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The Federal Circuit decided a case involving a veteran’s claim for benefits and a patent infringement case. In Bastien v. Shinseki, No. 09-7099, the court faced a challenge to the Veteran Court’s decision affirming the decision of the Board of Veterans’ Appeals that the death of claimant’s husband did not result from his military service. In affirming the decision, the court held that it lacks jurisdiction to review where claimant’s substantial contentions involve factual issues....

A gruesome cannibalistic attack in which a naked man violently chewed on another man’s face may have been fueled by drugs, doctors in Miami say. Police shot and killed the alleged face-chewer Saturday afternoon after he refused to comply with an officer’s order to stop, The Miami Herald reports. Sources later identified the suspect as Rudy Eugene, 31. “When the officer approached him, told him to stop, pointed a gun at him, he turned around and growled like a wild animal and kept eating at the man’s face,” a police union leader told Miami’s WPLG-TV....

Former Detroit Lions wide receiver Titus Young has been arrested for the third time in a week. For the sake of Young and any of his fans, let’s hope he takes a break from the cuffs. Third time’s the charm, right? Young was arrested on one DUI charge and two burglaries. Here’s the lowdown on what he’s facing: Since a traffic stop must be made with reasonable suspicion, an officer can’t stop you on a “hunch” that you’re drunk....

The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Tuesday that isolated human genes can be patented, reports The Wall Street Journal. This is the second time the Federal Circuit has reached this conclusion. The Supreme Court remanded the case in light of its Mayo Collaborative v. Prometheus decision in March. Myriad Genetics, the company that holds the patents, claims that isolating the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes from a person results in a new material that has utility beyond the DNA that naturally occurs in the human body....

Laws reflect the specific preoccupations of the people in the places where they are passed, and this is particularly true for local ordinances. Everywhere you go around the world or around the US, you will find different prohibitions that express the unique concerns of citizens. Some places don’t want people walking around barefoot, or wearing certain costumes on Halloweens. And in Carlsbad, New Mexico, the City Council doesn’t want you feeding the pigeons, according to KRQE News....

West Palm Beach police charged a mom with drug possession, attempting to sell drugs, and child abuse after she was found with drugs and drug paraphernalia in her child’s stroller. Briana Sue Hoxter also allegedly admitted to snorting Alprazolam (sold as Xanax) while pushing her baby around in a stroller full of heroin. (This is not to be confused with the Edmonton mom who was busted in March for hiding GHB, crystal meth, and crack cocaine in her 18-month-old baby’s stroller....

Traditionally, when the American public looks to the elected officials in Congress, apart from disgust, the people expect politicians to have the legal training to be our nation’s lawmakers. However, whether or not that legal training requires experience as a practicing attorney, or even a JD, is open for debate. With the increased availability of MPP and MPA programs across the country, individuals with aspirations for a career in politics may wonder if a JD is necessary to get your foot in the door....

It’s the Ides of Movember and college campuses, corporate offices, and even law firms are filling up with the wispiest of brostaches. Movember, also known as No-Shave November, is the annual charity drive for men’s health issues. It’s the month where barefaced lads start growing facial hair and collecting money for prostate cancer, mental health, and similar causes. Think of it like a breast cancer marathon, but without any of the physical effort....

Law school is often described as a destination for liberal arts students with no direction. Once they discover that their Philosophy degrees are about as useful as a muzzled guard dog, they choose to go to law school because what else is there? Double-down on a useless degree and hope for a professorship? Unfortunately, some would now argue that a law degree is nearly as useless as some of those liberal arts degrees....

Nycal Offshore Development Corporation just learned a lesson on pushing things too far. It was one of several oil companies that were involved in litigation against the United States, beginning in 2002, over breach of contract claims related to the Government’s actions preventing the oil companies from drilling. All the other companies, except Nycal, accepted restitution awards from the Government. Court of Federal Claims Nycal, instead, took it further and sued for lost profits, and presumably to its surprise, lost....

Some holiday decorations are universally beloved: garlands and candles, electric lights on trees and homes, and the odd snowman (or even fake snow or icicles). Some displays, however, are a little more controversial. Nativity scenes, for example, which depict the birth of Jesus Christ, seem to be the target of annual litigation. And 2018 is no different. Here are just a few of the legal battles ongoing over the public display of Nativity scenes this year:...

Defendant’s manslaughter conviction and sentence are affirmed where the trial court adequately apprised the jury that it could not convict defendant of the greater crime of voluntary manslaughter unless it unanimously found beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant acted with the intent to kill or with a conscious disregard of life. Read People v. Moberly, No. F054954 Appellate Information Filed August 19, 2009 Judges Opinion by Judge Dawson Counsel For Appellant:...

The elderly patrons of Sandridge Golf Club in Vero Beach, Florida were abuzz recently when a thief appeared on the course, stealing purses and wallets from right under their noses (and their golf carts). In a strange twist, it turns out that they needn’t be sorry worried. The culprit is none other than a purse-snatching raccoon. This odd story began a few weeks ago when a member at Sandridge Golf Club noticed her purse had gone missing from her cart....

Swimmer Ryan Lochte may just be a fish both in and out of water. He is currently facing criminal charges in a Brazilian court as a result of lying to the police while in the country for the Summer Games. He was offered a plea deal that would have ended the whole fiasco with merely a fine, but, for some inexplicable reason, he rejected the offer. He potential faces some time in a Brazilian jail....

Narcissus was killed when he gazed lovingly at his own reflection in a pool of water and drowned. Now technology has brought Greek mythology to life. Twelve people died from selfie-stick-related deaths in 2015, and that is just known cases. Let’s take a look at these sticks and the safety hazards they present. The Stick Demystified We begin with the basics. A selfie is an image of oneself taken on a smart phone....

Last week, the Center for Public Integrity released their grades for our nations’ courts disclosures. And despite a recusal oversight and a “C” grade, California beat out all of the other states at the top of the rankings (though one spot below the Federal courts). In other news, Governor Jerry Brown filled 18 vacant seats on the superior court bench, including eight in the Los Angeles area alone. The big scandal in the California report happened when Supreme Court Justice Kathryn Werdegar, who owned between $100,001 and $1 million worth of stock in Wells Fargo, participated in a court decision denying an appeal to a couple who accused Wells Fargo of predatory lending and unlawful foreclosure....

So what’s it like to work behind the grandest New York sporting event – the U.S. Open? Well, it’s not as glamorous as one would think, if the claims of a group of U.S. Open security guards are true. The U.S. Open tennis tournament just finished with one of the most exciting finals ever. But just as Andy Murray was finishing off Novak Djokovic in a five-set classic, several security guards working the event came public with allegations of the violations they had to endure working the event, reports The Village Voice....

Rumors of the demise of Valparaiso University School of Law have been slightly exaggerated. According to reports, the law school is closing its doors. That’s true, but not right now. The law school is closing its doors only to new admissions. So it’s not over – yet. “Very Difficult Decision” Frederick Kraegel, chairman of the university board, said the decision to close admissions was “very difficult.” He said the university has tried to stave off financial problems....

Wikipedia is an unreliable source. Or so says the Fourth Circuit. If you happen to read our Fourth Circuit blog, you’d know that the court recently tossed a conviction due to a juror’s use of Wikipedia. The panel just couldn’t get behind the “open-access” site. But other appellate courts? They’re all about Wikipedia. Judge Richard Posner recently cited the crowdsourced encyclopedia when explaining that anal fissures are “no fun at all....

In a classic case of he said / cops said, gay YouTube star and LGBT advocate Calum McSwiggan was charged with multiple crimes on a night he alleges he was assaulted outside a gay club in West Hollywood, California. Depending on whose version of events you believe, McSwiggan was either beaten by three men outside The Abbey or he vandalized a car, injured himself in a jail cell, and filed a false police report....