June 2011 Archives

What happens when a television station forgets to bleep the swear words? Fox Broadcasting learned the hard way after two incidents in 2002 and 2003 where Cher and Nicole Richie cursed on live television.

After the incident, the Federal Communications Commission enacted a new law, saying that it would fine stations that allowed such incidents to occur. Then, Fox did the expected -- it sued the Federal Communications Commission. The case eventually made it to the Second Circuit. And now, it's with the "Big Nine" on the bench.

The Supreme Court will once again be reviewing the controversial Second Circuit Court of Appeals case next term. This is not the first time the case has been before the Supreme Court, as it had been remanded to the Second Circuit in 2009.

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Consolidated Edison may proceed with its lawsuit claiming the diesel fuel tanks permitted by the Port Authority to be under the twin towers fueled the fire during the September 11th attacks.

This Second Circuit opinion reversed the district court decision on the lease agreement between ConEd and the Port Authority. The appellate opinion said that the 43-year old lease agreement permitted ConEd to bring a reimbursement lawsuit against the Port Authority for the cost of rebuilding the substation, due to the negligence of the Port Authority in allowing the construction of the diesel tanks, reports Courthouse News.

Sometimes criminal defense lawyers are asked to represent clients they don't believe in. While you can't always pick and choose your clients, you can sometimes turn down representation. It's not always easy, though.

Take a recent Second Circuit Court of Appeals case. A defense attorney representing a client in a child sex abuse case decided to withdraw right before the trial.

The case, U.S. v Linda O'Connor and Dean Sacco, shows the reality of criminal defense and particularly, how emotionally conflicting it can sometimes be for a criminal defense attorney to represent a client in cases that may seem reprehensible, such as child abuse cases or in this case, a child sex-abuse case.

It looks like Theflyonthewall.com is one of the few out there today enjoying a legal victory over the big banks. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Theflyonthewall.com in a case that involved a "hot news" tort.

According to the Wall Street Journal, TheFly republished news headlines from various other sources, including Wall Street banks. The banks claimed that their intellectual property rights were being infringed upon.

On June 17, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals will hear the arguments in the case of former state Senate Majority leader Joseph Bruno on the issue of is conviction on honest services mail fraud.

According to the Times-Union, Bruno exploited his office as Senator and took $280,000 from Loudonville businessman Jared E. Abbruzzese between the years of 2004 and 2006. The payments were sham payments for services, the government said, including supposed payments for worthless items. In turn, Abbruzzese hoped, was that Bruno would send grant money to a company, Evident Technologies, in which Abbruzzese owned shares.

A long standing Copyright Act dispute before the Second Circuit Court of Appeals was denied rehearing by the U.S. Supreme Court this week.

The case involves a 1938 copyright of some very famous works -- titles including "Grapes of Wrath" and "Of Mice and Men."

The heirs of the late author John Steinbeck have been litigating their rights to his works for several years. The copyright lawsuit was brought by the author's only living son, Thomas Steinbeck. The younger Steinbeck and his daughter, Blake Smyle, currently receive a portion of the proceeds from Steinbeck book sales, reports The Associated Press.

Last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld a ban on the after-hours use of public school property for worship.

As we discussed in a previous blog post, a group by the name of Bronx Household wanted to use the school for Sunday worship services and were denied such use based on a 2007 policy of the school board. This policy, while allowing the use of school property for "nonexclusive" use "open to the general public" also states that "no permit shall be granted for the purpose of holding religious worship services, or otherwise using a school as a house of worship."

Did this policy violate the First Amendment? How does this relate to the issue of religion in schools?

What does the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals have to say about the use of New York public school facilities for after-hours worship? Would a limitation on such use be an unconstitutional restraint of religion, or an equally unconstitutional support of religion in schools?

Last week, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals looked at the case of Bronx Household v Board of Education for the fourth time. This is an important case and has been before the courts for quite some time now, so we will break down the facts and legal issues of this case over a series of posts.

The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously in favor of fashion designer Todd Oldham this week in Manhattan. Oldham was embroiled in a battle against Gap Inc. owned clothing store Old Navy over a breach of contract lawsuit. In reaching its decision, the Court of Appeals said that the Manhattan district court erred in dismissing two counts from Oldham’s complaint against the retailer.

The lawsuit was based on Oldham’s dismissal as the creative director for Old Navy and the subsequent breach of a deal whereby the clothing retailer allegedly agreed to develop a clothing line named after Oldham, reports New York Post. The agreement was made between Old Navy and Oldham’s company, L-7 Designs, Inc.

Last week, after nearly a year long confirmation process, Susan Carney of Connecticut was confirmed by a vote of 71 to 28, with one abstention, for a position as a 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals judge, reports Thomson Reuters News & Insight.

Carney served as deputy general counsel at Yale University for twelve years, reports The Connecticut Mirror, and will now hear appeals from lower courts in Connecticut, New York, and Vermont. Carney began her career as a Law Clerk to Judge Levin H. Campbell on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. Subsequently, she moved to private practice and eventually, to Yale. At Yale, Carney handled a variety of matters including intellectual property matters, transactional work and international university affiliations, cites her response to the Senate Committee's questionnaire.