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Gary White isn’t like all of the other corrupt politicians appealing their charges; he’s innocent. At least, that’s what his lawyer claims. White, a former Jefferson County Commissioner in Alabama, was convicted in 2008 on eight counts of accepting bribes from a contractor following a federal investigation that implicated four Jefferson County Commissioners. White was sentenced to 10 years in prison for charges related to the $3.2 billion sewer project. On Tuesday, however, White had another day in court....

Bee advocates, environmentalists, and farmers suffered a stinging defeat in federal court last week, when the District Court for the Northern District of California ruled that EPA guidance over pesticide-coated seeds is not subject to legal review. Bees are currently suffering unprecedented die offs, with beekeepers losing 44 percent of their bees last year. Some have pointed to neonicotinoid pesticides as a likely contributor to the deaths. Those same pesticides are often applied directly to seeds, a practice the EPA generally exempts from normal pesticide regulations....

In a petition for review of the BIA’s order denying petitioner’s request for administrative closure and dismissing his appeal from the BIA’s order removing him from the U.S., the petition is denied where: 1) because the Department of Homeland Security opposed the administrative closure, the BIA had no discretion to administratively close the case; and 2) petitioner had no fundamental liberty interest in being able to reside with his children and work in the U....

In US v. Long, No. 09-10003, defendant was convicted after trial for willfully failing to file tax returns. Defendant appealed on grounds that he was denied the right to represent himself and that the trial court erred in denying his pro se motion to dismiss based on the Speedy Trial Act. Regarding the primary issue of self-representation, the Fifth Circuit wrote: “Long appeared with [an] Assistant Federal Public Defendant … who informed the court that she had requested the pretrial hearing because Long had said ‘he fired our office’ and ’essentially said that he wished to represent himself’ and that she believed that accordingly he should ‘be advised of Faretta warnings by this court....

FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the Internet. The Internet provides an abundance of benefits in so many aspects of our lives. We have information at our fingertips. We are in touch with our family and friends in myriad new and different ways. We can make purchases from our computers and our phones, without the hassle of having to go to out to the store....

In October, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Maples v. Thomas, an Alabama death penalty appeal. In that case, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals previously held that a procedural default in an inmate’s death penalty appeal cannot be excused. The Supreme Court will soon let us know if they agree. Why are we bringing up Maples v. Thomas without new information from The Nine on the issue? Because today we’re talking about another procedural snafu in another death penalty case from the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals....

Malpractice insurance … because no matter how well you do your job, at some point, your ultra-litigious client just might second-guess you. Many state bars require it. Others require large written disclaimers that scream “I HAVE NO INSURANCE” on the retainer agreement. Your state may vary. Besides that, defending a malpractice suit, even a frivolous one, is a time-consuming chore that can kill your ability to build up the billable hours....

This month, 11 years after the initial rules were released, the FTC updated the rules. Why? Social media. Disclaimers are difficult in 140 characters or less. (Yes, sponsored Tweets need disclaimers.) Mobile devices are creating space constraints that require a fresh approach as well. In the end, the FTC regulations come down to common sense. If you were a consumer, what would it take for you to notice and understand the disclaimer?...

Attorneys general from 36 states want to meet with Google’s CEO over “troubling” concerns about the new Google privacy policy, set to take effect tomorrow, March 1. The attorneys general sent a letter to Google CEO Larry Page, requesting a meeting by today, The Washington Post reports. Among the attorneys’ main concerns: The policy seems to “invade consumer privacy,” and fails to let users opt out, their letter says. “The invasion of privacy will be costly for many users to escape,” and could hit businesses and government agencies especially hard, the letter from the National Association of Attorneys General states....

President Trump’s battle with courts over immigration continued as a judge blocked his executive orders against sanctuary cities. This time, a federal judge in San Francisco issued a permanent injunction against the President’s order to cut funds from cities that provide some refuge to immigrants. Judge William Orrick had temporarily blocked the order in April after San Francisco and Santa Clara counties sued. “The Counties have demonstrated that the Executive Order has caused and will cause them constitutional injuries by violating the separation of powers doctrine and depriving them of their Tenth and Fifth Amendment rights,” Orrick said....

Justices Antonin Scalia and Stephen Breyer took a turn in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee recently, riffing and espousing some interesting opinions. The Justices hit on such hot topics as the televising of oral arguments; legislative struggles and “gridlock”; the separation of powers; and judicial philosophies. On this last topic, Justice Scalia is “hopeful that the ’living’ Constitution will die.” If you’ve never sat in on oral arguments, USA Today also reports that Scalia finds them quite boring....

Texas Rope ‘Em is not exactly Pokemon Go, the wildly successful augmented reality game that has led millions to search for virtual characters in the real world. But the virtual poker game does present a new legal twist in an augmented reality lawsuit pending in Wisconsin. Candy Lab, Inc., the video game maker, says a county park is violating its First Amendment right by requiring a permit for its users....

Capital Habeas Matter In Maldonado v. Thaler, No. 10-70003, a capital habeas matter, the denial of petitioner’s habeas petition is affirmed where, assuming without deciding that petitioner’s evidence regarding his alleged mental retardation rebutted the presumption of correctness that attached to the state habeas court’s decision to credit the government’s expert’s testimony, petitioner was not entitled to habeas relief because even disregarding that testimony, he could not meet his burden of showing that the state court’s finding that he was not mentally retarded was either an unreasonable application of Atkins or an unreasonable determination of the facts in light of the evidence presented in state court....

As they like to say, lawyers are risk-averse. And no lawyers are perhaps more risk-averse than inside counsel. Every time someone in the company comes to you, your answer is probably going to be “no.” And that’s why GCs should steer clear of the holiday party, where liability abounds. This is the story of one such holiday party that sent one worker to the hospital. Ryan Roche just wanted to have fun at the office’s egg nog chugging contest, Salt Lake City’s KSL-TV reports....

The Pentagon just announced this week that it would invite outside hackers who’d been pre-vetted by the U.S. D.O.D. to try their best to crack the cyber-defenses of its websites. According to Reuters, this is the first project of this kind hosted by the federal government. The so-called “Hack the Pentagon” project is modeled in spirit on the bug-bounty competitions conducted by many international and US companies who are looking to discover weaknesses in their security....

There is very little doubt that to be a lawyer, an individual must be smart and capable. But just because an attorney is both, it doesn’t mean that they should be doing everything alone, even if they’re a solo. As Judge Lynne Stewart explained to the ABA: “Don’t be an island, utilize your resources.” Sure, lawyering can often be a rather solitary profession requiring hours upon hours of reading, writing, researching, and thinking....

You can bet on anything – even the highly anticipated decision by the U.S. Supreme Court on sports betting. The Supreme Court is expected to decide this term whether sports betting should be legal everywhere in the United States. It is already legal in Delaware, Montana, Nevada, and Oregon; New Jersey is suing to make it legal there as well. Legislators in 18 states are betting on a win with bills ready to regulate the industry....

When it comes to housing and development, there is plenty of uncertainty right now. Will mortgage rates continue to rise? What will happen to affordable housing tax credits? What’s in store now that Dr. Ben Carson could be taking his neurosurgery skills to the Department of Housing and Urban Development? We don’t have a crystal ball, but we do have one of the best ways to keep up with the latest housing and development news: Thomson Reuters’ Housing and Development Reporter, a comprehensive newsletter published 24 times a year, covering the latest developments in housing and development....

Do your protective orders, settlement agreements, and confidentiality provisions constrain information that might otherwise be reported to the government? Well, the feds would like you to knock it off. In March, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration became the newest federal agency to bar gag provisions and confidentiality requirements that might prohibit information gained in litigation from being shared with the federal government. NHTSA now joins the SEC and OSHA in barring gag clauses and anti-whistleblowing provisions....

Lawyers and tech geeks. The two don’t always meet. There are still, after all, technophobic partners that dictate correspondence, but when they do, it’s a beautiful thing. For our nation’s burgeoning technology industry (one of only a few industries we have left), techie-lawyers speak their language, as well as the language of intellectual property law. For the rest of our nation’s citizens, we’re the sort of hyper-efficient types that use tech to make our services cheaper, quicker, and more reliable....