http://www.abajournal.com/news/ en Copyright 2013 2013-05-23T12:35:58-06:00 http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/around_the_blawgosphere_avvo_linkedin/ Last month, Arizona criminal defense attorney Matt Brown noted at Tempe Criminal Defense that he was taking a break from blogging to go on a 700-plus-mile hike. But he checked into the office periodically. "At some point after climbing onto the Colorado Plateau, however, the volume… ABA Journal, @BlawgWhisperer, Business of Law, Law Practice Management, Legal Marketing & Consulting, Constitutional Law, Criminal Justice, Immigration Law, Trials & Litigation, 6th Circuit Court Fri, 17 May 2013 08:30:27 -0500 44228.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/banned_from_campus_for_submitting_hot_for_teacher_essay_college_student_sue/ Booted out of Oakland University after writing an essay titled "Hot for Teacher" to fulfill a creative writing class assignment, a former student has filed a federal lawsuit against the public university, its trustees and other officials. Joseph Corlett, 57, says in the suit that the public… Constitutional Law, First Amendment, Education Law, Government Law, Tort Law, Trials & Litigation, 6th Circuit Court, States, Michigan Fri, 22 Mar 2013 13:23:26 -0500 43407.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/joseph_kelner_attorney_who_sued_sitting_ohio_governor_over_kent_state_slayi/ Joseph Kelner, a personal injury attorney best known for the litigation battle he fought, and arguably won, over an iconic Vietnam War protest at Kent State University, has died. He was 98 years old. A former president of the New York State Trial Lawyers Association and the American Trial Lawyers… Careers, Obituaries, Legal History, Trials & Litigation, 6th Circuit Court, States, New York, Ohio Fri, 08 Mar 2013 14:55:36 -0600 43179.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/will_federal_judge_kill_suit_over_costumed_zombie_protest_of_corpse_of_a_po/ A federal judge in Knoxville, Tenn., is scheduled to hear next week a motion to dismiss a complaint filed by government meeting protesters over a no-costume policy that they say prevented them from exercising their First Amendment right to speak. The subject of their protest was a plan to complete… Constitutional Law, First Amendment, Government Law, Law in Popular Culture, Trials & Litigation, 6th Circuit Court, States, Tennessee Wed, 06 Mar 2013 16:01:09 -0600 43147.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/judges_bribery_conviction_affirmed_by_6th_circuit/ A federal appeals court affirmed a more than five-year prison sentence for a former Cleveland judge who fixed foreclosure cases with improper rulings requested by a local politico who had helped him get the judgeship. Writing for the Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge Jeffrey Sutton hammered at… Criminal Justice, Judiciary, Legal Ethics, 6th Circuit Court Fri, 15 Feb 2013 12:28:56 -0600 42891.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/multiple_lawyers_take_pleas_in_mortgage-related_criminal_cases/ Multiple attorneys have recently been making headlines as defendants in mortgage-related criminal cases. Last Friday, Pennsylvania attorney Lisa Gerideau-Williams, 46, pleaded guilty in federal court to 16 counts including wire fraud and filing false income tax returns, concerning what prosecutors described as a multi-faceted $1.7 million fraud, reports the Pittsburgh… Criminal Justice, White Collar Crime, Judiciary, Real Estate & Property Law, 2nd Circuit Court, 3rd Circuit Court, 6th Circuit Court, States, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania Wed, 30 Jan 2013 12:51:12 -0600 42608.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/former_state_supreme_court_judge_takes_plea_in_bank_fraud_case/ A now-retired Michigan supreme court justice facing a bank fraud case took a plea in federal court in Ann Arbor on Tuesday. Diane Hathaway, 58, could get anything from probation to 18 months of prison time when she is sentenced on the felony bank fraud charge to which she pleaded… Criminal Justice, Sentencing/Post Conviction, White Collar Crime, Judiciary, Legal Ethics, Trials & Litigation, 6th Circuit Court, States, Michigan Tue, 29 Jan 2013 13:15:43 -0600 42594.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/teacher_with_child_phobia_sues_school_for_disability_discrimination_says_sh/ A high school French teacher in Ohio has sued her district, contending that her reassignment to a school that has elementary students constituted disability discrimination because she has a phobic fear of young children. Maria C. Waltherr-Willard, 61, had taught for decades in the Mariemont School District, which allegedly accommodated… Disability Law, Education Law, Labor & Employment, Trials & Litigation, 6th Circuit Court, States, Ohio Tue, 15 Jan 2013 15:06:18 -0600 42378.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/providing_interpreter_for_deaf_lifeguard_may_not_be_unreasonable_accomodat/ Updated: An Americans with Disabilities Act case involving a deaf Michigan man denied a lifeguard position because he needed an sign language interpreter was reinstated Thursday in the Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Nicholas Keith, who has been deaf since birth, passed the Oakland County lifeguard training course… Civil Rights, Disability Law, Labor & Employment, 6th Circuit Court Fri, 11 Jan 2013 13:45:37 -0600 42313.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/call_ahead_officers_use_cellphone_towers_to_spot_offenders/ Constitutional Law, Media & Communications Law, Privacy Law, Trials & Litigation, Evidence, U.S. Supreme Court, 3rd Circuit Court, 6th Circuit Court, The National Pulse Tue, 01 Jan 2013 04:08:59 -0600 41960.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/jailed_ky._judge-executive_hasnt_resigned_will_he_like_predecessor_hold_job/ For the second time in a row, the judge-executive of Knott County, Ky., has gone to prison after being convicted in a vote-buying case. That raises the question, will Knott County Judge-Executive Randy Thompson, like his predecessor, former Judge-Executive Donnie Newsome, continue to hold office as judge-executive while he serves… Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Criminal Justice, Sentencing/Post Conviction, White Collar Crime, Government Law, Judiciary, Legal Ethics, 6th Circuit Court, States, Kentucky Mon, 10 Dec 2012 12:11:34 -0600 41939.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/a_sixth_sense_6th_circuit_has_surpassed_the_9th_as_the_most_reversed_appeal/ Legal History, Legal Theory, U.S. Supreme Court, 6th Circuit Court, 9th Circuit Court, Supreme Court Report Sat, 01 Dec 2012 04:30:39 -0600 41586.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/after_city_of_detroit_fails_to_respond_to_civil_rights_suit_judge_declares_/ The City of Detroit is facing a $1.1 million judgment in a civil rights suit, after failing to respond to the litigation and being held in default by a federal judge. Caleb Sosa, who is now 19, says he was coerced at age 14 into initialing a confession he couldn't… Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Criminal Justice, Juvenile Justice, Government Law, Tort Law, Trials & Litigation, Evidence, Verdicts & Settlements, 6th Circuit Court, States, Michigan Wed, 21 Nov 2012 15:35:42 -0600 41728.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/federal_judge_replaces_jury_foreman_accused_of_bullying_tells_jury_to_begin/ A federal judge in Nashville has dismissed a jury foreman accused of bullying other jurors, replacing him with an alternate and telling the jury to begin deliberating anew in a drug conspiracy case. U.S. District Court Judge Aleta Trauger said she had received multiple notes from the jury and noted… Constitutional Law, Criminal Justice, Trials & Litigation, Juries, 6th Circuit Court, States, Tennessee Fri, 16 Nov 2012 12:51:57 -0600 41670.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/en_banc_6th_circuit_overturns_voter-mandated_affirmative_action_ban_in_mich/ An en banc federal appeals court has struck down a voter-approved ban on affirmative action in Michigan as a violation of the equal protection clause. The Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the ban on affirmative action in university admissions placed an unfair burden on supporters of racial… Constitutional Law, Education Law, 6th Circuit Court, States, Michigan Fri, 16 Nov 2012 08:22:30 -0600 41664.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/6th_circuit_lawyer_must_pay_300k_for_using_stock_photos_to_create_morphed_c/ A federal appeals court has approved a $300,000 award against an Ohio lawyer rejecting the attorney's arguments that he had a First Amendment right to morph stock photos into child pornography as part of a defense trial exhibit and that no one was harmed by his doing so. Dean Boland… Constitutional Law, First Amendment, Criminal Justice, Trials & Litigation, Evidence, Verdicts & Settlements, 6th Circuit Court, States, Ohio Mon, 12 Nov 2012 13:08:38 -0600 41571.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/jury_convicts_former_tenn._judge_of_lying_to_cover_up_prescription_drug_con/ A federal jury in Knoxville, Tenn., on Friday convicted a former criminal court judge there of lying to cover up a prescription drug conspiracy that reportedly involved some defendants in the court system. After deliberating for four days, the jury convicted Richard Baumgartner on five counts of misprision of a… Criminal Justice, Judiciary, Trials & Litigation, 6th Circuit Court, States, Tennessee Fri, 02 Nov 2012 15:05:41 -0500 41464.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/michigan_can_reject_bus_ads_criticizing_islam_says_6th_circuit/ A proposed bus advertisement for RefugefromIslam.com can be rejected by Michigan’s Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday, because the agency rejects all political advertising. According to the Wall Street Journal Law Blog, the American Freedom Defense Initiative wanted… Advertising Law, Constitutional Law, First Amendment, Media & Communications Law, 6th Circuit Court, States, Michigan Thu, 25 Oct 2012 13:43:46 -0500 41302.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/in_second_loss_for_ohio_in_election_disputes_6th_circuit_upholds_counting_o/ A federal appeals court based in Cincinnati has ruled that Ohio must count ballots cast in the wrong precinct but the right polling place. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled (PDF) that the ballots should count if poll workers caused the error, report the Wall Street… Constitutional Law, Election Law, U.S. Supreme Court, 6th Circuit Court Fri, 12 Oct 2012 07:04:24 -0500 41120.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/medical_pot_law_doesnt_protect_fired_wal-mart_worker_6th_circuit_rules/ A federal appeals court has ruled for Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in the case of a worker who claimed he should not have been fired for using medical marijuana. The Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Michigan’s medical marijuana law does not protect Joseph Casias, who was fired after… Health Law, Labor & Employment, 6th Circuit Court Fri, 21 Sep 2012 05:50:34 -0500 40805.abajournal.com