Justices weigh a tax on judges; high court hears case over county levy that irks federal jurists

Article Abstract:

Two Alabama federal judges have balked at paying the county occupational tax, arguing that it is unconstitutional, violating the Constitution's supremacy clause, and the case has reached the Supreme Court.Two lower federal courts have agreed with Judge William M Acker and UW Clemon, but there is no indication as to where the high court is heading. The Jefferson County tax ordinance levies a license fee on all vocations or profession's within the county.

Taxation, Judges

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9th Circuit upholds conviction; managers overseeing operations that cause environmental harm may be held criminally liable under the Clean Water Act

Article Abstract:

The US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in U.S. v. Hanousek upheld a felony conviction against a railway company manager for an oil spill into the Skagway River which occurred during a rock quarrying project at a site adjacent to the railway tracks which came under Hanousek's control. The 9th Circuit found that ordinary negligence was insufficient for this offence and only the criminal provisions of the Clean Water Act sufficed.

Waste Management and Remediation Services, Water Pollution, Interpretation and construction, Oil pollution, Oil pollution of rivers, harbors, etc.

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Festo case heads to high court; if a recent trend continues, justices will be less likely to defer to the Federal Circuit

Article Abstract:

The probability that Festo Corp. v. Shoketsu Kinzoku Kogyo Kabushiki Co. will eventually be reviewed by the US Supreme Court is discussed. The patent law's doctrine of equivalents came from Festo.

Cases, Equivalents doctrine (Patent law)

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