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Linda Greenhouse, New York Times: “The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that employees are protected from retaliation when they complain about discrimination in the workplace, adopting a broad interpretation of workers rights under two federal civil rights laws. By decisions of 7 to 2 in one case and 6 to 3 in the other, the …
Follow up to previous postings on retroactivity for sentencing guidelines for crack cocaine, from The Third Branch: “Federal district courts generally are coping well with the sudden increase in their workloads that occurred March 3, when a retroactive reduction in penalties for crack cocaine offenders took effect and more than 21,000 inmates became eligible for …
Follow up to previous postings on tainted pet food recalls see Lisa Wade McCormick, ConsumerAffairs.com: “Parties involved in the litigation surrounding the largest pet food recall in U.S. history — blamed for the deaths and illnesses of thousands of dogs and cats in North America — have agreed to settle the case for $24 million. …
“U.S. D.C. Cir., May 20, 2008 – In a 2-1 majority opinion, a federal appeals court ruled that the U.S. Treasury Department’s continued use of paper money discriminates against blind users by denying them meaningful access to currency, as well as “facially reasonable accommodations that are feasible and efficacious,” which would enable non-sighted users access …
“EPIC filed a “friend of the court” brief (pdf) in the United States Supreme Court, urging the Justices to ensure the accuracy of police databases. The brief was filed on behalf of 27 legal scholars and technical experts and 13 privacy and civil liberty groups. In Herring v. US, the Court will be asked to …
US Courts news release: “In fiscal year 2007, it cost $24,922 to keep someone incarcerated in a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility for 12 months, and $22,871 to keep an inmate incarcerated in a community correction center. For the same 12-month period ending September 30, 2007, it cost $3,621.64 for a federal offender to be …
“The fiscal year 2008 update to the Long Range Plan for Information Technology in the Federal Judiciary articulates five-year directions and objectives for the judiciarys information technology program. The plan presents the program in terms of five fundamental areas: external participants, court operations, judges and chambers, probation and pretrial services, and information technology infrastructure. This …
News release: “The United States Sentencing Commission announced today the formation of a standing advisory group to provide the Commission insight and advice on the operation of the federal sentencing guidelines from the perspective of victims of federal crime. The initial Victims Advisory Group (VAG) will be composed of six members representing the spectrum of …
April 11, 2008 – District of Columbia v. Heller: The Supreme Court and the Second Amendment – “In Parker v. District of Columbia, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled in a 2-1 decision that provisions of the D.C. Code that prohibit persons from keeping handguns in their home …
US Courts: “An interim report on the impact of the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 notes a 72 percent increase in class action cases for comparable periods in 2001 and 2007 in 88 federal district courts. Due later this year is a report on the act’s impact on judicial activity and resources needed to …
News release: “Bankruptcy filings in the federal courts rose 38 percent in calendar year 2007, according to data released today by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. The number of bankruptcies filed in the twelve-month period ending December 31, 2007, totaled 850,912, up from 617,660 bankruptcies filed in calendar year 2006. Filings rebounded from …
“A new publication from the Federal Judicial Center discusses methods federal judges have employed to meet the challenges posed by cases related to terrorism.” Terrorism-Related Cases: Special Case-Management Challenges Case Studies. Robert Timothy Reagan, Federal Judicial Center, March 26, 2008
