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Supreme Court to Decide Limits of Law Enforcement Liability in Domestic Case
In March, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in a case brought by Jessica Gonzales against the city of Castle Rock, CO. Cert. granted by Town of Castle Rock v. Gonzales, 160 L. Ed. 2d 316 (U.S. 2004). This civil rights case, which is being watched closely by municipal governments and women's rights advocates nationwide, asks whether a court-issued domestic restraining order, whose enforcement is mandated by a state statute, creates a property interest protected by the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The district court held it does not, and dismissed the action under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted.
On appeal, a panel of the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court's dismissal of Gonzales' substantive due process claim, but reversed as to the district court's procedural due process determination. Gonzales v. City of Castle Rock, 307 F.3d 1258 (10th Cir. 2002). The panel held the restraining order, coupled with the Colorado statute mandating the enforcement of such orders (see Colo. Rev. Stat. ' 18-6-803.5(3)), established a protected property interest in the enforcement of the restraining order which could not be taken away by the government without procedural due process. The panel concluded, therefore, that Gonzales' procedural due process claim could proceed against the town and the individual police officers who failed to enforce the order. On rehearing en banc, the Tenth Circuit agreed with the panel's decision regarding the city of Castle Rock, but held that the individual police officers were entitled to qualified immunity. Gonzales v. City of Castle Rock, 366 F.3d 1093 (10th Cir. 2004).
Bankruptcy Sales: Finding a Diamond In the Rough
There is no efficient market for the sale of bankruptcy assets. Inefficient markets yield a transactional drag, potentially dampening the ability of debtors and trustees to maximize value for creditors. This article identifies ways in which investors may more easily discover bankruptcy asset sales.
Judge Rules Shaquille O'Neal Will Face Securities Lawsuit for Promotion, Sale of NFTs
A federal district court in Miami, FL, has ruled that former National Basketball Association star Shaquille O'Neal will have to face a lawsuit over his promotion of unregistered securities in the form of cryptocurrency tokens and that he was a "seller" of these unregistered securities.
Why So Many Great Lawyers Stink at Business Development and What Law Firms Are Doing About It
Why is it that those who are best skilled at advocating for others are ill-equipped at advocating for their own skills and what to do about it?
A Lawyer's System for Active Reading
Active reading comprises many daily tasks lawyers engage in, including highlighting, annotating, note taking, comparing and searching texts. It demands more than flipping or turning pages.
Blockchain Domains: New Developments for Brand Owners
Blockchain domain names offer decentralized alternatives to traditional DNS-based domain names, promising enhanced security, privacy and censorship resistance. However, these benefits come with significant challenges, particularly for brand owners seeking to protect their trademarks in these new digital spaces.