Upscale #EastBay suburban hamlet must pay $120,000 to settle case brought by a persistent projectionist , "#solarpunk novelist" and Mastodon user @AEMarling arrested in 2021 for being an alleged "public nuisance" after beaming portable political imagery onto #SanRamon #CityHall.

Marling is perhaps best known for his caustic commentary targeting petty #Twitler #CEO #MelonHusk with viral projection takes including “Space Karen,” “Lawless Oligarch” "Mediocre Manchild" and other critiques on the #American oligarch's corporate #SocialMedia HQ outpost along #MarketSt in #SanFrancisco.

Originally after being cited, Marling's attorney assumed the small suburban city would return his projection equipment and drop charges, but angry officials retained "outside counsel and private attorney to act as prosecutor, and they prosecuted this to the bitter end” which prompted the case to continue for years as Marling counter sued the bedroom community in #federalcourt for alleged violations of his #FirstAmendment and #FourthAmendment rights, as well as false arrest, among other legal claims that personally named city officials and #police personnel who pursued the charges. Named in Marling's suit were #CityAttorney Martin Lysons, city manager Joe Gorton, ex top cop Craig Stevens, current #PoliceChief Denton Carlson, Sgt. Michael Pistello, Officer Rick Gonzalez, pvt attorney Lance Bayer and city employee Karen McHenry-Smith. The first alleged criminal conspiratorial act by the local govt occured when petty police lied in their report about the spot where Marling even had the projector, claiming it was propped up against a traffic light on a sidewalk rather than placed in a landscaping bed.

From there, and even after an acquittal in an actual local court for the bogus citation, Marling filed a complaint alleging numerous civil violations, including of the First, Fourth and 14th amendments and the #CivilRights Act, as well as false imprisonment.

Marling said he hopes the legal #settlement discourages crackdowns on #activism in the future.

“For the police to try to detain in this fashion is illegal — I wasn’t violating any laws,” Marling said. “I guess you could say it was a slap on the wrist to try to encourage cities to not do this.” We only got to this point where the city finally "settled" and agreed to pay #legal costs and admit no #wrongdoing after years of #litigation.

https://enews.email.bayareanewsgroup.com/q/jG4v8UKs1AuMu0XsLr9_W-j3O58UzJh9jT6ZcOJbGlsbWlrZXNmK2lwLaG9uZUBnbWFpbC5jb23DiAY_eeukmHd4psMStMmSQWD2vzmA

https://www.danvillesanramon.com/news/2023/04/19/san-ramon-activist-sues-city-police-officials-after-being-detained-and-cited-last-year/

https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2025/05/13/viral-bay-area-projection-activist-reaches-120000-settlement-in-civil-rights-lawsuit-against-bay-area-city/ #CopWatch #FreeSpeech

A business interruption insurance claim by Baylor’s College of Medicine went the way of almost all such claims, but only because the court felt compelled by precedent to ignore some damn good expert testimony.

#law #contracts #litigation #COVID #insurance
https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/contractsprof_blog/2025/05/texas-court-of-appeals-reverses-12-million-judgment-in-covid-related-insurance-claim.html

What better way to celebrate May Day than with an account of the National Treasury Employee Union’s victory, enjoining the Administration from terminating collective bargaining rights for 2/3 of the federal work force? The order came out on Friday, the opinion on Monday.

#Law #contracts #unions #labor #GovernmentWorkers #litigation

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/contractsprof_blog/2025/05/may-day-federal-judge-backs-federal-workers-union-and-enjoins-executive-order.html

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has survived the first 100 days of the new Administration’s term with the help of Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who sees the latest RIF (correctly) as an attempt to prevent the CFPB from performing its statutorily-mandated functions

#law #contracts #CFPB #litigation #GovernmentEmployees #Injunctions

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/contractsprof_blog/2025/04/recap-of-administration-attempt-to-fire-employees-of-the-consumer-finance-protection-bureau.html

In today’s Reefer Brief, a lesson in what happens if you don’t get crop insurance. Insurer covered physical damage to marijuana cultivator from a fire, but not the 1000 lost plants.

#law #contracts #cannabis #litigation #insurance

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/contractsprof_blog/2025/04/reefer-brief-insurer-wins-summary-judgment-v-marijuana-cultivator.html

The latest in the #CFPB #litigation

For Judge Gregory Katsas, a #Trump appointee from the president’s 1st term, a month on the motions panel at the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit appears to have taught him an important lesson about Trump’s 2nd term.

#law #SeparationOfPowers #Judiciary
https://www.lawdork.com/p/the-education-of-judge-gregory-katsas

What to Know About the Legal Battle Over a #NorthCarolina #SupremeCourt Race
The #Republican challenger has embarked on an extraordinary effort to reverse his #election loss that critics say is testing the boundaries of post-election #litigation.

The Republican candidate for a State Supreme Court seat has refused to concede to the Democratic incumbent, even though 2 recounts by a state elections board confirmed that he lost the Nov election…

#law #democracy #GiftArticle
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/22/us/north-carolina-supreme-court-race-explainer.html?unlocked_article_code=1.B08.euDs.Y-tMQ_WoO42B&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

Thanks to my student Brady Robison who alerted me to a suit brought by influencers against Honey, an extension that PayPal bought for $4 billion so that it can better track you and data mine you. They allege that it also steals commissions from them.

#law #contracts #Honey #Influencers #coupons #litigation

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/contractsprof_blog/2025/04/influencers-allege-paypal-uses-honey-extension-to-steal-commissions.html

#Google found #Liable ( aka #Guilty for corporations) in online #advertising market monopolization case brought during #Biden term. This is the third recent loss in series of long running #litigation attacks on $GOOG market dominance brought by army of lawyers from #USDOJ ...

Detailed opinion left by Judge Loenie Brinkema outlines not only corporate malfeasance but even legal improprieties used by #Alphabet and it's highly paid #defense team, including several partners of firms known for ties to top #DemocratParty operatives.

https://open.substack.com/pub/mattstoller/p/google-found-guilty-of-monopolization #GoogleMonopoly

Byron Allen’s claims against McDonald’s for discrimination against Black-owned networks in its placement of advertising survives a motion for summary judgment, just barely alleging a claim and just barely overcoming McDonald’s attempts to justify its ad strategies.

#law #contracts #litigation #discrimination #McDonalds

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/contractsprof_blog/2025/04/discrimination-in-advertising-claims-against-mcdonalds-will-proceed-to-trial.html

Many lawyers who argue for #Trump at #SCOTUS are heading for the exit

At least half of the front-line lawyers in #SolicitorGeneral’s office, the elite #DOJ office that represents the Trump admin at the Supreme Court, are preparing to leave or have already announced their departures — an unusually high amount of turnover at a time of intense #litigation involving Trump’s initiatives & as his emergency requests pile up at the high court.

#law #ethics #felon47
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/04/09/trump-solicitor-general-office-lawyers-departures/

NY’s Court of Appeals sends a claim subject to a default judgment to arbitration because, although Uber failed to answer the complaint, it did update its terms of service and provided that its arbitration clause applies to pending claims.

#law #contracts #TermsOfService #Arbitration #Litigation #Uber

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/contractsprof_blog/2025/04/ny-court-of-appeals-sends-claims-of-injured-uber-user-to-arbitration.html

From time to time, we bring you news from the world of COVID-related business interruption insurance claims (don’t tell my 18-year-old self that this is how I spend my time). They are rarely wins, and this one is a two-time loser.

#law #contracts #COVID #insurance #litigation

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/contractsprof_blog/2025/04/another-way-to-lose-a-covid-insurance-claim-twice.html

Remember when #Trump told people that they’d get tired of winning once he was in office? If you are a Trump Admin lawyer, it surely doesn’t feel that way. Based on the #litigation tracker compiled by #JustSecurity, the admin…has lost in 36 of 56 cases decided so far in the federal district courts & not yet subject to appellate rulings. It has lost in 10 of 15 cases that have been decided at the next level of review, the federal circuit courts of appeals.

#law #felon47
https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-lede/has-trumps-legal-strategy-backfired

#GiftArticle

How the #Trump Admin Learned to Obscure the Truth in Court

This is a #litigation strategy born of the first travel ban.

The litigation over the govt’s summary #renditions of foreign nationals to an #ElSalvador prison, w/no #DueProcess of #law, is now at #SCOTUS’s door.

by @LeahLitman

#immigration #AlienEnemiesAct #ExtraordinaryRendition #StateSponsoredAbduction #Constitution #CivilRights #HumanRights #DualState #AbuseOfPower
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/04/trump-travel-ban-lessons/682259/?gift=guxsrl_dAdXUP9zqbQPWxU-uei3SPa1aps8eltAX-44