Legal Radar

NYC Police: First Amendment Right to Protest De Blasio

Do NYC police officers have the First Amendment right to protest against Mayor Bill de Blasio?

William Bratton, NYC’s Police Commissioner, said it was deemed “inappropriate” for police officers to turn against the mayor in a funeral of several slain officers.

While there’s no sign of any of the police officer who took part in the rebuke of the mayor will face sanction, some observers suggested those who protested should face consequences.

Speech rights of public workers are frequently in the legal gray area.

Courts said that government workers have legal rights to speak openly as private citizens on issues concerning the public --- with certain exceptions.

Courts are also considering how free speech can lead to the disruption of government functions. The speech value would need to be measured against its potential disruption.

The Supreme Court has laid general guidelines that looks into free speech rights of public workers.

Union leaders are accusing the mayor for founding an anti-police environment.

Condé Nast $8.5M Settlement Approved by U.S. Court

Early this week, Condé Nast won preliminary approval from a federal judge to pay $8.5 million to settle a class action suit by numerous ex-interns who said the publisher paid them too little.

The settlement, which made its way to the public spotlight, is applicable to over 7,500 interns who worked with a number of magazines which include Vogue, the New Yorker, and Vanity Fair.

Ex-interns who were employed at Condé Nast from June of 2007 until now expect to receive payments ranging from $700 all to $2,000.

With the granted preliminary approval, U.S. Judge Henry Pitman from Manhattan indicated the payment to be reasonable enough, saying an estimate conducted by the attorneys of the interns went above 60% of the predicted unpaid earnings.

Outten & Golden, a law firm representing the interns, is planning to go for legal fees amounting to $650,000 or 11% of the settlement fund.

Pitman scheduled the fairness hearing on June 22, 2015, to consider a final approval of the proposed settlement.

Tsarnaev Attorneys Predict Fair Trial Will Suffer Through Delays

Attorneys for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who was accused for the Boston bombing, recently defended their request for a delay in the trial, indicating to the federal judge they won’t have much time to be ready unless the court gives them more time to prepare.

Selection of jury will start this January 5. The defense demands the trial to be postponed until September.

According to the defense, the large volume of evidence will entail a delay, indicating that it received close to 20,000 pages of documents, spreadsheets, and audio files.

Attorneys said the prosecution hasn’t given everything they’ve asked for as well as information they believe may indicate that Tsarnaev was highly influenced by his brother, Tamerlan, Tsarnaev, who died in a shootout with law enforcement several days after the bombing.

Tsarnaev didn’t plead guilty to charges of aiding his brother in carrying out the bombing, which instantly killed several bystanders and wounding over 250 individuals. Federal prosecutors said they’ll look into the death penalty if the accused is guilty

Hotels Looking for FCC Advice on Halting Wi-Fi

Are hotels functioning reasonably within the law when they’ve decided to remove unauthorized Wi-Fi access set up on their properties?

A group of hotels including the Marriott International Inc. sent out a petition to the FCC for guidance regarding the issue.

The dilemma is a flashback for certain consumers who think the hotels they’re staying in are forcing people to make use of their Wi-Fi service ---- frequently at a price.

Meanwhile, the communications law prohibit individuals from interfering with any radio communications from any authorized or licensed stations run by the government. Signal jammers are  not allowed by the FCC.

From the perspective of today’s hotels, the law against interference of communications signals should never be applied to Wi-Fi since it doesn’t make use of any licensed spectrum. According to an FCC filing submitted early this year, the hotel industry indicate hotels should be responsible for looking into and dealing with threats to the security of its Wi-Fi network.

Critics say it’s an attempt by hotels to make money by going around the law.

Judge Attempts to Ease Tension between Google and State Official

A federal judge is asking both Google and a Mississippi state general to calm down.

District Judge Henry T. Wingate from the Southern District of Mississippi recently issued a stay that gives Google an extra two months to address a subpoena from Jim Hood, the state’s attorney general.

The subpoena, which was served in October and given to Google until January 5^th of next year, offered comprehensive details on its search and marketing methods related to banned substances to copyrighting to human trafficking.

Google wanted to block the enforcement after documents showed the hacking of Sony Pictures, suggesting that certain individuals in Hollywood have been working with Hood to place pressure on the search engine giant.

Court proceedings early this week showed that the judge offered Google an additional few months to look into the subpoena. Wingate reserved a February 13^th meeting to hear oral arguments on Google’s request to completely block the subpoena.

FDA: Gay Males Can Now Donate Blood

The Food and Drug Administration is putting an end on its lifetime ban on homosexual and bisexual males donating blood. A recent policy this week allows males to make blood donations given they have no sexual contact with other males in more than a year.

The agency made the decision to lift the ban --- carried out in 1983 at the peak of the AIDS epidemic --- after a conclusion indicated that blood screening is completely unnecessary. The move, though, shows no reflection on any blood shortage donations.

The American Civil Liberties Union mentioned that the move by the agency is a small step --- but in the right direction.

It’s imperative for blood donors to fill out a questionnaire and honestly answer questions regarding their lifestyle and health. Advanced blood testing lets blood banks screen infected blood from the system. A “window period” in which tests can’t detect HIV can range anywhere from several days to a few weeks.

New Jersey Court Supports Mother on Addiction Case

The highest court in New Jersey early this week said a lower court made a mistake of punishing a mother for having her unborn baby exposed to a drug made to treat her painkiller addiction.

The case involved a mother involved with a long history of drug problems. Following the advice of doctors, she sought treatment to combat painkiller abuse weeks after she found out she was pregnant. As part of her treatment regimen, she took dosages of methadone, an opiate, daily. NJ officials filed a complaint against her after her baby showcased symptoms methadone withdrawal.

In the previous year, the Court of Appeals allowed the mother to gain custody of the baby, but through the care of the state, maintaining the findings of abuse and neglect by the court.

Overturning the Court of Appeals, the justices ended with a 6-0 opinion saying the withdrawal symptoms of the baby wasn’t solid enough to be evidence.

A representative for the NJ Department of Children and Families said the agency agreed with the court’s analysis but will look into finding other evidence related to the case.

Alstom to Make $772M Settlement on Bribery Charges

French company, Alston SA, recently pleaded guilty and will be ordered to make a $772 million settlement payment with the U.S Justice Department claiming the company bribed government officials to acquire businesses all over the globe.

The penalty will put an end to charges related to a scheme that involved millions of dollars of bribes all over the globe. Countries involved include Saudi Arabia, the Bahamas, Egypt, and Indonesia.

The Justice Department indicated Alstom to have paid over $75 million to secure projects worth $4 billion worldwide. Alstom confessed to its criminal acts

Alstom pleaded a guilty in a two-count criminal information filed in a Connecticut federal court. Alstom’s Swiss branch was also found guilty to criminal charges that involved violating federal bribery laws.

The firm’s U.S. power and grid units ventured into prosecution agreements with the Justice Department and confessed to violating bribery laws.

Justice Department Leaves Misbranding Case After Trial Victory

In a small case hailing from Tennessee, the Justice Department early this week decided to withdraw charges made against a couple convicted of utilizing misbranded drugs in their clinics.

Dr. Anindya Kumar Sen and his wife, Patricia Sen, appealed their convictions to the 6^th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, claiming the federal government inappropriately used a federal law, while aiming them for drug purchases they thought were approved by the FDA.

Attorneys told the court that the Justice Department will no longer proceed in prosecuting the defendants.

Early this year, a federal judge demanded the couple to pay a $300,000 fine. Mrs. Sen, who purchased the drugs, served  a 2-day prison time. The couple was convicted of taking in misbranded drugs into interstate commerce.

The Sens’ attorney argued that a parent ordering a drug from Amazon.com to fill her child’s medicine cabinet would’ve committed a federal crime if the bottle label was damaged by the distributor.

Apple Notches Victory on iPod Antitrust Case

Early this week, a federal jury handed a Apple Inc. a huge win in the firm’s long-running class action case against claims that the company was in violation of antitrust laws by limiting its competition for its long line of iPod audio players.

It took a couple hours for an 8-person jury in Oakland, California, to decide before concluding on a ruling that favored Apple.

The jury felt that Apple’s iTunes 7.0 was a true improvement on its product and hasn’t, in any way, violated any antitrust laws.

The plaintiffs, who were in the litigation on behalf of its consumers, claimed that software updates from Apple were made to squash marketing attempts on products compatible with Apple’s iPod line. $350 million worth of damages were being sought.

Attorneys for Apple said they only wanted to see whether the version of iTunes, which is capable of playing movies and album scanning via Cover Flow, was an improvement of its older versions.

Patrick Coughlin, the plaintiffs’ attorney, intends to appeal the ruling.