Legal News

Musician and producer Jay-Z was accused in a lawsuit submitted Sunday of raping a 13-year-old with hip-hop star Sean Combs in the year 2000, court documents show, claims denied by Jay-Z.

The Public Ministry of Sergipe announced Saturday that three former police officers have been sentenced to long prison terms for the death of Genivaldo de Jesus Santos, a black man with schizophrenia, in 2022. Judge Rafael Soares of the 7th Federal Court in the Brazilian state of Sergipe sentenced them to between 23 and 28 years in prison.

The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that a suspected drug sale constitutes an “exigent circumstance” that justifies warrantless search, which would otherwise be considered a violation of privacy under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Case file: https://decisions.scc-csc.ca/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/20772/index.do

Apple is being sued over its decision not to implement a system that would have scanned iCloud photos for child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

Family members of the victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook mass shooting were awarded the damages by a jury

The Illinois Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that the odor of raw cannabis is sufficient to justify a warrantless vehicle search.

Case file: https://ilcourtsaudio.blob.core.windows.net/antilles-resources/resources/51effd35-1213-41a2-a00e-ad8c5e38fca8/People%20v.%20Molina,%202024%20IL%20129237.pdf

A federal appeals court has unanimously voted to uphold a law that could ban TikTok in the U.S. unless the social network divests from Chinese ownership.

An Ohio teacher is suing her school district after she was reprimanded and ultimately suspended for having books with LGBTQ characters in her classroom.

Case file: https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25447647-1/

The judge presiding over the trial of accused New York subway vigilante Daniel Penny has granted prosecutors' request to dismiss the first and most serious charge of manslaughter, reported NBC News — leaving the jury to deliberate the less serious charge of criminally negligent homicide.

It appears the government’s “attempt to ensure compliance failed,” judge writes.

Case file: https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.txnd.342881/gov.uscourts.txnd.342881.282.0_4.pdf

Slovenia applied for intervention against Myanmar on Wednesday in an International Court of Justice case that accuses Myanmar of genocide against its Rohingya population.

Case file: https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/178/178-20241204-pre-01-00-en.pdf

As Meta faces off with antitrust regulators in the U.S. and Europe, a £2.1 billion+ Facebook U.K. class action-style competition lawsuit, which takes Meta’s market dominance as a given, is moving ahead after the social media giant lost a bid to have the litigation thrown out. The suit is seeking damages worth a minimum of some $2.7B at current exchange rates.

While we are deeply disappointed with the Second Circuit’s opinion in Hachette v. Internet Archive, the Internet Archive has decided not to pursue Supreme Court review. We will continue to honor the Association of American Publishers (AAP) agreement to remove books from lending at their member publishers’ requests.

A class action lawsuit was filed against Mattel, Inc. on Tuesday, December 3, 2024, alleging that the packaging for special-edition dolls related to the “Wicked” movie included a link to a pornographic website.

Case file: https://news.justia.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Holly-Ricketson-v.-Mattel-Inc.pdf

Amazon can’t mislead customers while protecting workers, AG says.

Case file: https://oag.dc.gov/sites/default/files/2024-12/Amazon%20Complaint%20%28final%29.pdf

A French appeals court is to decide Wednesday whether French-Polish filmmaker Roman Polanski owes a British actor damages after he was acquitted of allegedly defaming her when she accused him of rape.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday hears a challenge to a Tennessee law banning gender-affirming medical treatments for transgender minors, a case with repercussions for similar state prohibitions across the country.

The partner of the ex-CEO of the Abercrombie and Fitch clothing line pleaded not guilty Tuesday in US federal court to charges of sex trafficking and interstate prostitution and was released on $10 million bond.

Nearly two years after it was first proposed by Republican lawmakers, an Idaho law that, as one rights advocate said, essentially "traps" people in the state to stop them from getting abortion care, was permitted to go into effect on Monday after a federal appeals court ruling.

Case file: https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2024/12/02/23-3787.pdf

Brutal killing of Giulia Cecchettin, 22, triggered protests across country and cast grim spotlight on femicide in Italy

Lawrence Hecker, 93, is set to receive a life sentence after admitting to attacking boy in church bell tower

The New Zealand Supreme Court on Monday unanimously upheld an appeal by the Attorney-General, revising the legal test under the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act 2011 (MACA). The decision effectively lowers the barriers for Māori, the Indigenous people of Aotearoa New Zealand, to establish customary rights over the use of the foreshore and seabed.

Case file: https://www.courtsofnz.govt.nz/assets/cases/2024/2024-NZSC-164.pdf