As a component of 1994’s Violence Against Women Act [18 U.S.C. § 2259], Congress requires district courts to award restitution for certain federal criminal offenses, including child pornography possession. A man pleaded guilty to possessing between 150 and 300 images of child pornography, which included two that depicted the sexual exploitation of a young girl […]
Some Call It Democracy, Others Consider It Oppression.
In response to the United States Supreme Court’s 2003 decisions regarding Michigan university’s admissions policies, (Gratz v. Bollinger (2003) 539 U.S. 244, [123 S.Ct. 2411; 156 L.Ed.2d 257] and Grutter v. Bollinger (2003) 539 U.S. 982, [124 S.Ct. 35; 156 L.Ed.2d 694]), Michigan voters passed an initiative in 2006 adopting an amendment to its constitution […]
Totality Of The Circumstances: What Happens After Someone Drops A Dime?
CHP officers observed nothing unusual, but pulled the pickup over anyway. They smelled marijuana and searched the truck, finding 30 pounds of weed. They arrested the two men inside. The men moved to suppress the evidence, arguing the traffic stop violated the Fourth Amendment because the officer lacked reasonable suspicion of criminal activity. This case reached […]
But The Sky’s The Limit For Political Campaign Contributions.
In the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 [FECA; 2 U.S.C. § 441a], Congress imposed two types of limits on campaign contributions: base limits restrict how much money a donor may contribute to a particular candidate and aggregate limits restrict how much money a donor may contribute in total to all candidates or committees. Here, […]
Wings Of Frequent Flyer Clipped.
An airline’s frequent flyer program contained a provision stating that an abuse of the program may result in cancellation of the member’s account. After the airline cancelled a member’s account, the member brought a class action alleging breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. The United States Supreme Court held the Airline […]
Unfair Competition Action Decided By U.S. Supreme Court.
Plaintiff sells the only style of toner cartridges that work with the company’s laser printers, but ‘remanufacturers’ acquire and refurbish used plaintiff’s cartridges to sell in competition. Thus, plaintiff gives its customers a discount on new cartridges if they agree to return empty cartridges to plaintiff. Each cartridge has a microchip that disables the empty […]
I ♥ Boobies Bracelets Not Lewd.
Middle school kids wore bracelets to school that said, “I ♥ boobies (KEEP A BREAST)” as part of a nationally recognized breast cancer awareness campaign. The school district banned the bracelets, relying on Bethel School District No. 403 v. Fraser (1986) 478 U.S. 675, [106 S.Ct. 3159, 92 L.Ed.2d 549],which held that a school district […]
No Equitable Tolling For Parents That Abduct Children.
When a parent abducts a child and flees to another country, the Hague Convention requires that country to return the child immediately if the parent requests return of the child within one year. In this case, the mother and child disappeared from the United Kingdom in 2008, and the father did not locate them in […]
Sarbanes-Oxley Now Has Far Reaching Tenacles.
Petitioners/plaintiffs brought an action against their former employers, privately held companies that provide advisory and management services to a mutual fund company. The allegations are that after plaintiffs raised concerns about overstated expenses associated with operating the mutual funds, they suffered adverse actions. “No [public] company. . . or any officer, employee, contractor, subcontractor, or […]
Claiming Uncovered Securities Are Backed By Covered Securities Does Not Prevent State Law Claims Under Litigation Act.
Plaintiffs filed civil actions under state law contending defendants helped perpetrate a fraud, a Ponzi scheme, by falsely representing that uncovered securities were backed by covered securities. The federal district court dismissed an action pursuant to the Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act of 1998 [Litigation Act; 15 U.S.C. § 87bb(f)(1)] because the Act forbids bringing securities class […]
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