Case Digests
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New Jersey Department of Children and Families, Division of Youth and Family Services v. I.S.
Thursday, June 13, 2013
When the family court finds that DYFS has not established facts sufficient to sustain abuse or neglect, the Title 9 portion of a complaint shall be dismissed; jurisdiction can continue under Title 30.
Peugh v. United States
Thursday, June 13, 2013
The Ex Post Facto Clause is violated when a defendant is sentenced under guidelines promulgated after he committed his criminal acts and the new version provides a higher sentencing range than the version in place at the time of the offense.
Horne v. Department of Agriculture
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Circuit court of appeals has jurisdiction to adjudicate a takings defense raised by a handler of agricultural commodities seeking review of a final agency order.
Oxford Health Plans, L.L.C. v. Sutter
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Where parties agreed that the arbitrator should decide whether their contract authorized class arbitration, his decision survives the limited judicial review allowed by Federal Arbitration Act § 10(a)(4).
New Jersey Division of Youth and Family Services v. H.R.
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Because the caretaker parents were given erroneous information regarding the availability of kinship legal guardianship, the termination of parental rights proceedings must be remanded to correct the error and determine their willingness to adopt rather than agree to kinship legal guardianship.
Angland v. Mountain Creek Resort Inc.
Thursday, June 13, 2013
The Ski Act is intended to address duties and responsibilities between ski-area operators and skiers and does not apply to claims made between skiers.
Interfaith Community Organization v. Honeywell International Inc.
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Rule 68 offers of judgment may be made in the context of attorney fee disputes under the fee-shifting provisions of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.
E.B. v. Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services
Thursday, June 6, 2013
The required use of a standardized form to designate an authorized representative to act on a Medicaid applicant's behalf did not violate any federal or state laws or regulations.
Maryland v. King
Thursday, June 6, 2013
When officers make an arrest supported by probable cause to hold for a serious offense, taking and analyzing a cheek swab of the arrestee's DNA is, like fingerprinting and photographing, a legitimate police booking procedure that is reasonable under the Fourth Amendment.
Hillman v. Maretta
Thursday, June 6, 2013
A Virginia statute that purports to provide an alternative remedy in the event a life-insurance spousal-benefit termination provision is found pre-empted by the Federal Employees' Group Life Insurance Act is itself pre-empted.
New Jersey Division of Youth and Family Services v. Y.N.
Thursday, June 6, 2013
A pregnant woman's decision to ingest legally obtained methadone will support a finding of abuse or neglect when the child suffers actual impairment as a result.
Koseoglu v. Wry
Thursday, June 6, 2013
In this medical negligence case, the evidence allowed the jury to determine some portion of plaintiff's injury would have occurred even if defendant's conduct was proper.
Grijalba v. Floro
Thursday, June 6, 2013
A remand is required to determine whether defendant's property is considered "commercial" or "residential" for purposes of establishing sidewalk liability.
Caminiti v. Board of Trustees, Police and Firemen's Retirement System
Thursday, June 6, 2013
The PFRS board of trustees' denial of plaintiff's application for accidental disability benefits mischaracterized the factual record and was predicated on an incorrect application of the prevailing legal standards.
More Case Digests
Guidotti v. Legal Helpers Debt Resolution, L.L.C.
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Because plaintiff produced sufficient evidence to raise a genuine issue of material fact as to whether she consented to arbitration, the district court erred in denying appellants' motion to compel arbitration without first allowing limited discovery and then applying a summary judgment standard.
Tumpson v. Farina
Thursday, May 30, 2013
A municipal clerk, upon receipt of a referendum petition with fewer signatures than the requisite 15 percent required by the Faulkner Act, is not permitted to reject it without further review.
Vellucci v. Allstate Insurance Company
Thursday, May 30, 2013
A commercial landlord had no duty to take pro-active measures to ensure that a building's water supply was not contaminated by the Legionella bacteria.
McQuiggin v. Perkins
Thursday, May 30, 2013
The district court's appraisal of the habeas corpus petition as insufficient to meet the actual-innocence standard — which would allow overcoming the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act's one-year limitations period — should be dispositive, absent cause to upset that evaluation, which this court does not currently see.
Francis E. Parker Memorial Home Inc. v. Georgia Pacific, L.L.C.
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Plaintiff's Consumer Fraud Act claim is not subsumed by its Products Liability Act claim and has been pleaded with sufficient particularity as to knowing acts and omissions, but not as to misconduct arising from regulatory violations of various building codes.
Trevino v. Thaler
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Where, as here, a state's procedural framework, by reason of its design and operation, makes it highly unlikely in a typical case that a defendant will have a meaningful opportunity to raise an ineffective-assistance-of-trial-counsel claim on direct appeal, procedural default will not bar a federal habeas court from hearing it.
Hart v. Electronic Arts Inc.
Thursday, May 23, 2013
The NCAA Football video games do not sufficiently transform Ryan Hart's identity to escape his right-of-publicity claim.
In re Curry
Thursday, May 23, 2013
The purchaser of a tax-sale certificate holds a "tax claim" pursuant to § 511 of the bankruptcy code and is entitled to the interest rate on that claim as provided under applicable nonbankruptcy law.
In the Matter of the Estate of Thomas
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Summary dismissal of a complaint seeking a declaratory judgment that plaintiff is decedent's child and sole heir and vacation of the grant of letters of administration is reversed.
In re Berley Associates Ltd.
Thursday, May 23, 2013
The transfer of title to defendant in a pre-petition tax sale and foreclosure context may constitute a fraudulent conveyance under 11 U.S.C. § 548(a)(1)(B) and an avoidable preference under 11 U.S.C. § 547(b).
Sebelius v. Cloer
Thursday, May 23, 2013
An untimely petition for compensation under the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act may qualify for an award of attorney fees if it is filed in good faith and there is a reasonable basis for its claim.
PPL Corp. v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue
Thursday, May 23, 2013
United Kingdom's windfall tax on privatized companies is creditable against U.S. income taxes under Internal Revenue Code § 901(b)(1).
City of Arlington, Texas v. Federal Communications Commission
Thursday, May 23, 2013
The Chevron doctrine — under which courts defer to the administering agency's construction of a statute so long as it is permissible — must be applied to an agency's interpretation of a statutory ambiguity that concerns the scope of the agency's statutory authority, i.e., its jurisdiction.





