Tag Archives: U.S. Supreme Court

  U.S. Supreme Court To Decide if Companies Can Patent DNA Myriad Genetics has isolated a human DNA sequence used for tests to detect whether women are at a higher risk for breast or ovarian cancer. The Salt Lake City, Utah, company holds patents on two isolated genes, which gives it a monopoly on these tests. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Patent Protection Foundation assert companies should not be able to patent human genes, which occur in …

The U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 20 held that one of its 2010 rulings – that under the Sixth Amendment, criminal defense attorneys must warn their clients that guilty pleas can result in deportation – does not apply retroactively. In Chaidez v. United States, the Court said Padilla v. Kentucky, the 2010 case, was not retroactive because it created a new rule about warning defendants, as opposed to simply applying existing rules.   Sorry, Says Court: Play It Forward Roselva …

Floating homes that aren’t designed to actually travel across the water should not be classified as boats and don’t have to follow federal admiralty law, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last week. The decision means that people across the nation who live on the water don’t have to worry about running afoul of maritime laws, as long as it’s clear that their home isn’t used as a boat. In Lozman v. Riviera Beach, the court said a “reasonable observer” test …

A 12-year-old girl has been charged with murder after she and two older friends allegedly carjacked a man in Durham, N.C., shot him, and left him for dead in the street.   Three Murder Charges The 12-year old, along with a girl aged 14 and a boy aged 16, asked 35-year-old Johnny Danilo Villatoro for a ride on Dec. 28, then stole his car and shot him, according to local news reports. Cops found him lying in the street, and …

It’s hard to imagine getting fired based on text messages or videos on your own personal cell phone, but according to one federal appeals court, it’s absolutely legal – at least under one federal law designed to protect electronic transmissions. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Dec. 12 said the Stored Communications Act (SCA) did not protect a city employee from her employer using the contents of her cell phone to fire her.    Phone Taken by Snooping …