Supreme Court ruling on eyewitness identification disappoints defense lawyers 
By:
Sylvia Hsieh
Published: January 19, 2012
Tags: due process, eyewitness, eyewitness identification, NACDL, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling on the reliability of eyewitness identifications left criminal defense attorneys disappointed, but not surprised.
Supreme Court takes on reliability of eyewitness IDs
By:
Kimberly Atkins
Published: November 2, 2011
Tags: Criminal Law, due process, eyewitness identification, Supreme Court
WASHINGTON – Despite recent studies questioning the reliability of eyewitness testimony in criminal trials, the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court appear reluctant to provide special constitutional protections against such evidence, absent a claim that an identification was made under suggestive circumstances created by the police.
State can’t limit benefits to same-sex couples
Published: September 9, 2011
Tags: civil rights, due process, equal protection, same-sex partners
The state of Arizona cannot enforce a law that denies healthcare benefits to the same-sex partners of state employees, the 9th Circuit has ruled in upholding a preliminary injunction.
Illegal music download damages set at $2,250 per song
Published: July 27, 2011
Tags: Copyright Act, copyright infringement, due process, music downloading
Due process limited the copyright infringement damages that could be awarded against a music downloader to three times the statutory minimum, a U.S. District Court in Minnesota has ruled in reducing a $1.5 million jury verdict to $54,000.
Jurisdiction doesn’t exist in auto insurance dispute
By:
Pat Murphy
Published: February 1, 2011
Tags: due process, jurisdiction, minimum contacts
An insurance company that denied coverage of a motorcycle accident could not be sued in a state in which it merely appointed an agent for service of process, the 9th Circuit has ruled in affirming a dismissal.
State SLAPP law applies in federal court
By:
Published: January 6, 2011
Tags: anti-SLAPP statute, civil rights, due process, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, freedom of speech, right of petition, §1983
More litigants may be able to take advantage of state anti-SLAPP laws in federal court following a recent 1st Circuit ruling.
Gay marriage amendment sent to California’s highest court
By:
Pat Murphy
Published: January 5, 2011
Tags: due process, equal protection, gay marriage, Prop 8, proposition 8, same-sex marriage
The 9th Circuit has decided to let the California Supreme Court answer a key question in the fight over the constitutionality of the state’s ban on gay marriage.
Federal court must enforce anti-SLAPP law
By:
Pat Murphy
Published: December 29, 2010
Tags: anti-SLAPP statute, civil rights, due process, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, freedom of speech, right of petition, §1983
A federal court must enforce state free speech protections in a civil rights lawsuit brought by a former public school principal who claimed she was falsely accused of acting abusively towards her students, the 1st Circuit has ruled in reversing judgment.
Stephen B. Kinnaird: A sixth sense about the Sixth Amendment
By:
Kimberly Atkins
Published: December 28, 2010
Tags: deportation, due process, Lawyers of the Year, Lawyers of the Year 2010, Padilla v. Kentucky, Sixth Amendment, Supreme Court
When Stephen B. Kinnaird stood before the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court urging them to hold that bad advice from a defense attorney about the deportation risks of a guilty plea can amount to a Sixth Amendment violation, he knew he had to tread carefully.
Hearing impaired defendant adequately accommodated at trial
By:
Correy Stephenson
Published: August 16, 2010
Tags: due process, reasonable accommodation
Measures employed to accommodate a criminal defendant’s partial hearing loss were reasonable and adequate and his constitutional rights were not violated because he failed to inform the court until his sentencing that he could not hear portions of the trial, the Wyoming Supreme Court has ruled.
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