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The U.S. Supreme Court released two impactful opinions on Wednesday, potentially changing how the nation treats streaming broadcast TV and warrantless cell-phone searches by police. In American Broadcasting Cos. v. Aereo, the High Court determined that an online streaming service which allowed users to watch over-the-air broadcast TV on their computers and mobile devices violated copyright law. Meantime, mobile users have been given a bit more protection under Riley v. California, holding that police may not generally search a cell phone after arrest without a warrant....

If you’re stuck in a multi-year cell phone contract and considering other options, keep in mind that unlocking cell phones is now illegal. Most cell phones are subsidized by a wireless carrier with the requirement that you sign a multi-year contract to stay with that carrier until the contract runs out. At that point, they conveniently offer you a new phone at a highly subsidized rate. Of course, you have to sign a new contract in order to get it....

In yet another phone scam preying on people’s fears and emotions, the FBI is warning New Mexico residents to be wary of one more. Dubbed “virtual kidnapping,” this one extorts victims by coaxing them into paying a ransom to free a loved one they believe has been kidnapped or is being threatened with violence or death. The calls seem to come from Mexico prisons. A few years ago, these calls were solely targeting Spanish speaking suspects....

The Wisconsin Supreme Court recently handed down a confusing decision in a confusing case. However, the lesson from the case is crystal clear: young drivers need to be aware of zero tolerance laws regarding alcohol in their own states, and in any other state they drive in. The Wisconsin court addressed the case of Gerard Carter, an Illinois man who was 26-years-old when arrested for DUI in East Troy, Wis., reports the Associated Press....

Surprise, surprise, a cast member of MTV’s “Jersey Shore” was arrested. This time, it’s “Jersey Shore” star Deena Cortese, who was arrested in Seaside Heights, N.J., the town where the popular reality television show is filmed, reports The Associated Press. To the surprise of no one who watches “Jersey Shore,” Deena Cortese was arrested for disorderly conduct after an Ocean County police officer spotted the woman looking “a little intoxicated.”...

The Federal Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit issued an important ruling regarding a hotly contested issue: federal discrimination protections for LGBT employees. While many states already provide legal protections for LGBT employees who suffer discrimination based upon their sexual orientation, it is not a settled issue whether Title VII provides any protection. The Seventh Circuit’s ruling found that the protections for sex discrimination listed in Title VII do protect LGBT employees from discrimination based on their sexual orientation....

A man who was serving 28 consecutive life sentences for an Arizona hotel arson is now free after spending 42 years in prison. Through these decades, Louis Taylor, now 59, maintained that he had nothing to do with the fire that killed more than two dozen people in 1970, reports NBC News. Taylor pleaded no contest Tuesday in a deal that set aside his conviction and allowed him to go free....

Want to start an argument? Bring up gun control laws. No matter which side of the debate you’re on, everyone’s got an opinion. Despite all the contention surrounding this issue, not everyone knows the intricacies of firearms laws. For instance, is it legal to ship a firearm through the mail? And does it matter which carrier you use? Let’s take a look: Federal Firearms Laws Shipping firearms is regulated by the U....

It is a census year, so stand up and be counted. Just be aware that some political groups may want more from you than a head count. According to a report by ProPublica, there are several fake census forms being floated by groups that merely want to fundraise. Some attempts to push a political agenda or fundraise are fairly transparent. ProPublica writes that some people have received a census survey entitled “Official Ask America Datascan Survey,” which goes on to ask if the recipient fears his guns will be taken away by the liberals now attempting to re-write the 2nd Amendment....

A jury in Connecticut gave the death sentence to a man convicted of the home invasion, torture, kidnapping and sexual assault of a woman and her two daughters. Steven Hayes was convicted on six charges which carry the possibility of a death penalty after the jury deliberated for 17 hours. Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her daughters Michaela and Hayley were killed during the course of the crimes committed by Hayes and a co-defendant....

TV personality and sportscaster Erin Andrews is appearing in a different sort of production this week, a trial. Jury selection began yesterday in her civil suit against the Nashville Marriott hotels and a man who filmed her naked in 2008 using a peephole in the hotel, posting the video online, reports The Daily Mail. In 2009, “the peeping Tom,” Michael David Barrett, pled guilty in federal criminal court to filming Andrews on three separate occasions at three different hotels....

If you want to get on the jury in the Casey Anthony trial, be careful what you write on Facebook. The Florida court trying Anthony for the murder of her daughter Caylee dismissed one juror this week after he posted on his Facebook page that “book coming soon,” reports CNN. It seems potential jurors will need to take care what they say on social media sites like Facebook in the future....

The Kellogg Company is in hot water, or perhaps, milk. They have reached a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission after claiming that Kellogg’s Rice Krispies “helps support your child’s immunity,” with “antioxidants and nutrients that your family needs to help them stay healthy.” The cereal maker, famous for popular commercial jingles such as “Snap Crackle Pop,” had printed claims on their boxes indicating that their cereal was especially healthy. The FTC found that these claims were unsubstantiated....

On June 25, the Supreme Court handed down several major opinions, saw the opening of the Kagan nomination hearings and learned that the husband of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg had passed away. Justice Ginsburg herself wrote the majority opinion in one important decision announced today. In the case of Christian Legal Society v. Martinez, the Court found that the First Amendment did not require Hastings law school to support a group which excluded certain people from membership in opposition to the school’s policy of non-discrimination....

Guess what happened after the new Iowa gun law went into effect? Yes, the law allowing you to carry your gun concealed or openly in public with a permit? Iowa has now become a state with a “shall-issue” gun policy, which requires the state to issue a permit if the person meets objective criteria, which is a fee, a background check, fingerprinting, and training, ABC 6 NEWS reports. Veterans can substitute their experience for gun training in many situations....

Actor John Stamos, star of “Full House” was the target of a failed extortion plot by a Michigan couple. According to the Associated Press, the pair allegedly tried to blackmail him by threatening to sell photos of the actor to tabloid magazines unless he paid them $680,000. On Dec. 3, Scott Sippola and Allison Coss were arrested on an extortion charge at an airport near Marquette, 450 miles north of Detroit....

FindLaw.com users are awfully concerned with marijuana law and Miranda rights, catapulting both onto the list of FindLaw.com’s top legal search terms of 2010. Miranda rights and Miranda v. Arizona are a well known part of the criminal process, popping up on television shows nightly. As an essential safeguard of constitutional rights, they’ve also spent a lot of time in the news this past year. During 2010, the Supreme Court issued three separate opinions that limited the scope of Miranda....

Depending on whom you ask, the decision of U.S. District Court Chief Judge Vaugh Walker to refuse to grant the stay motion by the proponents of Proposition 8 is either another victory for those supporting same sex marriage, a statement that nothing will change right now, or a green light for the opposition to Prop. 8, as no marriages can yet take place. In some ways, all these conclusions are correct....

Hey everyone! Watch me break the law! If two boys commit a crime but no one is watching, did it really happen? Perhaps not, which is why two teenage boys had the bright idea to film and livestream their illegal ice cream stealing escapade. Unsurprisingly, the video landed them in juvenile court. Two 16-year-old boys, unidentified because of their age, used Periscope, a smartphone app, to livestream themselves breaking into a semi trailer filled with ice cream....

Gwen Stefani may be wishing she didn’t speak a few fateful phrases last July during a concert in Charlotte, North Carolina. Stefani, while performing at the PNC Pavilion, instructed the crowd seated in the lawn section behind the actual music pavilion to come into the reserved seating area and to “just fill in anywhere you like.” After issuing that instruction from the stage, the crowd rushed the stage, getting past security personnel, breaking through security barricades and other security devices....