The Supreme Court has decided in American Needle v. the NFL, No. 08-661, that the National Football League Properties (NFLP) which was formed to develop, license, and market fan gear was not a single entity for antitrust purposes. In other words, the 32 teams could be violating anti-trust laws by licensing fan gear solely to Reebok [...]
Archive for the ‘Supreme Court’ Category
NFL Anti-trust decision
Posted in Supreme Court, tagged American Needle, brees, NFL, NFLP, Reebok on August 20, 2010 | 3 Comments »
The War Memorial Case decision
Posted in Supreme Court, tagged Buono v. Salazar, War Memorial on May 16, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Earlier this year I commented on the case of Buono v. Salazar, SC 08-427 4-28-10 (the WWI Memorial case). It seemed from questions at oral argument that only Alito and Scalia were for reversing this case. However, the Court in a 5-4 split did recently reverse the lower court’s decision and allowed the monument to [...]
No double jeopardy here
Posted in Supreme Court, Uncategorized, tagged double jeopardy, Renco v. Lett on May 6, 2010 | 1 Comment »
In the Supreme Court case of Renco V. Lett, No. 09-338 (decided May 3, 2010) the Court held that no double jeopardy occurred when the defendant was retried on a murder charge after his first trial resulted in a hung jury. Despite the short amount of time the jury spent deliberating (4 hours), seven questions [...]
Investor suits given a little help from the Supreme Court
Posted in Supreme Court, tagged merck, securities fraud, statute of limitations, vioxx on April 27, 2010 | 3 Comments »
In the Supreme Court case of Merck v. Reynolds, No. 08-905 (U.S.), the court affirmed the lower court’s holding that the statute of limitations did not begin running when questions about the side effects of Vioxx came to light. The plaintiffs, who owned Merck stock, sued Merck, the maker of Vioxx, for failing to properly [...]
A missed chance to rule on the 10th Amendment
Posted in Supreme Court, tagged animal cruelty, Supreme Court, us v. stevens on April 22, 2010 | 8 Comments »
In the case of US v. Stevens which was decided this week by the Supreme Court, a federal statute banning the making or sale of animal cruelty videos was declared unconstitutional. The statute at issue was intended to criminalize “crush videos” (which I won’t describe here but depict horrendous animal cruelty). While there are some [...]
MacGruber Premiere in Austin – Legal Trouble?
Posted in Supreme Court, tagged copyright, fair use, infringement, macgruber on March 15, 2010 | 12 Comments »
It is South by Southwest® here in Austin this week. While most of the students are away, the town is full of music, films and interactive events. In searching for something with a legal angle that I could write about, I came across a potential legal dispute involving the movie “MacGruber” of SNL fame, which [...]
Supreme Court makes new law – the 14-day rule
Posted in Supreme Court, tagged Maryland, Miranda, recent decisions, Shatzer, Supreme Court on March 2, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Recently the Supreme Court issued its opinion in Maryland v. Shatzer which created new law. Although the law requires the police to inform those being questioned that they have the right to have an attorney present during questioning, the issue in this case was whether an arrestee’s invocation of the right expires when there is a [...]
Supreme Court rules that Bribing Political Candidates is now legal!
Posted in Supreme Court, tagged campaign finance, Citizens United, FEC, First Amendment, The Hilary Movie on January 22, 2010 | 14 Comments »
In a 5-4 decision the United States Supreme Court has made bribing political candidates legal. Locally, when a developer is denied approval to build another subdivision, now corporate headquarters can turn around and fund the election of someone who will vote for it. Nationally, the awarding of federal contracts to campaign supporters will no longer [...]
Will someone please decide whether software can be patented?
Posted in Law, Supreme Court, tagged Bilski, software patents on January 16, 2010 | 1 Comment »
The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard arguments in the case of Bilski v. Kappos No. 08-964 (Supreme Court 2009). This decision could help determine whether software can be patented. The question in the lower court was whether a process can be patented. The lower court expanded its inquiry to whether or not software can be [...]
The NFL and antitrust, again?
Posted in Law, Supreme Court, tagged American Needle, Drew Brees, NFL, Supreme Court on January 12, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
I have to admit, I wasn’t really following this case until I read a very articulate editorial by Drew Brees, a Quarterback for the New Orleans Saints and former Austinite, in the Austin American Statesman (1-11-10 – page A7). Apparently the Supreme Court will be hearing American Needle v. NFL, Supreme Court Docket No. 08-661; [...]
