I’m sure most of our readers are familiar with Justia’s Civil Dockets, a section on our site which allows users to search through civil dockets filed in the US Federal District and Appellate Courts since 2004. What I’m not sure about is whether folks realize that on a weekly basis our team of editors here at Justia picks out cases from the dockets filings we feel are worthy of being a featured case. Featured cases in this regard include matters grabbing headlines that week in both the national and legal press, patent suits from the tech world, and other noteworthy cases. When we feature a case, our editors essentially set in motion a process in which the initial complaint or filing is downloaded and we grab the rest of the docket sheet so that our users can (for free) see what has been filed up to that point in the proceedings. Depending on how important we feel a a lawsuit is, we’ll download all the actual filings in a docket and/or set up tracking so that when new filings are added, our users will be able to see or download those as well. Featured cases in Dockets are denoted by a yellow star next to the case name.
We thought it might be a great idea to start up a weekly blog post which lists various cases we’ve recently featured. To the extent we can, we’ll give a brief synopsis of the suit and also link over to any news articles and analysis which more fully discuss the matter.
Enjoy!
- Florida Democratic Party v. Detzner (US District Court, S.D. Florida)
A complaint brought by the Florida Democratic Party against Florida’s Secretary of State, Ken Detzner, requesting a temporary restraining order and injunctive relief to compel the Secretary of State to take the necessary steps to allow all Florida electors within Broward, Miami-Dade, and Palm Beach Counties a meaningful opportunity to cast their votes in the November 6, 2012, general election in light of the prohibitively long lines at certain early voting sites within these Counties.
Democrats Sue to Extend Florida’s Early Voting, The New York Times (11/4/12)
- Fitrakis v. Husted, et al. (US District Court, S.D. Ohio)
An Ohio registered voter and taxpayer sued Ohio’s Secretary of State (SOS) and Election Systems & Software, Inc. (ESS) the company that created hardware and software to tabulate votes cast by the state’s residents, alleging that ESS created a “back door” that potentially lets people not under the SOS’s control access the recording and tabulation of votes. The complaint alleges due process and civil rights violations under 42 U.S.C. 1983, and claims the election-related contract was awarded without competitive bidding, in violation of state law.
Ohio Candidate Sues to Block Electronic Voting Machines, Businessweek (11/6/12)
- VirnetX Inc. v. Apple Inc. (US District Court, E.D. Texas)
VirnetX was awarded over $368 million in damages in a patent infringement lawsuit against Apple, and on the same day filed another lawsuit against the Cupertino-based company alleging infringements of the same patents but by different Apple products. Specifically, the new lawsuit also alleges patent infringement via its Mountain Lion operating system, and Apple’s newest generation of mobile devices, including the iPhone 5, iPod Touch 5, iPad 4th Generation, and iPad Mini.
Apple Hit with $368 Million Jury Verdict in Patent Trial, Plus New Lawsuit (11/7/12)
- Paul Isaacson, et al v. Tom Horne, et al (US 9th Cir.)
Plaintiffs brought a civil rights action in Arizona Federal District Court challenging the constitutionality of a provision within Arizona House Bill 2036 which bans abortions beginning at 20 weeks of pregnancy. We’ve featured both the lower court case and the appeal to the 9th Circuit.
United States 9th Circuit to Consider Arizona’s 20 Week Abortion Ban, Seattle Times (11/5/12)
