Category: Legal Pulse

Supreme Court Finds Arkansas Statute Unconstitutional; Holds Both Same-Sex Parents’ Names Should Be On Child’s Birth Certificate

Photo via Arkansas Online Written by Joseph Railey ABSTRACT In a brief per curium opinion, the Supreme Court found Arkansas’ birth certificate statute to be unconstitutional because it treated same-sex… Read more »

Making a Murderer: Seventh Circuit Agrees Dassey’s Confession was Coerced

Photo courtesy of Lex18.com Written by Melanie-Ann DeLancey Brandon Dassey, one of two men convicted of murder and featured in the Netflix docu-series Making a Murderer, made headlines again when… Read more »

Increasing the Scope of Legal Responsibility: Can Words Kill?

Written by: Emily Keable In a rare legal ruling, a Massachusetts judge found Michelle Carter, 20, guilty of involuntary manslaughter. Carter was accused of encouraging her boyfriend, Conrad Roy, to… Read more »

Common Sense Prevails: SEC Disgorgement Damages are Deemed a Penalty

Written by: Mike Corelli Facts & Procedural History In 2009, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) commenced an action against Charles Kokesh for violating federal securities laws by misappropriating funds…. Read more »

Mississippi Man First to be Prosecuted and Sentenced Under Federal Hate-Crime Statute

Written by: Brianne Szopinski On Monday, May 15, 2017, Joshua Vallum became the first individual to be prosecuted and sentenced for a federal hate crime after the murder of his… Read more »

New York’s Highest Court Requires Hearings for Final Child Custody Determinations

–by Shannon Mumaw Sources: S.L. v. J.R., 56 N.E.3d 193 (2016); Daniel Leddy, Major Custody Ruling by New York’s Highest Court, silive.com (June 20, 2016, 12:17 PM), http://www.silive.com/opinion/danielleddy/index.ssf/2016/06/major_custody_ruling_by_new_yo.html. Abstract: The… Read more »