Free Vermont Supreme Court case summaries from Justia.
If you are unable to see this message, click here to view it in a web browser. | | Vermont Supreme Court February 20, 2021 |
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Click here to remove Verdict from subsequent Justia newsletter(s). | New on Verdict Legal Analysis and Commentary | The Upside-Down Treatment of Religious Exceptions Cases in the Supreme Court | MICHAEL C. DORF | | Cornell law professor Michael C. Dorf comments on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last week to reject an emergency application from the State of Alabama to lift a stay on the execution of Willie B. Smith III. Professor Dorf observes the Court’s unusual alignment of votes in the decision and argues that, particularly as reflected by the recent COVID-19 decisions, the liberal and conservative Justices have essentially swapped places from the seminal 1990 case Employment Division v. Smith, which established that the First Amendment does not guarantee a right to exceptions from neutral laws of general applicability. | Read More |
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Vermont Supreme Court Opinions | Masseau v. Luck | Citation: 2021 VT 9 Opinion Date: February 19, 2021 Judge: Beth Robinson Areas of Law: Arbitration & Mediation, Contracts | Homeowners Colin Masseau and Emily MacKenzie appealed a trial court’s order confirming an arbitrator’s dismissal of their claims against defendants Guy Henning and Brickkicker/GDM Home Services, LLC. Specifically, homeowners challenged the trial court’s referral of the case to arbitration on the ground that the purported arbitration agreement lacked the notice and acknowledgment provisions required under the Vermont Arbitration Act (VAA), and they urged the Vermont Supreme Court to vacate the arbitrator’s award because the arbitrator exceeded his authority by manifestly disregarding the law. The Supreme Court concluded the parties’ contract affected interstate commerce, and that the arbitration agreement was therefore governed by the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) and is not subject to the more exacting notice and acknowledgment requirement of the VAA. The Court declined to find the arbitrator's analysis rose to the level of "manifest disregard." | | Vermont v. Misch | Citation: 2021 VT 10 Opinion Date: February 19, 2021 Judge: Per Curiam Areas of Law: Constitutional Law, Criminal Law | Defendant Max Misch was charged under 13 V.S.A. 4021(a) with two counts of unlawfully possessing a large-capacity magazine. This issue this appeal presented for the Vermont Supreme Court's review was whether Vermont’s ban on large- capacity magazines (LCMs) violated the right to bear arms under Chapter I, Article 16 of the Vermont Constitution. To this, the Supreme Court concluded the magazine ban was a reasonable regulation of the right of the people to bear arms for self-defense, and therefore affirmed the trial court’s denial of defendant’s motion to dismiss the charges against him. | | Aguiar v. Williams | Citation: 2021 VT 8 Opinion Date: February 19, 2021 Judge: Paul L. Reiber Areas of Law: Legal Ethics | Plaintiff-client Stephen Aguiar claimed attorney David Williams failed to turn over files related to plaintiff’s 2009 criminal prosecution. The civil division of the superior court granted summary judgment in favor of attorney, and client appealed. The Vermont Supreme Court held client owned the entire contents of the file, subject to certain exceptions. The Court agreed with the trial court that attorney had substantial grounds to refuse to disclose certain materials to client, and that client failed to demonstrate an ownership interest in an iPod containing recordings of wiretap evidence However, the Court concluded summary judgment was premature regarding two issues: whether client was entitled to a paper copy of the discovery file that attorney allegedly created for use at trial, and whether client has been provided with certain trial exhibits. The Supreme Court therefore reversed and remanded for further proceedings on those issues. | |
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