Articles Posted in Court Decisions

As reported in an article by Mark Hamblett in the May 1 New York Law Journal, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit dismissed a suit by New York City attempting to hold gun manufactures liable for the flow of illegal arms into the city. In its ruling on April 30 the Second Circuit upheld an act of congress (The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act) that insulated gun manufacturers from liability “…while upholding that New York’s public nuisance law does not fint into an exception in the act”. To see the opinion and related documents from Findlaw click on the link below:

CITY OF NEW YORK V. BERETTA U.S.A. CORP., ET AL.
(U.S. 2nd Cir., April 30, 2008) –

N.Y.’s Top Judge Sues Over Judicial Pay

KAYE V. SILVER

“N.Y. Supreme Court, N.Y. County, April 10, 2008) – Chief Court of Appeals Judge Judith Kaye sued New York officials for an increase in judicial pay for all state judges, arguing that, “while New York judicial salaries have declined 27 percent in real terms since 1999,” every other state employee has gotten ‘ cumulative increases of more than 24 percent’.”.

The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday (March 26) in a sweeping rejection of powers in the presidency ruled that neither the World Court nor President Bush can interfere with Texas regarding that states’ enforcement of its own criminal laws. The justices in their 6-3 decision, Medellin v. Texas (06-984), ruled that neither an opinion by the World Court nor a directive from the President amounts to “enforceable federal law” that requires compliance by the State of Texas.

See Medellin v. Texas here

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Justices: Racially Based Peremptory Challenges Reverse Murder Conviction SNYDER V. LOUISIANA
(U.S. Supreme Ct., March 19, 2008) – A Louisiana conviction for first-degree murder and death sentence is reversed where the trial judge committed clear error in its ruling on an objection to the prosecution’s strike of a black juror during voir dire, in violation of Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U. S. 79.

The New York Law Journal has reported that Melvyn Weiss has agreed to plead guilty to a racketeering charge for participating in a scheme to pay kickbacks to lead plaintiffs in shareholder suits.

Mr. Weiss, a famed securities class action lawyer, was one of the co-founders of the law firm Milberg Weiss.

Melvyn Weiss Plea Agreement

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