Travel ban awaits rulings
SEATTLE — Does federal law give President Donald Trump broad legal authority to freeze immigration by refugees and citizens of some predominantly Muslim nations? That’s the question before two federal appellate courts that have now heard arguments over Trump’s revised travel ban and are being asked by Trump’s opponents to use the president’s own anti-Muslim […]
Judge agrees to toss Aaron Hernandez’s murder conviction
FALL RIVER, Mass. — Former NFL star Aaron Hernandez’s conviction in a 2013 murder can be erased because he died before his appeal was heard, a judge ruled Tuesday. Judge E. Susan Garsh said case law in Massachusetts has long established that defendants who have not had the merits of their appeals decided before they […]
DA faces major hurdles in Charlie Tan appeal
Assistant Monroe County District Attorney Kelly Wolford will be trying to convince a Fourth Department panel Wednesday that her office should get another chance to try Charlie Tan, who had murder charges dismissed in 2015, after a jury failed to reach a verdict. But first she must persuade the panel that she has the right […]
Multiple issues lead to new trial on gun charges
The Appellate Division of state Supreme Court, Fourth Department, has granted a new trial to a woman because of multiple issues that deprived her of a fair trial. Ayiesha Horton, 34, was convicted in April 2013 of two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and one count of third-degree criminal possession of a […]
Victor man gets new trial on jury selection issue
A Victor man convicted of first-degree sexual abuse will get a new trial because of an error in the jury selection process and a judge’s decision to exclude a defense witness. Todd M. Collins, 36, was convicted in December 2014 of abusing an 8-year-old girl in the city of Canandaigua in 2009. He was sentenced […]
Venue owners appeal fine for denying lesbian wedding
Owners of a wedding venue who were fined $13,000 for violating the state’s anti-discrimination law argued Monday that they should be legally allowed to follow their Christian faith. The owners of Liberty Ridge Farm north of Albany refused to host the 2013 wedding of Melisa and Jennie McCarthy, citing their religious beliefs. Now the business […]
High court rejects appeal over public school use
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court has again rejected an appeal from a small evangelical church in the Bronx seeking to overturn New York City’s ban on after-hours religious worship services at public schools. The justices did not comment Monday in siding with the city’s Department of Education in a long-running fight over the […]
High court will hear appeal over illegal threats
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court will consider the free speech rights of people who use violent or threatening language on Facebook and other electronic media where the speaker’s intent is not always clear. The court on Monday agreed to take up the case of an eastern Pennsylvania man sentenced to nearly four years […]
Gossip site wins appeal of cheerleader’s lawsuit
CINCINNATI (AP) — A former Cincinnati Bengals cheerleader should not have been allowed to sue an Arizona-based gossip website over online posts about her sexual history, an appeals court ruled Monday in a case watched closely by Internet giants including Google and Facebook. The ruling from the Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reverses […]
Investors: Deny Argentine do-over
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Argentina’s opponents have filed their last arguments with the U.S. Supreme Court, urging justices to deny the South American government’s appeal of a $1.4 billion debt ruling because President Cristina Fernandez has repeatedly vowed not to honor any decision that goes against her. Argentina wants the court to overturn a […]
Appeal of surveillance ruling rejected
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined an early look at a constitutional challenge to the National Security Agency’s bulk collection of millions of Americans’ telephone records, instead allowing the dispute to work its way through the usual lower-court process. The decision means the high court will not take the unusual step […]
Court rejects appeal over gay bias case
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court rejected an appeal Monday from a studio that refused to photograph a lesbian couple’s commitment ceremony, letting stand a New Mexico high court ruling that helped spur a national debate over gay rights and religious freedom. The justices left in place a unanimous state Supreme Court ruling […]
Case Digests
- NYS Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics – Attorney misconduct: Opinion 22-164
- NYS Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics – Independently written bench book: Opinion 22-163
- Fourth Department – Suppression: People v. Saeli
- Second Circuit – RICO: Horn v. Medical Marijuana Inc.
- NYS Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics – Uncompensated interview: Opinion 22-159
- NYS Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics – Uncompensated guest speaker: Opinion 22-158
- Fourth Department – Negligent performance: Rosenthal v. Syracuse University, et al.
- Second Circuit – Visual Artists Rights Act: Kerson v. Vermont Law School Inc.
- NYS Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics – Former foreclosure referee: Opinion 22-157
- NYS Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics – College honorarium: Opinion 22-156
- Second Circuit – Reasonable accommodation: Tafolla v. Heilig
- Fourth Department – Labor Law: Primisch v. Peroxychem LLC
Law News
- Appeals court upholds Supreme Court ruling
- Assistant district attorney appointed City Court judge by Rochester mayor
- Murder conviction affirmed despite trial judge error
- NY appeals court upholds conviction in burglary case
- Federal lawsuit reinstated against jail officer over strip search, delayed release
- Hyzon to pay $25M penalty to settle alleged fraud charges by SEC
- NY appeals court reinstates lawsuit over contract to remove snow
- Fourth Department affirms $400K judgment in contract dispute