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Author Archives: johnpolk

Copyrights; Right To Sue For Infringement Of A Copyright

by John W. Polk | March 18, 2019 | Intellectual Property

Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corp. v. Wall-Street.com, LLC, ___ U.S. ___, No. 17571 (4 March 2019). Fourth Estate is a news organization producing online journalism.  Wall Street is a news website.  Fourth Estate licensed its journalism to Wall Street.  The license agreement required Wall Street to remove from its…

SCOTUS Rules Eighth Amendment’s Ban On Excessive Fines Applies To States

by John W. Polk | February 26, 2019 | Business Litigation

Timbs v. Indiana, ___ U.S. ___, No. 17-1091 (20 February 2019) Eighth Amendment; excessive fines Tyson Timbs pled guilty in Indiana state court to dealing in heroin and conspiracy to commit theft. He was sentenced to one year of home detention and five years of probation, including addiction-treatment.

Is A State Robbery Offense That Has As An Element The Use Of Force Sufficient To Overcome A Victim’s Resistance Categorically A “violent felony” Under The Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA)

by John W. Polk | February 14, 2019 | Business Litigation

Stokeling v. United States, ___ U.S. ___, No. 17-5554 (15 January 2019) Denard Stokeling was either an inept criminal or just plain unlucky. In the course of his checkered career, he managed to acquire three felony convictions; home invasion, kidnapping, and robbery.  Then, he acquired a fourth felony conviction, being…

Supreme Court Unanimous-Independent Contractors Engaged In Interstate Commerce Are “Transportation Workers” Exempt From The Federal Arbitration Act

On Behalf of Berenzweig Leonard, LLP | January 29, 2019 | Business Litigation

New Prime, Inc. v. Oliveira, ___ U.S. ___, No. 17-340 (15 January 2019) Federal Arbitration Act; contracts of employment; statutory authority to compel arbitration In 1925, Congress enacted the Federal Arbitration Act (“the Act”), 9 U.S.C. §1 et seq., in an effort to counteract judicial hostility to arbitration…

Ruling On Facebook, Free Speech And Public Officials

On Behalf of Berenzweig Leonard, LLP | January 25, 2019 | Cybersecurity & Data Privacy

Davison v. Randall, ___ Fd.3rd ___, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit No. 17-2002 (7 January 2019) First Amendment, free speech clause; Facebook; public official In 2015, Phyllis J. Randall became the chairperson of the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors. After taking office, Randall created a…

Armed Career Criminal Act; meaning of the statutory term “burglary”

On Behalf of Berenzweig Leonard, LLP | January 7, 2019 | Business Litigation

United States v, Stitt, ___ U.S. ___, No. 17-765 and 17-766 (10 December 2018) Armed Career Criminal Act; meaning of the statutory term “burglary” The Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA), 18 U.S.C. §924(e)(2)(B)(ii) provides that if a person unlawfully possesses or transports a firearm and has three previous convictions for…