http://www.abajournal.com/news/ en Copyright 2013 2013-05-25T16:46:44-06:00 http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/lawmakers_propose_a_critter_car_for_amtrak/ Four House members have proposed a bill that would make Amtrak pet-friendly. The measure calls for Amtrak, which currently only allows service animals that assist disabled train riders, to designate at least one locomotive car as pet-friendly, the Wall Street Journal Law Blog reports. Allowing pet owners… Administrative Law, Legislation & Lobbying Thu, 23 May 2013 15:44:06 -0500 44340.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/using_website_to_arrange_short-term_apartment_stays_violates_law_says_ny_al/ A New York man who rented his apartment for a three-day stay ran afoul of the city’s hotel law, an administrative law judge ruled Monday. Hearings for a similar law are pending in San Francisco, CNET News reports. Both matters involve the website Airbnb,… Administrative Law, Real Estate & Property Law Tue, 21 May 2013 11:55:45 -0500 44288.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/nude_but_not_lewd_airport_protester_beat_indecency_rap_but_is_still_fi/ A tech worker who took it all off at the Portland, Ore., airport last year as a protest of security measures, was acquitted at trial later in 2012 by a Multnomah County judge of the indecent exposure charge that resulted. But the celebration after John E. Brennan's criminal court victory… Administrative Law, Appellate Practice, Aviation & Space Law, Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Criminal Justice, Trials & Litigation, 9th Circuit Court, States, Oregon Fri, 10 May 2013 17:15:51 -0500 44138.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/new_nlrb_ruling_says_bus_driver_should_not_have_been_fired_over_facebook_an/ In a new ruling in a hot area of employment law, the National Labor Relations Board has backed a tour bus driver fired for making comments critical of his employer in Facebook and email comments that also suggested fellow workers should unionize. The NLRB agreed with an administrative judge that… Administrative Law, Internet Law, Labor & Employment, Trials & Litigation, Verdicts & Settlements Wed, 08 May 2013 12:15:05 -0500 44089.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/911_call_will_earn_800k_for_couple_bound_and_gagged_by_rogue_ex-cop/ A married couple bound and gagged in February by rogue ex-cop Christopher Dorner stands to earn $800,000 for calling 911 and describing the former Los Angeles police department employee to authorities. "Had Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds failed promptly to escape their restraints and contact law enforcement, it is likely Dorner… Administrative Law, Contracts, Criminal Justice, Government Law, States, California Wed, 08 May 2013 11:10:03 -0500 44086.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/daughter_of_delaware_courthouse_shooter_seeks_custody_of_slain_moms_3_kids/ The daughter of a man who shot two women to death at a Delaware courthouse earlier this year is seeking custody of the three daughters of one of the slain women. In Delaware, relatives usually receive preference when courts are considering the permanent guardianship of children in foster care, the… Administrative Law, Criminal Justice, Family Law, Government Law, Judiciary, Court Security, Trials & Litigation, States, Delaware Tue, 07 May 2013 12:52:05 -0500 44069.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/in_truly_bizarre_situation_fda_oks_no-prescription_plan_b_pill_sale_to_teen/ In the latest round of a hard-fought political battle over the issue of whether the so-called morning-after birth control pill should be available without a prescription to 15- and 16-year-olds, a federal regulatory agency has told pharmacies they are free to sell one brand, Plan B One-Step, over the counter,… Administrative Law, Consumer Law, Executive Branch, Health Law, Legislation & Lobbying, Science & Technology Law, Trials & Litigation, Verdicts & Settlements, 2nd Circuit Court, States, New York Thu, 02 May 2013 11:15:55 -0500 44004.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/lawyers_ask_feds_to_probe_claims_maine_governor_pressured_hearing_officers_/ A group of employment lawyers is seeking a federal investigation of the governor of Maine, citing news reports that he and other officials have pressured hearing officers to rule for the state in administrative cases about unemployment compensation benefits. In a Monday letter (PDF), the local chapter of… Administrative Law, Constitutional Law, Government Law, Judiciary, Labor & Employment, Trials & Litigation, States, Maine Wed, 17 Apr 2013 11:40:16 -0500 43776.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/break-up_sparks_legal_battle_over_105k_in_parking_tickets_a_record_high_amo/ When Jennifer Fitzgerald and Brandon Preveau split up, he kept the 1999 Chevrolet Monte Carlo he had purchased for $600. But the car was in her name, as were the parking tickets Preveau allegedly racked up by abandoning it for nearly three years in a United Airlines employees-only parking lot… Administrative Law, Family Law, Government Law, Trials & Litigation, States, Illinois Thu, 11 Apr 2013 13:35:37 -0500 43692.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/prosecutors_suspended_for_mistakes_in_sen._stevens_prosecution_win_administ/ Two prosecutors suspended for failing to disclose exculpatory evidence in the failed 2008 corruption trial of U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens have won an appeal before an administrative judge. Administrative Judge Benjamin Gutman said in an opinion issued on Friday that the Justice… Administrative Law, Criminal Justice, Prosecutors, Legal Ethics Mon, 08 Apr 2013 11:44:07 -0500 43634.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/federal_judge_lifts_age_restrictions_on_over-the-counter_sales_of_morning-a/ A federal judge in Brooklyn has ruled that the government was "arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable” when it refused to lift age restrictions on over-the-counter sales of the morning-after pill. The decision (PDF) on Friday by U.S. District Judge Edward Korman orders the government to lift the ban on… Administrative Law, Health Law, Trials & Litigation Fri, 05 Apr 2013 08:38:32 -0500 43605.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/should_scotus_overrule_case_requiring_courts_to_defer_to_agency_interpretat/ The U.S. Supreme Court is siding with the Environmental Protection Agency—and the timber industry—in a decision holding that timber companies don’t have to obtain Clean Water Act permits to channel stormwater runoff from logging roads. The court ruled in a 7-1 decision (PDF) finding that the EPA’s interpretation… Administrative Law, Environmental Law, U.S. Supreme Court Wed, 20 Mar 2013 11:11:36 -0500 43367.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/prominent_law_grad_and_general_counsel_charged_in_claimed_13.2m_securities_/ A prominent businessman and law graduate who once headed Oregon's Republican party and was a candidate for state governor has been criminally charged in a securities fraud case. Craig Berkman, 71, who now lives in Florida, was arrested Tuesday at his Odessa home in a case filed by the U.S.… Administrative Law, Criminal Justice, White Collar Crime, Securities Law, Trials & Litigation, 2nd Circuit Court, States, District of Columbia, Florida, New York, Oregon Tue, 19 Mar 2013 16:50:27 -0500 43358.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/tsa_to_allow_airline_passengers_to_board_with_small_knives_pool_cues_and_la/ It appears that eating utensils—or table knives, at the very least—will remain banned as carry-on items on U.S. airlines flights, under safety rules adopted after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. But small knives will soon be permitted, potentially allowing some passengers to use a pocketknife or penknife, along with… Administrative Law, Aviation & Space Law Wed, 06 Mar 2013 16:36:28 -0600 43132.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/boy_7_suspended_for_chewing_pastry_into_shape_of_gun_pointing_it_and_saying/ In the latest example of a zero-tolerance policy concerning weapons brought to school that some see as having been taken to an extreme, a 7-year-old boy was suspended for two days over a breakfast pastry. The unidentified student at Park Elementary School in Baltimore, Md., is the son of William… Administrative Law, Education Law, States, Maryland Tue, 05 Mar 2013 11:58:48 -0600 43118.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/want_a_smoke-free_generation_ban_tobacco_sales_to_anyone_born_this_century/ If you want to cut tobacco deaths, you need look no further than federal legislation signed into law in 2009, according to a law professor. The Family Smoking Prevention and Control Act paves the way for two aggressive approaches, according to a New York Times op-ed… Administrative Law, Health Law, Law Professors Tue, 05 Mar 2013 06:30:06 -0600 43093.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/oakland_medical_marijuana_dispensary/ A federal magistrate judge on Thursday dismissed a challenge from the city of Oakland, Calif., of federal authority in shutting down a medical marijuana dispensary, the Oakland Tribune reports. But that just moves the city out of the picture. Forfeiture suits against two Harborside Health Center locations… Administrative Law, Health Law, Trials & Litigation, States, California Fri, 15 Feb 2013 16:24:16 -0600 42898.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/reports_drivers_license_of_fugitive_ex-cop_charged_in_multiple_slayings_wit/ A manhunt for a former Los Angeles police officer that has been ongoing for over a week apparently ended Tuesday night in a fiery blaze after authorities began using a special armored vehicle to peel off the walls of a mountainside cabin following a gun battle, the deployment of tear… Administrative Law, Criminal Justice, Government Law, Judiciary, Court Security, Labor & Employment, Trials & Litigation, Evidence, Verdicts & Settlements, States, California Wed, 13 Feb 2013 13:04:31 -0600 42852.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/judge_pleads_guilty_to_traffic_ticket_fraud_cases_against_8_others/ H. Warren Hogeland pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to mail fraud and conspiracy. He’s one of nine judges—eight cases are still pending—charged with dismissing or reducing citations for friends, family, associates and political allies, the Associated Press reports. While defense attorneys argue that judges didn’t profit… Administrative Law, Criminal Procedure, Judiciary, Legal Ethics, States, Pennsylvania Tue, 12 Feb 2013 18:53:53 -0600 42842.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/record_1m_reward_in_manhunt_for_fired_lapd_officer_city_will_reinvestigate_/ Vowing to end a "reign of terror" authorities blame on a former Los Angeles police officer allegedly taking revenge for being terminated from his job, the city's mayor announced at a press conference on Sunday that a $1 million reward is being offered for information leaded to the arrest and… Administrative Law, Criminal Justice, Government Law, Labor & Employment, States, California Mon, 11 Feb 2013 11:45:33 -0600 42805.abajournal.com