Site Map - Legal Issues

10/28/2011 - A bill (S. 1145) that would expand the government’s ability to prosecute U.S. contractors that commit criminal acts in other countries has been approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee. The bill must now be taken up by the full Senate.

10/28/2011 - Two American citizens who were tortured by the U.S. government can proceed with their lawsuit against the United States and former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, says a federal appeals court.

10/28/2011 - A trial court judge has ruled that a plaintiff does not have to “friend” opposing counsel to allow access to photos on her Facebook account. The judge ruled that the photos could be provided to the defense but that providing access to the private Facebook account as a method of discovery was an invasion of privacy.

09/06/2011 - A jury will decide if a laptop-locating company went too far to recover a stolen laptop.

08/30/2011 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that female Wal-Mart employees may not pursue a class action suit against the company for sexual discrimination.

08/04/2011 - The White House puts forth a plan for battling domestic terrorism. A cloud security registry for consumers is created. Florida's legislature overrides local gun laws. And more.

07/28/2011 - An employee can be prosecuted under federal computer crime laws for accessing a proprietary da­tabase for the purpose of defrauding his company. Though the federal law was designed to prevent hacking, it also applies to theft of proprietary information in some cases, according to a federal appeals court.

07/19/2011 - A police officer is guilty of gross negligence after shooting an unarmed man who was being arrested for failure to pay child support. The officer, who claimed that he intended to draw his Taser, violated the law when he neglected to verify that he had mistakenly drawn his gun, according to a federal appeals court. The officer’s actions, ruled the court, were objectively unreasonable.

06/30/2011 - A federal appeals court has ruled that the plaintiffs challenging the constitutionality of the government’s domestic spying law do have standing to pursue their case. The plaintiffs, including Amnesty International as well as journalists, international aid groups, labor organizations, and attorneys, argued that the amendments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) violate the U.S. Constitution. The appellate court overturned a lower court’s decision—that the plaintiffs had no grounds to sue because they had no evidence that they had been harmed by the law.

06/20/2011 - Unexplained wealth orders (UWO) have been successful at helping Ireland combat organized crime, experts said at a panel exploring ways to counter transnational organized crime at the National Institute of Justice 2011 Conference today.

05/27/2011 - Courts issue rulings on discrimination, the release of sensitive data, and protected speech while Congress considers bills on trespassing, airport screening, and terrorism.

04/23/2011 - The Illinois Court of Appeals has ruled that a public school and a printing company had no duty to safeguard the personal information of school employees and complied with data breach laws. In the case, the school contracted with the printing company to send a notice to former school employees. The employees were erroneously sent a list containing the names, addresses, Social Security numbers, marital status, medical and dental insurers, and insurance plan information for all of the employees. The school sent a letter to the employees asking them to return the list or destroy it. The school also offered the employees one year of credit protection. The employees sued, but the court dismissed the lawsuit, finding that the school and printing company were not guilty of negligence because they had no legal duty to protect the information except under data breach laws, which they complied with.

04/23/2011 - A U.S. appeals court upheld the conviction of a U.S. citizen and licensed physician who had sworn an oath of allegiance to al Qaeda and promised to treat wounded members in Saudi Arabia. Rafiq Sabir had appealed the decision, arguing that the law was unconstitutionally broad and violated his right to practice medicine. The court noted that the U.S. Constitution does not protect a person’s right to practice medicine.