The 1st Circuit has rejected the appeal of a criminal defendant in a case that raised issues of first impression involving interstate stalking, cyberstalking and threats by mail. The appeals court also found that the sentencing court’s enhancements and departures were not in error and met the test for “substantive reasonableness.”

The final briefs are in as government lawyers press an appeals court to uphold the unprecedented 12-year debarment from healthcare work slapped on a former Purdue Pharma general counsel and two other executives who pleaded guilty to failing to properly supervise the marketing of a dangerous drug.

Federal appeals court Judge David Tatel and U.S. Solicitor General Donald Verrilli Jr

A public defender attacked by her client, a patient at a mental hospital, has no viable federal constitutional rights claim against the state, a New Jersey appeals court has ruled. Department of Human Services officials are entitled to qualified immunity, the court held.

In a blow to medical marijuana advocates, a California appeals court has ruled that a city law regulating the sale of medical pot can’t stand because it interferes with federal enforcement efforts. The issue appears bound for the California Supreme Court.