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Proposition 8 Trial Set For January
Headline Legal News |
2009/08/20 09:09
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According to Courthouse News, the trial challenging Proposition 8, California's voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage, begins Jan. 11, a federal judge announced.
US District Court Judge Vaughn Walker will oversee the trial challenging as unconstitutional the November 2008 vote that defined marriage in California as being between a man and a woman. |
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Lawyers Ask Judge To Lift Ban On Electronic Cigarettes
Headline Legal News |
2009/08/19 09:07
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The National Law Journal reports lawyers for electronic cigarette distributors told a federal judge on Monday that their clients do not market their products as a way to quit smoking, and that the Food and Drug Administration was acting like "a dog chasing its own tail" as it tried to explain why it was barring shipments of the devices into the United States.
Appearing Monday afternoon at the US District Court for the District of Columbia, attorneys for Smoking Everywhere and NJoy asked Judge Richard Leon for a preliminary injunction that would lift the FDA's embargo on their products. The companies sued the FDA in April, claiming the agency had erroneously classified e-cigarettes as unapproved drug devices, and banned imports of them into the states.
Justice Department attorney Drake Cutini, representing the FDA, contended that the e-cigarette companies were marketing their products using health claims, including customer testimonials that the devices helped them quit smoking. |
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Vision-Impaired Transit Riders Lose ADA Claims
Headline Legal News |
2009/08/18 09:06
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Courthouse News reports that the 9th Circuit dismissed the claim that the Bay Area Rapid Transit violated disability law by not making its steps and handrails more accessible to vision-impaired riders.
A three-judge panel in San Francisco overturned a federal judge's ruling that BART violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by not offering accessible handrails or color-contrast striping on stairs.
US District Judge Claudia Wilken conceded that, despite complaints from vision-impaired riders, BART was in compliance with the Department of Transportation's regulations. However, she found those regulations "both arbitrary and capricious and plainly contrary" to the ADA.
She awarded the plaintiffs, two sight-impaired BART riders, $35,000 in compensatory damages, plus legal costs and attorney fees. She also ordered BART to take specific steps to improve accessibility for riders with poor vision. |
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Court Upholds Texas School's Dress Code
Headline Legal News |
2009/08/17 09:14
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According to Courthouse News, Texas school district's dress code banning shirts with words on them doesn't violate students' free-speech rights, the 5th Circuit ruled.
Paul Palmer, then a sophomore at Waxahachie High in the Waxahachie Independent School District, wore a shirt to school in September 2007 with the words "San Diego" written on it. His assistant principal told him the shirt violated the district's dress code.
Palmer called his parents, who then brought him a "John Edwards for President '08" T-shirt instead. That shirt wasn't allowed, either.
Palmer sued in April 2008, claiming the dress code violated his First Amendment right to free speech. But because the school district had adopted a new dress code for the upcoming year four days before the hearing, the court dismissed Palmer's motion without prejudice.
In siding with the school district, the New Orleans-based appeals court called Palmer's argument "flawed, because it fails to include another type of student speech restriction that schools can institute: content-neutral regulations." |
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Virginia Power Plant Loses Emissions Claim
Headline Legal News |
2009/08/14 09:04
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According to Courthouse News, a coal-fired power plant in Virginia lacks standing to challenge state environmental laws that it claimed would force it out of business, the 4th Circuit ruled.
Mirant Potomac River asked the court to vacate the Environmental Protection Agency's approval of a Virginia plan to regulate industrial pollution. It took issue with certain provisions that barred power plants from complying with federal standards by trading emissions allowances with other power plants. The Clean Air Act and the Clean Air Interstate Rule allow such cap-and-trade activity.
But Mirant's power plant must also meet the state's emissions standards because of its geographic location in a "nonattainment area," a region where pollution levels exceed national standards.
The Richmond, Va.-based appeals court found that the Virginia provisions do not, as Mirant claimed, interfere with its ability to trade allowances to meet its obligation. |
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