 views)
Supreme Court to Rethink Role of Racial Diversity in College Admissions Nine years ago, the Supreme Court had passed a decision that allowed public educational institutions to consider building campus racial diversity into account for the purpose of screening admissions. On Tuesday, there was clear indication that the 2003 decision can come under scrutiny to prevent abuse and undue harassment of students who deserve admission by merit. (2 views)
Supreme Court Ruling in U.S. v. Jones Affects FBI Tracking of Citizens In a landmark case that has gone quite unnoticed, the Supreme Court of the United States decided that ''The Government's attachment of the GPS device to the vehicle, and its use of that device to monitor the vehicle's movements, constitutes a search under the Fourth Amendment.'' (2 views)
International Criminal Court, Hague, Set for its First-ever Verdicts Since its inception a decade ago, the International Criminal Court at Hague has not yet been compelled to deliver a verdict, lacking cases before it that were of a sufficiently serious nature to merit legal intervention by the international body. However, all that has changed and the judges are gearing up to deliver their first verdicts in the case of a Congolese militia... (2 views)
Has Google's New 'Privacy' Policy Gone Too Far? Almost three dozen Attorneys General from around the United States have joined forces against Google's new privacy policy that went into effect on March 1st. As well, other agencies around the globe are weighing in on the issue – has Google gone too far with its latest 'privacy' policy changes? (2 views)
Iowa Court of Appeals Elects Chief Judge Judge Eisenhauer replaces the recently retired Judge Rosemary Sackett as the head of the appellate court. He follows the spot as the seventh chief judge since the 1976 establishment of the court of appeals. (2 views)
U.S. Supreme Court to Address Broader Issues of Alien Torts Act The case of Esther Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co, No. 10-1491, has become a concern both for the U.S. corporate sector and human rights activists across the world. While questions of law over the applicability and jurisdictional issues, as also locus standi of foreign plaintiffs have been mulled over in recent hearings, now the Supreme Court is set to address broader... (2 views)
Senator Cites Gridlock as Reason for Departure It’s no secret that intense partisanship has played a large role in the creation of a less than productive US Senate during the past decade. However, when a Senator announces that she will not be seeking a fourth term because of the gridlock, there is absolutely no denying the gravity of the situation. (2 views)
Supreme Court May Hear Case on Rent Control in NYC New York City rent control has long been a hot button for both critics and supporters of the law. That’s what landlords James and Jeanne Harmon, and New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman are currently duking out, and surprisingly, the Supreme Court may join the mix. (2 views)
Sandusky Feels Violated: Asks Judge to Dismiss All 52 Child Abuse Charges Sandusky's lawyer asks judge to dismiss all 52 child abuse cases for lack of acceptable evidence. (2 views)
The Financial Costs of Law School – A Revealer The great amount of misleading data and half-truths about law school financial costs and employment prospects have reached a point, where, reluctant organizations are being forced to part with data they would have loved to keep hidden away. (2 views)
Absconders Cannot Claim Refuge of Legal Reform Passed During their Flight Application of Drug Law Reform Act on sentencing delayed by absconding of accused. (2 views)
Supreme Court Grants Strip Searches for Any and All Cops can now strip-search anybody before putting that person in jail, be it for any offense. The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in favor of allowing police to carry out strip searches. (2 views)
Appellate Court Bows to Criticism, Promises to Improve Hiring Practices Chief Administrative Judge Gail Prudenti has said that the court will now ensure that job openings are filled in a way that does not suggest favoritism. (2 views)
Commission on Judicial Conduct Faces Historical Challenge from a Sitting Judge For the first time in its 34-year history, the Commission on Judicial Conduct faces a challenge to its authority, and it’s brought by a sitting judge, Raymond G. Dougan of Massachusetts. In a judicial discipline case that seeks to emphasize the lines between judicial discretion and judicial misconduct, Judge Dougan, accused of being unfavorable to prosecutors has... (2 views)
Call to Nullify Jury outside Courthouse not Criminal Offense On Thursday, a retired Chemistry professor narrowly escaped trial when the criminal case against him was dismissed by U.S. District Judge, Kimba Wood. The professor was charged over distributing pamphlets outside a Manhattan federal court urging nullification of the jury. Julian Heicklen, 80, of Teaneck, New Jersey was charged with jury tampering and arrested in 2010. The... (2 views)
Arizona Immigration Law Debate Puts Fed v State Jurisdiction Center-stage The U.S. Supreme Court is going to sit in judgment this week over Arizona v. United States, No. 11-182, and the ramifications are many. One of the political consequences could be that the judgment would influence the presidential race: If Arizona wins then Obama loses face and Romney would have cause to cheer, if Arizona loses, then the consequences would favor Obama.... (2 views)
9th Circuit: Independent Contractors within Ambit of 'Honest Services' Law On Tuesday, the San Francisco-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ruled that being a state or federal employee is not a perquisite to being prosecuted for depriving the government of 'honest services'. Adopting a broad interpretation of the hones-services fraud statute, the court found that the federal criminal law applies to anyone in a fiduciary relationship... (2 views)
How a Paralegal May Prepare to Handle People Dropping off the Radar You've just completed the initial phases of your client's big- money personal injury car-accident case. You've verified the insurance from the other driver, taken care of the client's property damage, sent the client to a doctor for treatment, and reviewed the police report carefully. (2 views)