The death knell for Illinois handgun bans?
District of Columbia v Heller marked the first time the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Second Amendment right of an individual to own a firearm. (1) In Heller, the Court struck the District of Columbia's ordinance that banned possession of handguns and mandated all registered firearms be kept unloaded...

Brief-writing tips: for the Illinois Appellate Court.
An appellate court law clerk offers pointers an insider's view of common brief-writing errors Anyone can fall victim to one of the common mistakes that the appellate court sees on a regular basis. More often than not, your last chance to be heard will be through your...

C R Bard wins patent case against W L Gore.
A US District Court ruled in favour of C R Bard Inc in its fight against W L Gore & Associates concerning patent infringement. The court ruling follows a previous jury judgement that Gore infringed Bard's patent through the sale of Gore's ePTFE vascular grafts and stent-grafts....

Merchant claims City Hall is unfair.
Byline: Paula J. Owen FITCHBURG - While Mayor Lisa A. Wong's office touts small businesses on Main Street, business owner Jack Hoover said the city doesn't care about businesses outside of downtown and he, for one, thinks he is being extorted by the ZBA. "They...

Moot Court: Hamdi v Rumsfeld.
Yaser Esam Hamdi was captured when his military unit surrendered in Afghanistan in late 2001. He had an AK-47. The U.S. government believed he had trained with the Taliban and had ties to al Qaeda. He was sent to Guantanamo Bay as an "enemy combatant." Hamdi had been born...

Eugene planners reject appeal of zone change consent.
Byline: Joe Mosley The Register-Guard Another step forward was taken this week in what promises to be an unhurried process to build a 23-acre, mixed-use development on riverfront property along Goodpasture Island Road in Eugene. The Eugene Planning Commission rejected a neighboring landowner's appeal of...

School abutters appeal building permit; Notre Dame Academy.
Byline: Nick Kotsopoulos WORCESTER - Three abutters of Notre Dame Academy are appealing the issuance of a building permit for an expansion project under way at the Salisbury Street school and the Planning Board's approval of the plans for the project. Frank Fiorillo, Nick Fiorillo...

EWEB, employees settle lawsuits.
Byline: Karen McCowan The Register-Guard The Eugene Water & Electric Board will pay more than $3 million in retirement benefits to hundreds of current and former employees under a settlement of two lawsuits approved Tuesday by Lane Circuit Court Judge Charles Carlson. Six EWEB retirees...

Aiming for fair and accurate: a conflict of interest must be considered in judicial review. But how?
Most group disability policies are governed by the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. Although ERISA does not prescribe a standard of judicial review for benefits decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court addressed this issue almost 20 years ago in Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. v. Bruch. ...

Judge denies motion by Catholic Workers; Group faces charges for prayer protest.
Byline: Lee Hammel WORCESTER - A federal magistrate judge has denied a motion for a "necessity defense" for five people in the Catholic Worker Movement charged with obstructing the U.S. District courthouse when they prayed there for an end to the war in Iraq. The...