Federal appeals court rules for fired transgender funeral director

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission [official website] pursued the claim on behalf of Aimee Stephens, a former employee of Defendant-Appellant R.G. and G.R. Harris Funeral Homes, Inc. [website]. Stephens was terminated two weeks after revealing to the funeral home that she was transgender and would begin dressing as a woman for work.

Court rules in favor of fired transgender funeral director

A federal appeals court has ruled in favor of a woman who said she was illegally fired by a Detroit-area funeral home after disclosing she was transitioning from male to female and dressed as a woman. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Home in Garden City discriminated against director Aimee Stephens by firing her in 2013.

Death row inmate found dead in cell

A twice-convicted murderer whose execution in November had to be halted when a usable vein couldn't be found to administer execution drugs died Saturday morning of natural causes, a spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction said. Alva Campbell, 69, was found unresponsive in his death row cell Saturday morning at a prison in Chillicothe and was pronounced dead shortly before 5:30 a.m. at a hospital, prison department spokeswoman JoEllen Smith said.

Appeal made in Hill case

Ohio's top attorney is appealing to the full panel of judges on the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals a ruling that convicted murderer Danny Lee Hill has an intellectual disability and should not be put to death. The appeal filed Friday with the court in Cincinnati states a three-judge panel of the court erred when they made that determination on Feb. 2. The smaller panel's ruling upheld Hill's conviction, but overturned a lower court's ruling upholding the death sentence and ordered the case back into Trumbull County Common Pleas Court for resentencing.

Supreme Court considers legality of Ohio voter purging

Four people were hospitalized - including one who was ejected through the windshield - after the van they were riding in struck a jersey barrier head-on just before the Hampton toll plaza on... Laconia voters have decided one Republican and one Democrat will advance to the general election in February for a House seat representing Belknap County ... (more)

US appeals court orders halt on natural gas pipeline in Ohio

CLEVELAND - A city facing long odds of stopping section of a $2 billion natural gas pipeline from being built there was handed a victory this week when a federal appellate court issued an emergency order that temporarily halts the start of construction.The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a 2-1 decision on Wednesday ruled that the city of ... (more)

Up to the Minute Synopsis of Clean Water Act Jurisdiction Developments

Keeping track of the ongoing administrative and judicial developments on the issue of Clean Water Act jurisdiction has become almost as complex as trying to make a jurisdictional determination itself. Here is a handy synopsis of the key dates and developments .

Criminal Law ‘Categorical approach’ – court’s analysis:…

Michigan Lawyers Weekly The Michigan resource for legal news, up-to-date court opinions and the latest law practice news and views. Courts employ the categorical approach when making determinations whether offenses are crimes of violence; meaning, the court will look only to the statutory definition of an offense rather than to the facts underlying the conviction with a focus on the least culpable conduct criminalized by the statute.

Appeals court increases judgment against Lorain County health district in lawsuit over…

A federal appeals court has increased a judgment obtained by the former Lorain County coroner and General Health District health director, after a jury found that he was wrongly fired and endured retaliation. A jury in May 2016 originally awarded Paul Matus $1.36 million -- $1 million of which was for his retaliation claim.