Daily fantasy sports may not be long for New York. Article I, § 9 of the New York Constitution bans gambling, plain and simple. That includes, lotteries, pool selling, book making, and "any other form of gambling." Now, the Appellate Division, Third Department has added DFS to that list of banned games, affirming a trial court …
New York Daily Fantasy Sports Suit: State’s Opening Brief Makes a Strong Pitch that the Legislature Rationally Determined that DFS is Not “Gambling” Under the NY Constitution
The game for the fate of daily fantasy sports in New York is on, and the State has scored first. Ok, ok. In appellate litigation, the losing party below always gets the ball first. And the State certainly lost below in this one. Judge Connolly of Supreme Court, Albany County held that daily fantasy sports …
NY DFS Suit Update: State Appeals Order Declaring Daily Fantasy Sports Unconstitutional, Plaintiffs Seek Reargument
After Judge Gerald Connolly of Supreme Court, Albany County (the trial level in New York) recently declared that New York's Interactive Fantasy Sports Law violated the New York Constitution's outright ban on gambling, the case was bound to head on appeal. To me, the only question was to which court. Would the State appeal to …
Second Department Joins the Third Department in Applying the Child of the Marriage Presumption to Same Sex Spouses
It was only a few weeks ago that the Third Department held, for the first time in New York, that a married same sex couple is entitled to the presumption that a child born during their marriage is a child of the marriage. Now, the Second Department has agreed. In Matter of Joseph O. v …
Third Department Extends Child of the Marriage Presumption to Same Sex Spouses for the First Time
A child is born to a married woman. Under New York law, the child is presumed to be a product of the woman's marriage. The presumption can be rebutted, of course, but in the beginning, the law assumes that the children of married spouses are legitimate. That makes sense. New York's policy is to keep …
Third Department Justices Disagree on Whether Student Accused of Sexual Assault Should Have Right to Cross-Examine Accuser
The Appellate Division, Third Department has decided a number of significant issues recently involving the State University of New York's disciplinary system in sexual assault cases. First, it was Matter of Haug v State Univ. of N.Y. at Potsdam, in which the Court annulled the expulsion of a student accused of sexual assault, finding that …
Fourth Department Affirms Class Certification for Buffalo Jills in Case Against NFL, Bills
In Ferrari v The National Football League, four former members of the Buffalo Jills, the Bills' cheerleading squad, brought a proposed class action against the NFL, the Bills, and their employer alleging that they weren't paid for hundreds of hours of work because they were "deliberately misclassified as independent contractors rather than employees." The Jills' …
Second Department Grants Leave to Appeal to Court of Appeals Sua Sponte. Can It Do That?
People v Flores is an important case. In Flores, four criminal defendants were tried together on gang assault charges. The County Court where they were being tried, however, decided that it was going to empanel an anonymous jury, with the jurors identified only by number, not by name. The defendants' objected, arguing multiple times that …
You Can Be Ticketed for Using Handheld GPS While Driving, Third Department Says
Over the last number of years, the State has made clear that it won't tolerating talking on the phone or texting while driving because of the serious dangers of distracted driving. The particular language of the Vehicle and Traffic Law prohibits the use of a “portable electronic device,” which is defined as a “hand-held device …
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Creating Conflict with First Department, Fourth Department Holds that Service of Notice of Voluntary Discontinance After Motion to Dismss is Timely
This is one of those questions that only the truest of procedural nerds can love. Say you commenced a case. You think it's a really good case. But you decide that you want to move on and pursue other matters, even though it is a good case. The CPLR says you can discontinue your case …
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