National Legal News | Wednesday, March 10, 2010

• Justices to Hear Case Over Protests at Military Funerals. A small Kansas church that has gained nationwide attention for protesting loudly at funerals of U.S. service members will receive a Supreme Court hearing over free speech rights. The justices Monday accepted an appeal from the father of a U.S. Marine killed in Iraq over efforts to keep members of the Topeka-based Westboro Baptist Church from demonstrating near memorial services and burials. Go to CNN


• Locked, Loaded, and Ready to Caffeinate. For years, being able to carry a concealed handgun has been a sacred right for many gun enthusiasts. In defending it, Charlton Heston, the actor and former president of the National Rifle Association, used to say that the flock is safer when the wolves cannot tell the difference between the lions and the lambs. Go to New York Times


• Big Law Defends Guantanamo Lawyers. The intensifying flap over Justice Department lawyers who have advocated for Guantanamo Bay detainees is spilling over to Big Law, where some firm leaders are fighting back against the criticism. Go to The National Law Journal


• HIV Misdiagnosis Spurs Court to Reconsider Emotional Damages Rule. The D.C. Court of Appeals has granted an en banc hearing in the case of a man who is seeking the right to sue for emotional damages after he was misdiagnosed with HIV. The case could give the court a chance to rethink a long-standing precedent in medical malpractice cases, which holds that courts can only grant damages for emotional distress if the plaintiff had been put in a "zone of physical danger." Go to The National Law Journal


• TiVo Prevails in Patent Rights Case Against Dish. TiVo Inc. prevailed yet again in a long-running dispute with Dish Network Corp. over patents for digital video recorders, as a federal appeals court cleared the way Thursday for TiVo to collect hundreds of millions of dollars. Go to Associated Press

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