Wal-Mart Sex Discrimination Case Enters New Stage

var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-2327420-4']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })();Although the Supreme Court in June ruled against plaintiffs who sued Wal-Mart for sex-based employment...

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A Question of Integrity

var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-2327420-4']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); Alliance for Justice is proud to release our latest short documentary film, A Question of...

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Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing for Morgan

var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-2327420-4']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); The Senate Judiciary Committee today held a hearing on the nomination of Susie Morgan to...

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Three Nominees Confirmed; 23 Left Waiting

var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-2327420-4']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); The Senate voted to confirm three nominees to U.S. District Court seats today.  Mark...

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Senate Confirms Bissoon to the District Court

Today, the Senate confirmed Catherine Bissoon to the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania by a bipartisan vote of 82-3. President Obama nominated Bissoon to the seat on November 17, 2010. It has been 335 days from her nomination to her confirmation by an overwhelming majority of senators. The Senate took no action on 26 other judicial nominees currently pending on the Senate floor, 25 of whom were reported out of committee either unanimously or with strong bipartisan support and 9 of whom have been nominated to fill vacancies that are “judicial emergencies” as...

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Corporate Court Grants Cert. in Human Rights Cases

The United States Supreme Court today granted cert. in two cases that affect the rights of individuals seeking to hold corporations and other organizations responsible for human rights violations. In Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum, twelve Nigerian nationals sued Royal Dutch Petroleum and two other oil companies for aiding and abetting human rights abuses committed in the Ogoni Region of Nigeria in the early 1990s. To protest the environmental damage caused by the defendants' oil exploration and production in the Ogoni region, Nigerian residents organized the “Movement for Survival of Ogoni People.”...

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Protesters Arrested at the Corporate Court

Protesting the corrupting influence of corporate money in government, 19 people, including Princeton University professor Cornel West, were arrested on the steps of the United States Supreme Court on Sunday. After attending the morning dedication of the new Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial on the National Mall, some 250 protestors marched from Freedom Plaza to the Court. Speaking to those gathered, many of whom were carrying signs that read “Human Need Not Corporate Greed,” West declared, “We want to bear witness today that we know the relation between corporate greed and what goes on too often...

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Arbitration: Is It Fair When Forced?

“Arbitration: Is It Fair When Forced?” was the subject of a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing held on Thursday, Oct. 13.Sen. Al Franken (D-MN), sponsor of the Arbitration Fairness Act (S. 987) focused his questions and comments on the ways in which mandatory arbitration clauses put everyday Americans at a disadvantage in seeking justice against large corporations. Mandatory arbitration clauses, often embedded deep in the fine print of a contract, compel parties to give up their right to sue in court when they have a dispute. Instead of going before a judge and a jury, people who sign those contracts...

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Senate Confirms Three District Court Nominees

var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-2327420-4']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); Today, the Senate confirmed Alison Nathan to the United States District Court for the Southern...

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Thirty Nominees Awaiting Final Senate Votes

Today the Senate Judiciary Committee voted five judicial nominees out of committee, moving them forward to the full Senate for confirmation, bringing the total number of nominees awaiting floor votes to 30.  Adalberto José Jordán, nominee to be United States Circuit Judge for the Eleventh Circuit, and three United States District Court nominees: Mary Elizabeth Phillips to the Western District of Missouri, Thomas Owen Rice to the Eastern District of Washington, and David Nuffer to the  District of Utah were reported out on a unanimous, en banc voice vote. John M. Gerrard to the...

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Florence v. Board of Chosen Freeholders: Stripping Away Privacy Rights?

var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-2327420-4']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); Today, the Court heard oral arguments for Florence v. Board of Chosen Freeholders, a case...

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Corporate Court grants cert. in home mortgage scam case

In another case that pits everyday Americans against large corporation, the Supreme Court has granted cert. in the mortgage loans case Freeman v. Quicken Loans Inc. The case arises from a group of lawsuits out of Louisiana in which borrowers, including Tammy and Larry Freeman, claim that Quicken Loans violated the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) by charging them loan-discount fees on their mortgages without providing reduced interest rates in return. It is common practice for people taking out a home mortgage loan to pay “points,” which are based on a percentage of the overall loan...

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Medical-Malpractice Narrative Undercut by Simple Reality

Are "skyrocketing" medical malpractice insurance premiums making it impossible for health-care practitioners to keep delivering quality care to patients? That's the current narrative in support of so-called tort reform legislation, but an important article published in Medscape Today (subscription required) undercuts that narrative with simple facts.Medical groups, including the AMA, have constructed this narrative as part of their push for a legislative "fix" for the so-called problem, and have recently asked the Congressional deficit "supercommittee" to include medical malpractice caps in any...

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Senate Confirms District Court Nominee

This evening the Senate confirmed Jane Triche-Milazzo to the Eastern District of Louisiana on a vote of 98-0. Judge Milazzo was nominated on March 16th, 2011. There are 25 other judicial nominees pending on the floor, all but one of whom were reported out of committee unanimously or with strong bipartisan support. Five more nominees are likely to be reported to the floor this Thursday. For the most accurate, up-to-date information on the judicial selection process, visit the Alliance for Justice’s website. ...

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CompuCredit v. Greenwood: Does a “Right to Sue” Really Mean a Right to Sue?

This morning, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in CompuCredit v. Greenwood, a case that will decide whether a federal law requiring that consumers be informed of their “right to sue” voids mandatory arbitration clauses in credit repair contracts.Plaintiffs in this case are a class of consumers who sued CompuCredit for deceitful marketing tactics under the Credit Repair Organization Act (CROA).  These consumers signed up for credit cards which CompuCredit claimed would help them rebuild their credit. Instead, credit card holders were charged $257 per year in undisclosed fees, plus interest,...

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Former Judges Speak Out on Overmilitarizing Counterterrorism Efforts

In an op-ed last Friday, three former federal judges criticized Congressional attempts to “overmilitarize” America’s counterterrorism efforts.Former D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge and AFJ Champion of Justice Honoree Abner Mikva, former District Court Judge for the Western District of Texas William Sessions, and former Third Circuit Court of Appeals Judge John Gibbons argue that legislation pending in Congress undermines the fundamental role of our nation’s courts by giving the power of “judge, jury and jailer” to the U.S. military. The National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, which has...

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Obama Nominates Shwartz to the Third Circuit

President Obama has nominated Judge Patty Shwartz to the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Since 2003, she has served as a Magistrate Judge on the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey.  She has taught as an adjunct professor of law at Fordham University School of Law since 2009. Judge Shwartz graduated from Rutgers University in 1983 with highest honors and was named the Outstanding Woman Law Graduate of her class upon graduating from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1986.  Her previous legal experience includes working...

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Wallach, Four District Court Nominees Voted Out of Committee

Today the Senate Judiciary Committee voted five judicial nominees out of committee in a unanimous, en banc vote, moving them forward to the full Senate for confirmation. The nominees are Evan Wallach, nominated to be a United States Circuit Judge for the Federal Circuit, and four United States District Judge nominees: Dana Christensen to the District of Montana, Cathy Bencivengo to the Southern District of California, Gina Marie Groh to the Northern District of West Virginia, and Margo Brodie to the Eastern District of New York.  They now join 21 other pending nominees awaiting confirmation...

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Supreme Court Hears Oral Argument in Hosanna-Tabor v. EEOC

Yesterday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Hosanna-Tabor v. EEOC, a case over whether a disabilities discrimination claim can be brought against a religious school by a secular teacher.  Cheryl Perich was a teacher of primarily secular subject matter at Hosanna-Tabor Lutheran School.  She had been certified in the past as a “called” teacher within her denomination, meaning she had undergone some training in religious doctrine.  After she became ill and took medical leave, the school tried to get her to resign. When this failed, they expressed concern that Perich could...

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Steve Jobs and introspection about oneself

As the whole world knows, Steve Jobs died. And it wasn't a surprise. He'd been battling illness for years. He was the Thomas Edison of our era.But let's go beyond that. Why?  Because of this famous Stanford commencement speech:  Several quotes stick out the most, and they have been repeated ad infinitum all over the Internet and the news. I will repeat them anyway, taken from The Stanford Daily's text of the speech: You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way...

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Hearings on Five Nominees, Two to Fill Judicial Emergencies

The Senate Judiciary Committee today held hearings on the nominations of Stephanie Dawn Thacker to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and of Michael Walter Fitzgerald, Ronnie Abrams, Rudolph Contreras, and Miranda Du to serve as United States District Judges in the Central District of California, the Southern District of New York, the District of Columbia, and the District of Nevada, respectively.If confirmed, Fitzgerald and Du will both be filling vacancies that have been deemed “judicial emergencies” by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. Senator Dick Durbin...

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Senate Confirms Six Judicial Nominees

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Supreme Court Hears Oral Argument in Douglas v. Independent Living

var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-2327420-4']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); Today the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Douglas v. Independent Living of Southern...

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