Media & Entertainment Law

Student Essay About Murder-Suicide Held To Be A True Threat
Riehm v. Engelking, ____F.3d____(8th Cir. Aug. 15, 2008), is an important student First Amendment case to be aware of. The Eighth Circuit held that a Minnesota high school student?s essay depicting a student?s murder of a teacher and suicide constituted...

Eighth Circuit affirms large above-guideline sentence
The Eighth Circuit today in US v. Austad, No. 07-1376 (8th Cir. Mar. 5, 2008) (available here), affirms an above-guideline sentence with heavy reliance on Gall. Here is the start and end: Christopher Austad (Austad) pled guilty to mailing threatening...

Ninth Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Indictment for Prosecutorial Misconduct
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in United States v. Chapman affirmed the dismissal of the indictment in a case where a grand jury had indicted defendants in a "complex securities trading scheme" and failed to disclose over 650 pages...

Creative Writing 101
What is Creative Writing? Creative writing is anything where the purpose is to express thoughts, feelings and emotions rather than to simply convey information. I?ll be focusing on creative fiction in this post (mainly short stories and novels), but poetry, (auto)biography and creative non-fiction are all other forms of creative writing...

Eighth Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Securities Fraud Claim Against Merrill Lynch
The Eighth Circuit affirmed dismissal of claims based on the Arkansas Securities Act and fraud in Benton v. Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., No. 07-2224 (5/5/08).  In 2001 and 2002, David Howell fraudulently obtained money from various investors...

Eighth Circuit Affirms A Sentence of Probation For A Major Crack Dealer
The Eighth Circuit recently issued a decision (available here) holding that a significant downward variance was appropriate for a defendant who pleaded guilty to distributing 102 grams of crack cocaine...

Selection of State Supreme Court Judges
How State Court Judges are Selected

Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Career Choices
Descriptions of law enforcement occupations

F-1 Visas
Visas for Foreign Students

California Supreme Court Proposition 8 Decision
Court Rejects Challenges to Proposition 8, but Finds Marriages Valid

Is Barack Obama a Natural Born Citizen?
Wrotnowski v. Bysiewicz (Supreme Court): Does Obama meet the constitutional requirements to be President

Heart of Atlanta v United States
Supreme Court Decision: Civil Rights Act Protected by Interstate Commerce Clause

True Value
Recalls Wheelbarrows

Specialty Lamp International
Recalls Counterfeit Circuit Breakers

International Creative Management, Inc
TV Writers Settle First of 23 Class Actions for $4.5 Million

Employee Theft
Mother and daughter ordered to pay $1 million settlement for writing false paychecks.

Unsafe Work Site
Employee awarded $2.5 million personal injury settlement after suffering burns to his lower body.

Personal Injury
Appeals Court Upholds Congressional Legislation