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Supreme Court takes up case of fired air marshal
Breaking Legal News |
2014/05/20 11:18
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The Supreme Court agreed Monday to consider the case of a federal air marshal who was fired after leaking information to the press about aviation security plans.
The justices will hear an appeal from the Obama administration, which claims Robert MacLean is not entitled to whistleblower protection for disclosing that the Transportation Security Administration planned to save money by cutting back on overnight trips for undercover air marshals.
MacLean was fired in 2006, three years after he told a reporter the cuts were being made despite a briefing days earlier about an imminent terrorist threat focusing on long-distance flights. MacLean said he leaked the information after his boss ignored his safety concerns.
When news of the planned became public, congressional leaders expressed their concerns and the Department of Homeland Security acknowledged that the plan was a mistake. No flight assignments requiring overnight hotel stays were canceled.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled last year that MacLean should be allowed to present a defense under federal whistleblower laws. But the government argues that the law does not protect employees who reveal "sensitive" security information.
MacLean asserts that no law specifically prohibited him from revealing the information because it wasn't considered sensitive when it was shared with him. The agency's decision to curb the overnight trips was sent as a text to MacLean's cellphone without using more secure methods. He says the law protects government employees who report violations of the law or specific danger to public safety. |
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California court charging for online access
Breaking Legal News |
2014/05/16 14:22
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A Northern California county has begun charging people to look at civil court records online — part of a trend at cash-strapped courthouses around the state that is raising concerns among some lawyers and public access groups, a newspaper reported.
As of April 23, Alameda County Superior Court charges $1 for each of the first five pages of a civil court record downloaded online, the Oakland Tribune reported on Monday.
The per-page viewing cost drops to 50 cents after the fifth page, and there is a $40 maximum charge for any single document.
Sacramento County Superior Court is implementing a similar fee structure this summer, the Tribune reported. Fees in the Los Angeles County Superior Court system start at $4.75 for each record search. Santa Clara County plans to begin charging in two to four years, according to the Tribune.
Court officials say the fees help make up for cuts in state aid.
"There's a budget crisis in the courts," said Teresa Ruano, spokeswoman for the state's Administrative Office of the Courts. "Revenue is part of the solution, a small part of the solution."
Each court decides whether it wants to charge a fee for records, though the state sets the maximum amount that can be charged for both paper and online records. Some counties don't put records online, forcing people to come in and visit the clerk's office. |
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Investors to Supreme Court: Deny Argentine do-over
Breaking Legal News |
2014/05/09 10:34
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Argentina's opponents have filed their last arguments with the U.S. Supreme Court, urging justices to deny the South American government's appeal of a $1.4 billion debt ruling because President Cristina Fernandez has repeatedly vowed not to honor any ruling that goes against her.
Argentina wants the court to overturn a ruling it says would provoke a catastrophic default by forcing it to pay $1.4 billion in cash to the investors it calls "vulture funds." These investors, led by billionaire Paul Singer's NML Capital Ltd., snapped up Argentina's defaulted debt when its economy crashed a decade ago and have litigated ever since, seeking payment in full plus interest even after 92 percent of other bondholders agreed to provide generous debt relief in exchange for regular payments on new bonds.
"Argentina already has made clear that it will not obey any adverse decision on the questions it presents," reads NML's brief, filed just before Wednesday night's deadline.
"Argentina ultimately is not interested in any court's views concerning those questions. By Argentina's lights, it has the final word, and it will recognize a judicial ruling only if it accords with Argentina's conclusions," NML said.
The "Aurelius Respondents," another group of hedge funds and holding companies based in the Cayman Islands and the US state of Delaware to avoid scrutiny and taxes, also filed a brief, urging the justices to deny Argentina's "do-over" request. "A chorus of disinterested parties has recognized that Argentina is without peer in its mistreatment of private-sector creditors," their brief said. |
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Armstrong appeals to Texas Supreme Court
Breaking Legal News |
2014/05/05 13:39
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Lance Armstrong asked the Texas Supreme Court on Friday to stop a Dallas company from trying to force him to pay back about $12 million in bonuses it paid him for winning the Tour De France.
SCA Promotions sued Armstrong last year after he admitted using performance enhancing drugs during his career.
The dispute dates to 2005 when SCA investigated allegations of drug use and Armstrong gave sworn testimony denying doping.
The company arbitration eventually settled in arbitration and agreed to pay him.
The original arbitration panel has agreed to reopen the case. Armstrong's attorneys say Texas law won't allow parties to revisit voluntary settlements.
Lower courts have refused to stop the case. Now Armstrong is appealing to the state's highest civil court.
Armstrong has faced several lawsuits since admitting last year that he used steroids and other performance-enhancers to win the Tour de France every year from 1999-2005. |
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Court declines to hear Microsoft antitrust case
Breaking Legal News |
2014/04/29 15:28
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The Supreme Court has declined to take up software maker Novell Inc.'s appeal in a long-running antitrust case against Microsoft Corp.
The justices on Monday let stand an appeals court ruling that rejected Novell's $1 billion lawsuit alleging Microsoft undermined the once popular WordPerfect writing program in favor of its own Word program with the Windows 95 rollout.
Novell claimed Microsoft duped it into developing WordPerfect for Windows 95 only to pull the plug so Microsoft could gain market share with its own product. Novell says it was forced to sell WordPerfect for a $1.2 billion loss.
The 10th Circuit ruled that Novell's complaint came too late and it failed to make the larger case that Microsoft was protecting a monopoly on operating systems. |
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Man to plead guilty in Disney insider info case
Breaking Legal News |
2014/04/21 12:55
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A man will plead guilty to securities fraud and pay regulators around $801,000 for using insider information to profit from Disney's $4 billion acquisition of Marvel Entertainment in 2009.
According to the deal filed in Los Angeles federal court Wednesday, Toby Scammell learned from his then-girlfriend, a Disney corporate strategy employee, that Disney would acquire a well-known company she didn't name.
Scammell learned from his consulting company that Disney had previously wanted to acquire Marvel. He bought call options in Marvel stock for around $5,500, and later sold them for $192,000 in profit.
Last month, Scammell agreed to settle a parallel civil case and pay $801,000 to the Securities and Exchange Commission, which will be credited to his fine in the criminal case. He also faces prison time.
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Lawyer: Evaluate stabbing suspect's mental health
Breaking Legal News |
2014/04/15 12:12
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The attorney for a 16-year-old accused of stabbing 21 other students and a security guard at their high school said Thursday he wants to have a mental health expert evaluate the boy and hopes to have the case moved to juvenile court.
For now, Alex Hribal is charged as an adult with four counts of attempted homicide, 21 counts of aggravated assault and a weapons charge, and is being held without bond in the Westmoreland County juvenile detention center.
In an interview with ABC's "Good Morning America," attorney Patrick Thomassey acknowledged that his client stabbed the victims, and said any defense he offers will likely be based on the boy's psychological state, which he hopes to have an expert evaluate soon.
"I would assume so, yes, depending on what the mental health experts tell me," Thomassey said.
He said that, under Pennsylvania law, he will have to convince a judge that Hribal can be rehabilitated in juvenile court, which would have jurisdiction over him until he's 21. If convicted as an adult, Hribal faces likely decades in prison.
The attorney told several media outlets that Hribal was remorseful, though he acknowledged his client did not appear to appreciate the gravity of his actions. Thomassey said he is still getting to know his client, saying he spoke with Hribal only for about 20 minutes before his arraignment late Wednesday. |
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