Plaintiff Can’t Erase Court Order From the Internet–Nelson v. Social Security Commissioner
The Commissioner of Social Security ruled that Nelson’s disability ended in 2010 and terminated benefits. In 2014, Nelson filed a federal lawsuit contesting that determination. In 2014, the judge ruled in her favor. In 2016, Nelson went back to court….
Court Strikes Probation Condition Against Using a Device Containing Encryption–In re Mike H.
Mike, a minor, pled guilty to committing sodomy on a minor against his girlfriend. The crime had no relationship to the Internet, although Mike and his girlfriend had texted each other and Mike admitted to masturbating to online pornography once…
Constitution Protects Publication of Politicians’ Home Address/Phone Number–Publius v. Boyer-Vine
Doe Publius (nice alias) runs the “The Real Write Winger” blog, hosted by WordPress. He was unhappy about California’s ammunition purchase registry, which publishes “the driver’s license information, residential address and telephone number, and date of birth for anyone who…
2H 2016 Quick Links, Part 11 (Social Media, Harassment, E-Discovery & More)
Social Media * US v. Elonis, 2016 WL 6310803 (3d Cir. Oct. 28, 2016). Anthony Elonis’ conviction for criminal threats was once again upheld: Considering the graphic nature of the three messages Elonis posted in October, it is not at…
2H 2016 Quick Links, Part 9 (Privacy/Security)
* California AB 691: “Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act.” The key part is the new Probate Code Sec. 873(a): A user may use an online tool to direct the custodian to disclose to a designated recipient or…
Does Google’s Non-Disclosure Agreement With Employees Overreach? (Guest Blog Post)
Guest Post by Sharon K. Sandeen In the lead-up to this year’s Presidential election, there was a lot of chatter about the next “bomb-shell” bit of information that might be revealed about Donald Trump, particularly after his now-infamous pussy-grabbing comments….
2H 2016 Quick Links, Part 1 (Special Election Edition)
I’ve already cast my ballot, and I hope you will vote too. I don’t normally wade into election politics but there have been several election issues that touch on topics of interest to this blog. So, for the first time,…
Deleting Comments to County Facebook Page May Violate First Amendment–Davison v. Loudoun County
This is a case study on the problems that can arise when public records requirements meet modern forms of communications. On July 15, 2016, the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors held a public meeting. One of the supervisors elected to…
Spokeo Wipes Out FCRA Lawsuit Over “Improper” Mandatory Disclosures–Nokchan v. Lyft
As you recall, both the plaintiffs’ bar and defense bar declared that the Supreme Court’s Spokeo v. Robins ruling was a win for their side. Optimists might interpret that as a sign the Supreme Court found a magical win-win solution;…
Anti-Robocall Statute Violates First Amendment–Gresham v. Rutledge
Arkansas has a statute that prohibits: use a telephone for the purpose of offering any goods or services for sale, or for conveying information regarding any goods or services for the purpose of soliciting the sale or purchase of the…