Legal Research

Selections from the National Law Journal Daily Headlines April 28, 2008

By David Badertscher, PLL

Source: NLJ.com, April 28, 2008.

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NEWS:

Hot year predicted for ADA litigation
"Despite a spate of U.S. Supreme Court decisions in recent years cutting back the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990, this year could prove the hottest in some time for disability discrimination claims. Whether it is in employment, access to public facilities or the right to use private suits to enforce government disability regulations, private legal challenges continue to mount and federal courts continue to differ on interpretations in a host of areas."

Going after the little guy, so far
"Federal prosecutors are cracking down on individuals in mortgage fraud cases, bringing charges against more than 10 defendants at a time in states such as Illinois, Texas, California, New Jersey and Florida. The government's cases mostly target people involved in an alleged scam, such as the appraisers, real estate agents and the so-called "straw buyers" who acted as purchasers of the home."

Patent board's rulings in doubt
"The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office may have a major problem on its hands ? the possibly unconstitutional appointment of nearly two-thirds of its patent appeals judges. Such a constitutional flaw, if legitimate, could call into question the hundreds of decisions worth billions of dollars in the past eight years. The flaw, discovered by highly regarded intellectual property scholar John Duffy, could also afflict the appointment of nearly half of the agency's trademark appeals judges."

WASHINGTON  |  Tension mounts over U.S. bench vacancies
"Republican senators are anxious about 28 judicial nominees awaiting confirmation, the 46 total vacancies and the dwindling time left in President Bush's term to get more of his candidates on the federal bench. This cranked up the political rhetoric recently, with some Republican senators threatening to stall legislation until judges get confirmed."

BOSTON  |  Challenging selective service
"Several former U.S. government employees have filed a class action challenging the government's Selective Service System ? which requires young men to register for a potential draft ? alleging that their careers were cut short or adversely affected by their failure to register. The lawsuit claims that the Selective Service System violates the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution because it affects only males."

EMPLOYMENT LAW  |  Overtime suits may ripen with BlackBerrys
"As the popularity of hand-held devices increases in the workplace, employers' attorneys fear a new wave of wage-and-hour litigation is just around the corner, where employees will claim overtime for all the hours they've spent clicking away on their BlackBerrys or other digital communication devices."

CRIMINAL LAW  |  'Racial impact statements' reality in Iowa
"Iowa recently became the first state to enact a law requiring all new sentencing legislation to be examined for its racial and ethnic impact before passage ? what some sentencing experts hope is the beginning of a trend. Other bills are pending in Illinois and Connecticut.

SECURITIES FRAUD CRIME  |  Sentencing Based on Loss
"In U.S. v. Rutkoske, the 2d Circuit rejected the government's argument that the U.S. Supreme Court's analysis in Dura Pharmaceuticals v. Broudo ? a civil securities fraud case ? does not apply to criminal sentencing. The court stated it sees 'no reason why considerations relevant to loss causation in a civil fraud case should not apply, at least as strongly, to a sentencing regime in which the amount of loss caused by a fraud is a critical determinant of the length of a defendant's sentence.' "

Full post as published by New York Supreme Court Criminal Term Library on April 28, 2008 (boomark / email).