In a weekly roundup via Howard Bashman’s How Appealing blog, a number of important legal developments were highlighted, covering topics from copyright protection for music to landmark court decisions. One report from The New York Times questioned the legal definition of a song, discussing the complex legal aspects of music copyrights. The report by Ben…
In a noteworthy shift of policy, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has substantially diminished its practice of searching Americans through a database accumulated as part of a surveillance program without warrants. The number of inquiries under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) dropped by over half, to a reported total of…
Lahore recently hosted the 5th Asma Jahangir Conference, an assembly of diverse participants ranging from judges to journalists from various nations to discuss a broad array of topic surrounding justice, law, and civil rights. Titled ‘People’s Mandate: Safeguarding Civil Rights in South Asia’, the event spotlighted issues such as climate change, media freedom, gender equality,…
On Monday, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released the latest version of its enforcement guidance on workplace harassment. The newly updated guidelines reflect significant recent developments such as the U.S. Supreme Court’s impactful Bostock ruling and the increasing prevalence of remote work. The Bostock ruling, handed down by the U.S.’ highest court, portrayed…
US District Judge Loretta Biggs in North Carolina has ruled that a 147-year-old state law, which prevents convicted felons from voting, is unconstitutional. Biggs found that the statute violates both the Equal Protection Clause and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the US Constitution. The law faced contention due to a lawsuit…
April 8, 2024 marked a significant alteration in judicial clerkship hiring and advising with the launch of the Centralized Clerkships Database by The Legal Accountability Project (LAP). This forward-thinking legal tech initiative aims to bring a new level of transparency, equitability, and accountability to the judicial clerkship arena – an area historically famed for resisting…
The United States Supreme Court is set to delve into examination of the definition of ‘prevailing party’ in the context of attorney fees disputes. The focal point for consideration is whether a party should ‘obtain a ruling that conclusively decides the merits in its favor,’ or if securing just a preliminary injunction would entitle them…
The recent unanimous US Supreme Court decision in Muldrow v. City of St. Louis has set a new precedent for discrimination claims that all employers should be aware of. The ruling asserts that employees no longer have to demonstrate significant financial or other harm when bringing a discrimination claim under Title VII of the Civil…
Last week, amidst Haiti’s ongoing turmoil due to gang violence, the Biden administration faced stern criticism for deporting over 70 Haitians back to their homeland, a decision dubbed as “intentional violence” by human rights organizations like the Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA). Back in March, the HBA, along with nearly 500 other human rights organizations, had…
Police in Raleigh, North Carolina, have argued that releasing body camera footage of a botched raid on an innocent family’s home could pose a danger, according to reports by Indy Week. This incident, which took place in April 2021, involved the unnecessary use of force and mistaken identity. The victims of the raid, the Abboud…
Fears that the decision in Muldrow v. City of St. Louis would threaten diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in workplaces have emerged among legal observers. The case, argued before the Supreme Court last December, was viewed as an ‘under-the-radar’ discrimination case that could potentially impact workplace DEI initiatives if it favored the plaintiff, Jatonya…
In the contemporary legal landscape, the doctrine of qualified immunity continues to play a pivotal role within both the judicial system and public discourse. This doctrine, initially conceived to shield public officials from frivolous lawsuits, often veers towards protecting the very violations it was meant to avert. According to Elyse Smith Pohl from the Institute…
A student has recently filed a $4.32 million civil rights lawsuit against Antioch University. The litigation alleges retaliation in response to criticism of the university’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policy. While the specifics of the case are momentarily concealed behind a paywall on Law.com, the case was noted via Law.com Radar, ALM’s tool for…
Jeffrey H. McClelland has officially transitioned into his role as a partner at Lewis Brisbois with the labor and employment practice in Denver, as announced by Bloomberg Law Automation previously. McClelland’s duties encompass representing employers in both state and federal court, along with appearances before administrative agencies. He is particularly experienced in handling matters with…
Recently, the Federal Trade Commission levied a significant penalty on the virtual mental health startup, Cerebral. $7 million in fines were imposed, accusing the company of mishandling its users’ crucial health data while also being misleading on its cancellation policies. Conceding to the obligation, Cerebral agreed to the payment and, additionally, consented to a unique…
In contrast to the primarily virtual graduation ceremonies of the COVID-19 era, this year many top law schools in the U.S. are resuming in-person events, accompanied by high-profile speakers. This follows several years of virtual-only graduations imposed by pandemic restrictions. The return to in-person events is marked by the participation of significant figures in the…
The Bundestag, Germany’s parliament, recently passed the Self-Determination Act, facilitating transgender and non-binary citizens to amend the gender marker on their legal documents via self-identification. The existing legislation, the Transsexuals Act, stipulates the legal prerequisites for gender identity alteration on legal paperwork. As per Section 8 of this act, a transsexual individual can be legally…
US District Judge Mark Walker has blocked a law in Florida that would have prevented transgender school teachers from self-introducing with their personal pronouns to students. This law, which came into effect in 2023, precludes teachers from using non-gender conforming titles or pronouns. The prohibition was challenged by two teachers who were prohibited from addressing…
In a recent ruling, the Fourteenth Court of Appeals determined that forcing an ex-wife to acknowledge or disclose information on a purported abortion would contravene her Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment rights. The court established that the effort to compel the production of information related to how the ex-wife allegedly procured an abortion-inducing drug constitutes a…
With several law schools returning to in-person commencement ceremonies this year, numerous high-profile individuals have been enlisted to address the graduating students, a stark contrast to the virtual format of pandemic times. Above the Law reports indetail about this trend and their active role in tracking these speakers annually. Noteworthy among these speakers at the…
Several advocacy groups including civil rights organizations, the ACLU, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and Alabama-based advocacy groups have filed a lawsuit against Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, Alabama’s 42 District Attorneys, and Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen. The suit is aimed at blocking Senate Bill 1 (SB 1), a law recently enacted in…
The Justice Department’s efforts to prevent businesses from discriminating against work-authorized immigrants are facing potential jeopardy. This situation arises in the wake of two unexpected court victories for Walmart Inc. and SpaceX. The crux of the matter lies in a relatively obscure adjudication process being declared unconstitutional by two courts. The rulings strikingly favored both…
The Federal Trade Commission’s investigations into anti-competition issues within the artificial intelligence (AI) industry have sparked a debate over whether oversight of AI should primarily fall under the FTC or the Department of Justice (DOJ). Considering the DOJ’s experience scrutinizing Google’s search engine among other merits, the Department emerges as the most suited to oversee…
This week, a record surge in incidents of anti-Muslim bias across the US was unveiled in a report released by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). Within 2023, the civil rights group recorded 8,061 bias complaints, topping all previous counts in their 30-year tracking history. Interestingly, the reported complaints jumped 56 percent from 2022. Most…
Questions have arisen around the contingency fees of a Denver law firm in a high-profile civil rights case. A Colorado appellate judge recently inquired on what grounds the firm believed it is entitled to millions of dollars in these fees, given that the mother of the deceased man central to the case had released the…