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Supreme Court Won’t Force Illinois to Issue Choose Life Plates

October 6th, 2009 by Dana Altman

An anti-abortion group has lost its attempt to force the state to issue driver license plates with “Choose Life” printed on them. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal from the federal appeals court decision. The Seventh Circuit ruling held that the Illinois system for approving specialty plates was not discriminatory.

The case, Choose Life Illinois v. White, was filed in 2004 after citizens had collected more than the necessary number of signatures, but were denied a “Choose Life” license plate. As in other states, the proceeds from the proposed “Choose Life” license plates would have been directed to organizations such as pregnancy care centers that provide adoption counseling and referrals.

Source: http://www.breakinglegalnews.com/entry/Court-wont-force-Ill-to-have-Choose-Life-plate

Tags: choose life, license plates, right to life
Posted in Abortion | No Comments »

Federal Court Rules Sex Offender Registration Law Violates Ex Post Facto Clause

September 30th, 2009 by Dana Altman

The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has held that retroactive application of a provision of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (”SORNA”), part of the 2006 Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, violates the ex post facto clause of the United States Constitution.

SORNA requires adult and juvenile sex offenders convicted before its enactment to register with the National Sex Offender Registry. A lawsuit challenging the law was brought by a juvenile who had been adjudicated as a sex offender in 2005, before passage of SORNA. The Ninth Circuit held that the law’s retroactive application to juvenile offenders violates the ex post facto clause. The court distinguished the case at hand from a Supreme Court case, Smith v. Doe, 538 U.S. 84 (2003), which held that retroactive application of a similar state statute to adult offenders was constitutional. The Ninth Circuit made a distinction between the cases, noting convictions of adult offenders, such as in Doe, are matters of public record, while juvenile proceedings are not such openly public matters.

Source: http://www.loc.gov/lawweb/servlet/lloc_news?disp1_1579_United%20States

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Ohio Court Says Voters Need to Approve Video Lottery

September 22nd, 2009 by Dana Altman

The Ohio Supreme Court has struck down the state’s plan to put up to 17,500 video lottery terminals at horse racing tracks. LetOhioVote.org filed a lawsuit, arguing that the state constitution requires voter approval of the state’s gambling plan.

The state had argued that the plan not subject to voter approval because it was part of appropriation process and revenues were allocated to education. The court ordered the Secretary of State to allow the plaintiffs to pursue a referendum. Meanwhile, the state will forego the expected revenues of $933 million over two years until a refendum may be placed on the November 2010 ballot. The state was expecting to use the projected revenues to address a $3.2 billion shortfall in the latest two-year budget, in order not to raise taxes.

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSN2130498420090921

Tags: gambling, referendum, video lottery
Posted in Elections | No Comments »

Court Rejects SEC and Bank of America Settlement

September 15th, 2009 by Dana Altman

Federal district Judge Jed Rakoff rejected a $33 million deal to settle claims that Bank of America misled investors about an agreement to pay Merrill Lynch & Co. executives billions of dollars in bonuses before the bank bought the troubled investment firm. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had filed a complaint against the bank last month, claiming that Bank of America stated in a November joint proxy statement for the acquisition that Merrill had agreed not to pay year-end performance bonuses or other incentive pay to executives before the closing without Bank of America’s consent. In the complaint, the SEC claims the Bank of America had agreed that Merrill could pay up to $5.8 billion in discretionary year-end and other bonuses to Merrill executives for 2008.

The SEC complaint further states that Merrill Lynch paid $3.6 billion in bonuses to its executives, despite the fact that it lost $27.6 billion in 2008, a record loss for the firm and nearly $20 billion more than the $7.8 billion it had lost in 2007. Bank of America acquired Merrill on Jan. 1 for $33 billion.

Sources: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/14/judge-overturns-bank-of-a_n_285947.html

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=ak_7l7vmBs.g

Tags: Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, SEC, Wall Street
Posted in Financial | No Comments »

Congress Considers Yahoo and Microsoft Partnership

September 1st, 2009 by Dana Altman

Yahoo and Microsoft have proposed a partnership in search and advertising, prompting legislators to review privacy issues in behaviorally targeted marketing practices that track users’ activity online. Federal legislation has been proposed to allow users to actively “opt in” to programs that track their browsing. Currently, users to opt-out of behavioral tracking and few people bother to do so.

Yahoo reported that out of 140 million U.S. visitors to its sites in July 2008, “approximately 75,000″ visited its opt-out page. Microsoft reported that out of 130 million U.S. visitors to its sites in August 2008, only approximately 1,800 opted out. eMarketer estimates that spending on behaviorally targeted advertising in the U.S. will quadruple to $4.4 billion by 2012.

Source: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/planned-privacy-law-may-hamper-online-ad-industry-2009-09-01

Tags: behaviorally targeted marketing, Microsoft, yahoo
Posted in Privacy | 2 Comments »

First Provisions of New Credit CARD Law Go Into Effect

August 25th, 2009 by Dana Altman

8/25/09

While most provisions of the new Credit CARD Act don’t go into effect until next February, two provisions went into effect last week. The first change in effect is that credit card companies must notify customers 45 days before changing interest rates or other significant terms of an account. They also must make sure customers have 21 days between the time statements are sent out and when the payment is due, which is an increase of 7 days from previous rules.

Under the new provisions in effect, credit card statements will contain clear explanations of how long it will take to pay off a balance if you make only the minimum payment each month. Credit card companies will no longer be able to raise interest rates on existing balances if you’ve been paying on time, won’t be allowed to raise rates the first year an account is open unless the promotional rate was initially explained, and will have to review accounts every six months if they do hike rates, to reassess the increase and determine if it should be lowered. They will also no longer be allowed to charge fees for going over credit limits unless the consumer agrees to pay that fee, and must apply any amount of payment over the minimum to the highest interest rate balance first. Consumers facing rate hikes will have the right to cancel a card and pay it off over time at the lower rate if they choose to do so

In addition, there are new restrictions about granting credit to students. There are also parts of the new law that limit things like inactivity fees and expiration dates on prepaid cards and gift cards.

Source: http://www.huliq.com/7504/85169/credit-card-act-2009-phase-1-starts-today

Tags: Credit CARD Act
Posted in Consumer Rights, credit | 1 Comment »

Animal Rights Group Sue Over Helmsley Estate

August 18th, 2009 by Dana Altman

Three animal rights groups are suing over a judge’s ruling that allows the trustees of Leona Helmley’s estate to use funds to beneft people, rather than animals. In February, a judge ordered that the trustees of the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust have sole discretion to decide which charities will receive funds from the trust. In April, the trustees gave $136 million to hospitals, foundations and the homeless. $1 million was donated to groups that benefit animals and train guide dogs for the blind.

The groups, the Humane Society of the United States, the American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Aminals, and Maddie’s Fund, claim that the trustees are engaged in a scheme to deprive dog welfare charities from sharing in the funds of the Helmsley estate and acting against the wishes expressed in Helmsley’s will. The hotel heiress’ estate has been valued between $5 and $8 billion, with $12 million left in a trust for her Maltese dog named Trouble. A judge later reduced that trust amount to $2 million.

Source: http://www.breakinglegalnews.com/5599

Tags: animal rights, ASPCA, Helmsley
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »