Andrew D. Stine, P.A. - Florida Criminal Defence Attorney

(U.S.S.C., Constitutional Law, Education Law, Government Law) In an action against Hastings College of Law, a public law school, alleging that Hastings' refusal to grant a Christian group "Registered Student Organization" status violated its First and Fourteenth Amendment rights to free speech, expressive association, and free exercise of religion, the Ninth Circuit's affirmance of summary judgment for defendant is affirmed where: 1) the Court considered only whether a public institution's conditioning access to a student organization forum on compliance with an all-comers policy violated the Constitution; and 2) the all-comers policy was a reasonable, viewpoint-neutral condition on access to the RSO forum.

(U.S.S.C., Administrative Law, Constitutional Law, Government Law, Securities Law) In an action against the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board and its members, seeking, inter alia, a declaratory judgment that the Board was unconstitutional and an injunction preventing the Board from exercising its powers, the D.C. Circuit's affirmance of summary judgment for defendants is affirmed in part where the Board's appointment was consistent with the Appointments Clause. However, the judgment is reversed in part where: 1) the dual for-cause limitations on the removal of Board members contravene the Constitution's separation of powers; and 2) the unconstitutional tenure provisions were severable from the remainder of the statute.

(U.S.S.C., Constitutional Law, Criminal Law & Procedure, Government Law) In an action against the City of Chicago alleging that the City's handgun ban left plaintiffs vulnerable to criminals, judgment for defendants is reversed where the Fourteenth Amendment incorporates the Second Amendment right, recognized in Heller, to keep and bear arms for the purpose of self-defense.

(U.S. 9th Cir., Attorney's Fees, Civil Procedure, Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law & Procedure) In an action claiming that the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation's (CDCR) grooming regulations concerning hair length interfered with plaintiff's First Amendment right to free exercise of religion, the district court's award of attorney's fees to plaintiff is reversed where, because the district court did not actually adjudicate plaintiff's claims, the Ninth Circuit's decision in Siripongs foreclosed an award of attorneys' fees in this case.

(U.S.S.C., Constitutional Law, Elections, Government Law) In a First Amendment challenge to the Washington Public Records Act based on its provision permitting the disclosure of referendum petition signers' names and addresses, the Ninth Circuit's reversal of the district court's preliminary injunction in favor of plaintiffs is affirmed where disclosure of referendum petitions does not as a general matter violate the First Amendment.