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Constitutional – Fetal Heartbeat Anti-Abortion Act – Privacy Right – Reasonable Invasion
In a new version of the Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act (the 2023 Act), our General Assembly has made a policy determination that, at a certain point of pregnancy, a woman’s interest in autonomy and privacy does not outweigh the interest of the unborn child to live. We cannot say as a matter […]
Constitutional – Due Process – Involuntary Commitment – Sexually Violent Predator – First Impression
Petitioner was charged with multiple sexual offenses, but he was incompetent to stand trial. The Sexually Violent Predator Act applies to persons “convicted of a sexually violent offense”; however, the Act defines this phrase to include a person who has “been charged but determined to be incompetent to stand trial for a sexually violent offense.” […]
Constitutional – Privacy Right – 6-Week Abortion Ban – ‘Informed Choice’
Our state constitutional right to privacy extends to a woman’s decision to have an abortion. The state unquestionably has the authority to limit the right of privacy that protects women from state interference with her decision, but any such limitation must be reasonable and it must be meaningful in that the time frames imposed must […]
Constitutional – Civil Forfeiture Statutes – Facial Challenge – Due Process & Excessive Fines
In a civil forfeiture case, the state need only show probable cause to believe the seized property has a substantial connection to criminal activity; then, the burden shifts to a claimant to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the property was innocently owned. Although the wisdom of this procedure may be questionable, we […]
Constitutional – Denial of church’s zoning requests didn’t violate law
Where a church was aware of zoning restrictions when it purchased property, it could not have had a reasonable expectation of religious land use, dooming its claim under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act or RLUIPA. Because the land use restrictions were rationally related to the government’s interest in protecting the region’s watershed, […]
Constitutional – Prison’s single-vendor policy did not violate Muslim detainee’s rights
Where a practicing Muslim detainee argued that he should not be forced to purchase his prayer oils from a commissary that sells swine and idols because Islam prohibits buying religious items from such vendors, the corrections department prevailed at trial on the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, or RLUIPA, claim because the single-vendor […]
Constitutional – Sex-offender treatment variations are constitutional
Where Virginia’s sex-offender registry law allows an offender who is charged with “carnal knowledge of a child” to be removed from the registry in time if he is less than five years older than his victim, but not if he is charged with “taking indecent liberties with children,” the differing treatment doesn’t violate the Equal […]
Constitutional – Challenge to COVID-19 restrictions is moot
Where a church alleged that certain COVID-19 executive orders issued by the Virginia governor violated its religious rights, but the orders expired in June 2020 and the state of emergency on which they were predicated ended in July 2021, the challenge was moot. Background Lighthouse Fellowship Church initiated this civil action against Ralph Northam, challenging […]
Constitutional – Due Process – Vagueness – Disorderly Conduct & Disturbing Schools Laws
South Carolina’s “Disorderly Conduct Law” and its former “Disturbing Schools Law” do not give public schoolchildren notice of the conduct prohibited, and the laws’ subjectivity has led to disproportionate enforcement against children of color and those living with disabilities. The court grants plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment and declares these laws unconstitutionally vague. [...]
Constitutional – Substantive Due Process – Municipal Housing Authority – Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
Plaintiff alleges that defendant’s failure to maintain certain furnaces or to install carbon monoxide detectors in its apartments made an eventual death virtually certain, yet plaintiff has not alleged that defendant had any knowledge of an actual carbon monoxide leak or other similar dangerous conditions prior to the death of plaintiff’s decedent. Knowing that harm […]
Constitutional – Heritage Act – Supermajority Requirement – First Impression – Flag & Monument Removal Provisions
Absent a constitutional provision to the contrary, the General Assembly acts and conducts business through majority vote. Therefore, the requirement of S.C. Code An. § 10-1-165(B)—that the Heritage Act could only be amended or repealed by a supermajority—is unconstitutional. However, we uphold the constitutionality of the Heritage Act’s substantive provisions. Section 10-1-165(B) is unconst[...]
Constitutional – Decisions allowing gun purchases by persons under 21 vacated
Where the Fourth Circuit previously held that a federal law banning the purchase of a handgun by persons under 21 violated the Second Amendment, but the plaintiff in that case turned 21 before the mandate issued, her original claims were mooted and therefore the circuit vacated its and the district court’s opinions. Background Natalia Marshall, […]
Business Law
- Economy forces attorneys to get down to business
- Business Court judges trawl for customers
- Va. company's Web site did not subject business to personal jurisdiction in S.C., appeals panel rules
- Former running back from S.C. wins courtroom victory in contract dispute
- Contract – Government Contract – Qui Tam – False Claims Act
- Tort – Business Tort – Va. Computer Crimes Act – Trade Secrets
- Consumer Protection – FCRA – Auto Loan – Bank Accounting Errors
- Licenses & Permits – Beer & Wine Permit – Restrictive Covenant – Suitable Location
- Licenses & Permits – Veterinarian – Vaccine Maintenance
- State regulators look at car dealer accused of lying to customers
- Textile firm, railroad settle Graniteville train wreck lawsuit
- Subprime mortgage meltdown hits securities law
Commentary
- High court justices cross the line of propriety
- High court’s term was rough on big business
- The flip side of generative AI in law and how to address it
- The fight for equal educational opportunity continues
- Letter From The Editor – Working from Home
- NLRB joins FTC in taking aim at non-competes
- Supreme Court leaves key internet protection untouched
- US Supreme Court bites back at parody’s use of the First Amendment
- My goal: Provide the information that you need now
- Case study: North Carolina courts provide guidance on scope, limitations of attorney-client privilege
- A Different Ode to Pro Bono Work
- N.C. Bar Association embraces homophobia
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