Constitutional Law | JD Supra Legal News, Updates, Analysis, & Information

Are Bloggers’ Free Speech Rights Under Attack?

by Dinsmore & Shohl LLP on 2/22/2012

A recent legal opinion has some concerned about just how broad free speech rights may be for bloggers who are not associated with institutional media, such as newspapers and television stations. In Obsidian Finance Group, LLC v....more
California's Reader Privacy Act: What Every Bookseller Must Know

by Barger & Wolen on 2/22/2012

On January 1, 2012, the California Reader Privacy Act went into effect. The Act requires all “book service providers,” i.e., book sellers, in the State to take certain steps when responding to governmental requests for...more
Alabama wrongful death case breathes new life into life debate

by Johnston, Moore & Thompson, Huntsville... on 2/22/2012

When it comes to controversial subject matters, there's no doubt that abortion is somewhere at the top of that list. For good reason, people have passionate decisions on all sides of the emotional issue, and those passions...more
Federal Same-Sex Marriage Is Coming

by Lawyers.com on 2/21/2012

There is no disputing that the tide of public opinion on same-sex marriage has turned in favor of allowing federal marriage rights to gay and lesbian couples. On the heels of the landmark decision in California and the legislative...more
I Know What You Did Last Night: Employer GPS Monitoring

by Sands Anderson PC on 2/21/2012

The US Supreme Court ruled last month that a warrant is required for police to track a suspect with a GPS device, or the search violates the Fourth Amendment’s protection from unreasonable searches. Many employees use...more
D.C. Circuit Tackles Ex-Prosecutor’s Allegations of Privacy Violations

by Ifrah Law - Strategic Defense in Federal... on 2/20/2012

After a nearly decade-long legal battle, the Department of Justice (DOJ) is seeking to dismiss once and for all the privacy suit of Richard Convertino, a former federal prosecutor in Detroit who alleges that the DOJ illegally gave...more
Privileged Speech is not Defamatory Speech, but Privilege Can Be Easily Lost

by Aaron Morris on 2/18/2012

Some callers to my office, wanting to sue for defamation because someone said terrible, false and hurtful things about them, are disappointed to learn that they cannot seek legal action because the speech falls under a privilege. By...more
Definition of a SLAPP Action Much Broader Than Most Attorneys Realize

by Aaron Morris on 2/18/2012

One of our latest anti-SLAPP victories provides a beautiful illustration of a “stealth” SLAPP suit that the plaintiff’s attorney failed to recognize, to the great expense of his client. ...more
District of Columbia Struggling With Anti-SLAPP Law

by Aaron Morris on 2/18/2012

The District of Columbia instituted an anti-SLAPP procedure back in March but the judges are having a heck of a time figuring it out. Judge Rufus G. King III of the D.C. Superior Court got it right. A local television station did a...more
Demand Letters Sent Out of State May Be Defamatory

by Aaron Morris on 2/18/2012

So you are contemplating suing in your home State, but the defendant is out-of-state. No problem, you'll just fire off a demand letter. Indeed, the fact that the defendant will need to travel to your State to defend the action may...more
Accommodating Religion in the Workplace is a Balancing Act

by Dinsmore & Shohl LLP on 2/17/2012

Work-related meetings sometimes include a meal and begin with an invocation -- this usually involves a brief prayer of thanks. Many jobsites, especially those with a measure of risk, will end a safety meeting with a brief prayer to...more
Ninth Circuit Finds that Orders Denying Removal of a Trustee Are Not Subject to Appeal

by Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP on 2/17/2012

In SK Foods, affiliates of the debtor brought a motion to remove the trustee on the grounds that the trustee’s seizure and refusal to return documents belonging to the appellants, but stored at the debtors’ facilities,...more
A Win for Religious-Based Employers: Supreme Court Recognizes "Ministerial Exception" to Employment Discrimination

by Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP on 2/16/2012

Last month, in Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC, the U.S. Supreme Court recognized a "ministerial exception" to employment discrimination laws, in what is likely to be a seminal case for...more
The Constitutional Right To Be Advised That A Pleading Guilty Will Result In Automatic Deportation Does Not Apply Retroactively

by Warner Norcross & Judd - Appellate Practice... on 2/16/2012

In Padilla v. Kentucky,130 S. Ct. 1473 (2010), the United States Supreme Court held that illegal immigrants who are not advised that a guilty plea will subject them to automatic deportation have not received effective assistance of...more
Trial Courts May Impose Consecutive Sentencing For Multiple Counts Of First-Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct That Arise Out Of The...

by Warner Norcross & Judd - Appellate Practice... on 2/16/2012

If two first-degree criminal sexual conduct (“CSC 1”) convictions arise out of the same transaction, a trial court may impose consecutive sentences. So held the Court of Appeals in People v Ryan, where the defendant was...more