The Supreme Court held Tuesday that state appellate courts may conduct a Clemons reweighing of aggravating and mitigating circumstances, and may do so in collateral proceedings as appropriate and provided under state law. James McKinney received two death sentences in 1992 following his conviction of two counts of first-degree murder for the murders of Christine [...]
The US Supreme Court on Tuesday unanimously ruled that, even in cases concerning federal bankruptcy and tax law, state tax law is to be applied concerning corporate property. The ruling vacates the decision of the lower court that applied a federal common-law rule known as the Bob Richards rule on how to allocate a tax [...]
A county judge in San Diego ruled on Tuesday last week that the grocery delivery service Instacart has unlawfully misclassified its employees as independent contractors since 2012. This classification has given Instacart an unfair competitive advantage by permitting the company to avoid paying its employees a lawful wage and defer their job-related expenses. By avoiding [...]
The US Supreme Court issued a 5-4 decision in Hernandez v. Mesa on Tuesday, holding that the parents of a Mexican child who was shot and killed by a border official have no right to seek a remedy in American civil court. The child, Jesus Hernandez, had been playing with friends in a dry culvert [...]
The extradition hearings for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange began in a UK court on Monday. The hearing marked the beginning of a week of arguments, which will be followed by three weeks of hearings in May. District Judge Vanessa Baraister agreed to the additional time in January, which both sides accepted as necessary due to [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled Monday that the Trump administration can enforce regulations prohibiting Title X receipts from referring patients to abortion providers. The opinion removed three states’ preliminary injunctions against the rules and rejected a majority of the claims by the plaintiffs. Title X is a federal program that [...]
The US Supreme Court granted certiorari Monday in Philadelphia v. Fulton, in which a Catholic foster care agency is arguing it is allowed to refuse to work with same-sex couples on religious grounds while receiving government funding. Catholic Social Services (CSS) claimed a First Amendment right to refuse to allow same-sex couples and LGBTQ people [...]
The US Supreme Court refused Monday to hear a former Walgreens employee’s religious bias claim. The Supreme Court declined to hear Darrell Patterson’s appeal from a lower court’s ruling that Walgreens did not wrongfully fire Patterson when it did so because Patterson failed to work on Saturdays on account of his religious beliefs. Patterson, a [...]
Senators in Vermont have proposed an amendment to the state constitution that would guarantee a right to a clean environment. The bill was sponsored by 15 senators and, if passed by the House, would go into effect in November 2022. Additionally, the amendment would have to go through a public vote that would require a [...]
Wells Fargo has entered into a $3 billion agreement with the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) and the United States Securities and Exchange Comission (SEC) in an investigation over fraudulent sales practices. In return, the DOJ and SEC have agreed to drop criminal charges and resolve a pending civil investigation. The investigations uncovered millions [...]
