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Supreme Court rejects appeal over Justice memo
Lawyer World News |
2014/10/20 14:45
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The Supreme Court won't hear an appeal from a civil liberties group that wants to make public an internal Justice Department memo that allows the FBI to informally obtain phone records.
The justices on Tuesday let stand an appeals court ruling that said the Justice Department could refuse to release the 2010 memo under an exception to the Freedom of Information Act.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation argued that the public has a right to see how the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel authorized the FBI to access phone call records from telephone companies for terrorism investigations.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said the memo was part of the government's internal deliberations and therefore exempt from disclosure. |
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Appeals court reinstates Texas voter ID law
Court and Trial |
2014/10/20 14:44
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A federal appeals court on Tuesday temporarily reinstated Texas' tough voter ID law, which the U.S. Justice Department had condemned as the state's latest means of suppressing minority voter turnout.
The ruling by a three-judge panel of the New Orleans-based 5th Circuit Court of Appeals allows the law to be used in the November election, despite a lower judge's ruling that the law is unconstitutional. The 5th Circuit did not rule on the law's merits; instead, it determined it's too late to change the rules for the election.
The judge said the Supreme Court has repeatedly told courts to be cautious about late-hour interruptions of elections. Early voting starts Oct. 20.
"It will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, for the state to adequately train its 25,000 polling workers at 8,000 polling places" in time for the start of early voting, the appeals court wrote.
While some voters may be harmed, the greater harm would come in potentially disrupting an election statewide, the court said. |
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Court takes up hear religious bias case over hijab
Top Attorney News |
2014/10/03 14:01
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The Supreme Court said Thursday it will consider whether retailer Abercrombie & Fitch discriminated against a Muslim woman who was denied a job because her headscarf conflicted with the company's dress code, which the clothing chain has since changed.
The justices agreed to hear the Obama administration's appeal of a lower court decision that ruled the New Albany, Ohio-based company did not discriminate because the job applicant did not specifically say she needed a religious accommodation.
At issue is how employers must deal with laws that require them to make allowances for a worker's religious practices, as long as doing so does not cause the business too much hardship.
A federal judge initially sided with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which sued on behalf of Samantha Elauf. The agency alleged Elauf wasn't hired at a Tulsa, Oklahoma, store because her hijab violated Abercrombie's "look policy," described at the time as a "classic East Coast collegiate style."
But the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that decision. The appeals court said Elauf never directly informed her interviewer she needed a religious accommodation, even though she was wearing the headscarf during her interview. |
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Court to hear cases over employment, housing bias
Court and Trial |
2014/10/03 14:00
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Did retailer Abercrombie & Fitch discriminate against a Muslim woman who was denied a job because her headscarf clashed with the company's dress code? That's the question in one of the 11 cases the Supreme Court said Thursday it will take on in its new term.
The justices took no action on the highly anticipated issue of same-sex marriage, though a decision on the gay marriage cases could come later this month.Among the new cases, the court will consider the scope of housing discrimination laws, the First Amendment rights of judicial candidates to raise campaign money and a challenge from Arizona Republicans over who can draw the state's congressional districts.
In the Abercrombie dispute, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued the retailer after it refused to hire Samantha Elauf at a Tulsa, Oklahoma, store in 2008 because her Muslim hijab conflicted with the company's "look policy."
The policy was described at the time as a "classic East Coast collegiate style."A federal judge initially sided with the EEOC, but the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed, saying Elauf never directly informed her interviewer she needed a religious accommodation, even though she was wearing the headscarf during her interview.
Government lawyers say the appeals court ruling undercuts legal protections for religious practices because it unfairly places the entire the burden to raise the issue with job applicants who often aren't aware of a potential conflict. |
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French court extends adoption rights to lesbians
Top Attorney News |
2014/09/23 16:01
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France's highest court has ruled that married lesbians are allowed to adopt their partner's child born through in vitro fertilization or other medically assisted reproduction.
The Cour de Cassation's ruling is a consequence of the legalization of gay marriage in France last year.
France allows assisted reproduction only for heterosexual couples who have been together at least two years. The restriction has sent many gay couples abroad — many of them going to neighboring Belgium or Spain to have access to fertility treatment.
Upon return to France, French law recognized only the birth mother as the legal parent.
The court ruled Tuesday that married lesbians may adopt children born by their partners through assisted reproduction performed outside of France. |
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