Heartland Payment Data Breach Draws Class Action Lawuit

A class action lawsuit has been filed against Heartland Payment Systems, Inc. over the loss of credit card information to hackers in 2008, and the company’s subsequent handling of the data breach. Some computer experts estimate that the breach may have compromised more than 100 million credit cards. According to the company’s website, Heartland is the fifth largest payment processor in the US and ninth largest worldwide. It processes more than 11 million transactions per day....

January 23, 2023 · 2 min · 345 words · Gary Trahern

Joe Hammond The Destroyer Fights For His Right Of Publicity

Joe Hammond, the infamous street basketball player known as “The Destroyer” is suing Footlocker and Nike. The Harlem streetballer who rocked the blacktop back in the 1970s claims that the sneaker company’s t-shirt sold at Footlocker outlets violates his right of publicity. According to the NY Post, the t-shirt in question has the tagline “Joe The Destroyer Hammon” (sic) with the picture of a broken down basketball hoop. As if using the poor man’s name wasn’t enough, Nike even misspelled it....

January 23, 2023 · 2 min · 275 words · Ronnie Murillo

Kelsey Grammer Files For Sole Custody Of Children

Paging Dr. Frasier, an emergency counseling session seems to be in order. Former Frasier star Kelsey Grammar is now embroiled in a bitter custody battle with ex-wife Camille Grammer. Kelsey is seeking sole physical custody and joint legal custody of their two children, ages 9 and 6. He filed the legal papers at Los Angeles County Superior Court this week. Camille is no stranger to the small screen herself as a star on the reality TV series the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills....

January 23, 2023 · 2 min · 406 words · Jessica Ray

Kendall And Kylie Jenner Cease And Desist T Shirt Infringement

The Jenner sisters, Kendall and Kylie, have been on the receiving end of cease and desist letters from the estates of celebrities due to some t-shirts the two sold. Most recently, a cease and desist letter sent by the estate of Jim Morrison, the late great frontman for the Doors, blasted the sisters for their unauthorized use of the Doors trademark, as well as violating Morrison’s post-mortem publicity rights. The tees featured an image of Kendall superimposed over an iconic and well-known image of Jim Morrison that was used to promote the Doors....

January 23, 2023 · 3 min · 509 words · Mario Lawson

Michele Bachmann Can T Use American Girl Tom Petty Threatens Suit

Is presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann an “American Girl”? Sure, but she can’t play that song at her campaign events - at least that’s what Tom Petty’s cease and desist letter says. Bachmann had been using the song as part of her campaign message, playing it as she walked onstage during events. Well, maybe it’s time for Bachmann to play a different tune. Rockers and politicians have fighting over the use of music in campaigns for years....

January 23, 2023 · 2 min · 390 words · Rosemarie Pinon

San Diego S Good Cause Concealed Carry Policy Shot Down By 9Th Cir

San Diego County’s policy of requiring “good cause” for concealed carry gun permits – outside of the general desire to carry a gun for protection – is unconstitutional, a federal appeals court ruled today. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling relied not only on the specifics of the county’s policy but also the history and interpretation of the Second Amendment. This decision dealt with a local gun policy, but The Wall Street Journal reports that the issue is very likely to be taken up by the U....

January 23, 2023 · 3 min · 481 words · Adam Carroll

Weinergate Are Political Sex Scandals Illegal

With Weinergate still on the radar and John Edward’s recent indictment, political sex scandals are all the rage. They are certainly sordid and in terrible taste. But, the questions on many Americans’ minds may just be: Are sex scandals illegal? Are there any sex scandal laws out there? Not really. It’s not illegal for a private citizen to cheat on his wife - though it is morally reprehensible. Edwards allegedly misappropriated campaign funds to hide his mistress, which would be in violation of federal law....

January 23, 2023 · 2 min · 415 words · Albert Smit

Working Mom Arrested For Leaving Daughter 9 Alone At Park

A South Carolina woman who left her 9-year-old daughter alone at a public park while she went to her job at McDonalds was arrested and charged with a felony. Debra Harrell, 46, of North Augusta, was arrested after confessing to regularly leaving her daughter in the park while she worked at a McDonald’s a mile-and-a-half away. According to CNN, Harrell had given her daughter a cell phone and a key to their house, which was about a six-minute walk from the park....

January 23, 2023 · 2 min · 394 words · Henry Brown

Zimmerman Not Guilty Legal Battles Continue

George Zimmerman was found not guilty Saturday in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, but his legal battles likely aren’t over yet. While some may feel that Martin’s parents were denied justice in Zimmerman’s acquittal, they may still have recourse by pursuing a wrongful death lawsuit. Meantime, the Justice Department is also looking into possible prosecution. For his part, Zimmerman may also be extracting his pound of flesh from the media for allegedly portraying him as a monster....

January 23, 2023 · 3 min · 516 words · Joan Daniels

The Good Wife Good Law Season 5 Episode 19

It was a murder mystery whodunit on “The Good Wife” this week, and Alicia showed Americans how unreliable even the most competent eyewitness can be. “Tying the Knot” plays a bit like an episode of “Scandal,” but there are plenty of legal twists to untangle. Here’s what you need to know: Alicia is invited over to client Colin Sweeney’s ridiculous mansion to get the eccentric businessman (played gleefully wicked by Dylan Baker) to sign something when a woman is found hanging by a noose....

January 22, 2023 · 3 min · 624 words · Mary Williams

The Good Wife Good Law Season 5 Episode 2

Worried about the government listening in on your every word or thought? This week’s episode of “The Good Wife” is like a 45-minute ad for tin foil hats, although Lockhart & Gardner does its darnedest to fight the cartoonish boogeyman of NSA surveillance. Here’s a rundown of this season’s second offering, “The Bit Bucket.” This episode has a nice plot device: two government employees listening in on calls to and from all the main characters at some sort of secret National Security Agency (NSA) surveillance center – which really resembles a big telemarketing call center....

January 22, 2023 · 4 min · 686 words · Rafael Parrish

The Good Wife Good Law Season 5 Episode 7

The latest episode of “The Good Wife” forayed into the crime drama realm with a classic “whodunnit?” storyline. The episode revolved around a quest for the DNA of an alleged killer. Here’s a legal breakdown of “The Next Week”: Jeffery Grant (Hunter Parrish) is stopped for speeding (which he isn’t) and arrested on suspicion of DUI (again, he isn’t). He calls Lockhart & Gardner. When Will arrives, he notes that Jeffery has been in custody for an hour but has yet to be given a Breathalyzer test; curiously, however, police have swabbed his cheek for DNA....

January 22, 2023 · 4 min · 724 words · Alta White

2 Drone Pilots Arrested For Allegedly Endangering Nypd Helicopter

Two drone pilots were arrested after cops say their tiny craft nearly collided with a NYPD chopper over the George Washington Bridge. Remy Castro, 23, and Wilkins Mendoza, 34, of Manhattan, have been arraigned on felony reckless endangerment charges, reports the New York Post. The two were released without bail, but face serious felony charges for their allegedly dangerous drone antics. Why is flying a drone like this a felony?...

January 22, 2023 · 2 min · 397 words · Alex Renninger

Appeals Court Lifts Injunction On Lynyrd Skynyrd Movie

Street Survivor: The True Story of the Lynyrd Skynyrd Plane Crash, the movie about the fateful Lynyrd Skynyrd accident that killed three of the band’s members, appears headed to a theater near you. Though the lower court initially blocked the film and music company, Cleopatra, from distributing the movie based on a consent decree between members of the band, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the consent decree was “sufficiently inconsistent,” and is letting the film progress to release....

January 22, 2023 · 2 min · 329 words · Rigoberto Shuler

Appellate Court Overturns Award In Jackson Video Taping

A Los Angeles appellate court has tossed out a $20 million judgment against a now-defunct charter airline in a case involving a secret video taping of the late pop star Michael Jackson and his attorneys. According to the Associated Press, an appellate court overturned the award, ruling the amount was excessive, and XtraJet and its owner Jeffrey Borer shouldn’t have to pay it to attorneys Mark Geragos and Pat Harris....

January 22, 2023 · 2 min · 360 words · Loretta Simpson

Are Name Brand Drug Makers Liable For Generic Drug Injuries

Alabama’s highest court is set to hear more arguments next week about whether patients can sue name-brand drug companies for side effects caused by their generic counterparts. The case raised eyebrows earlier this year, after the Alabama Supreme Court held “a brand-name pharmaceutical company responsible for injuries caused by the use of its competitor’s generic medicine,” an attorney for the Alabama Policy Institute writes for AL.com. (The Institute filed an amicus brief urging the court to reverse its decision....

January 22, 2023 · 3 min · 486 words · Jerome Stonestreet

Breach Of Contract Lawsuit Judge Sides With No Doubt

Grammy award winning rock band No Doubt has won the first round of an ongoing of lawsuit against Activision game giant over right-of-publicity and a breach of contract lawsuit. A judge has sided with No Doubt in the rock band’s claim that it did not give permission to the game giant for the band members’ likenesses to be used in songs other than their own in the Activision game “Band Hero,” the Los Angeles Times reports....

January 22, 2023 · 2 min · 319 words · Pearl Adcox

Can You Sue If You Find Out Your Pilot Was Drunk

This week a Jet Blue pilot was federally charged for violating airline safety regulations after random testing revealed high levels of alcohol in his blood following a flight from Florida to New York. The complaint against Dennis Murphy Jr. states that his co-pilot saw him drinking before the flight and the tests showed Murphy to be at nearly three times the legal limit for an airline pilot. Murphy’s case highlights what may be a relatively common habit of drinking and flying by pilots....

January 22, 2023 · 3 min · 504 words · Betty Hilyer

Cell Phone Location Data Isn T Private Federal Appeals Court Rules

Your phone says a lot about you, or it can if authorities review your location data over an extended period of time. That is why privacy advocates believe it constitutes a search under the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution and that a warrant should be required for phone location information. But this week a federal appellate court in Virginia ruled 12-3 that no warrant is needed because consumers have no reasonable expectation of privacy in information they willingly surrender to cell phone companies, reports The Intercept....

January 22, 2023 · 3 min · 551 words · Wayne Stanley

Congress Passes Digital Tv Delay Bill

After defeating the bill earlier, the U.S. House of Representatives has voted to pass a law that will delay the nationwide switch of over-the-air television signals from analog to digital – from the original February 2009 deadline to a new date in mid-June. So, U.S. households receiving over-the-air (as opposed to cable/satellite) television signals will have about four extra months to prepare before the switch to digital takes place. According to the FCC’s special DTV....

January 22, 2023 · 2 min · 232 words · Kelly Ansbro