Sept. 26, 2023 – A town ordinance that prohibits registered sex offenders from living within 1.25 miles of locations where children gather does not violate the U.S. Constitution’s Ex Post Facto clause, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has ruled.In Nelson v. Town of Paris, No. 22-2435 (Aug. 16, 2023), the Seventh Circuit also held additional evidence was necessary to determine whether a restriction on a registered sex offender living within 1.25 miles of another…
Continue Reading In Seventh Circuit, Split Decision on Sex Offender Registry Ordinance

Sept. 12, 2023 – An inmate’s claim that a prison security official violated the inmate’s due process rights by improperly influencing the official adjudicating charges against him should have survived summary judgment, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has ruled in Prude v. Meli, No. 21-1320 (Aug. 7, 2023).Jailhouse LawyerTerence Prude, an inmate at Waupun Correctional Institute (WCI), helped a fellow inmate file a civil rights lawsuit against the prison.Prude’s fellow inmate eventually found an attorney,…
Continue Reading District Court Erred by Dismissing Inmate’s Suit Against Prison Official

Sept. 12, 2023 – An airplane insurance policy authorized an insurer to deny coverage because the pilot didn’t have a medical certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) when he crashed, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has ruled.In Jadair International, Inc. v. American National Property and Casualty Company, No.22-3053 (Aug. 9, 2023), the Seventh Circuit also held that Wis. Stat. section 631.11(3), concerning rescission of an insurance policy, did not apply to the…
Continue Reading No Coverage Under Insurance Policy Where Pilot Lacked FAA Certificate

Sept. 12, 2023  – The applicable statute of limitations bars a claim for negligent road maintenance that a bicyclist filed against the Town of Cedarburg, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals has ruled.In Kornreich v. Town of Cedarburg, No. 2022AP198 (Aug. 16, 2023), a three-judge panel for the Court of Appeals District II ruled that the plaintiff should not have relied on an insurance claims manager’s statement that the plaintiff should disregard a notice of disallowance from the town.Under…
Continue Reading Appeals Court: Statute of Limitations Bars Negligence Claim Against Town

Aug. 30, 2023 – An insurer for a company that allegedly damaged a dairy herd by substituting a feed mix component is not entitled to summary judgment because the substitution was not accidental, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals has ruled.In Riverback Farms, LLC v. Saukville Feed Supplies, Inc., 2021 AP 670 (July 26, 2023), the Wisconsin Court of Appeals District II also held that physical ailments suffered by the cattle after the substitution were property damage under the…
Continue Reading Damage to Cattle From Intentional Diet Substitution Covered by CGL Policy

Aug. 29, 2023 – The Wisconsin Court of Appeals has ruled that a statute that prohibits misleading advertising is not limited to advertisements made to Wisconsin residents.In State v. Talyansky, 2022 AP 788 (July 25, 2023), the Wisconsin Court of Appeals District I also held that the statute does not require the state to prove that customers who received the misleading advertising suffered a monetary loss.Complaints About Salvage YardAlfred Talyansky’s family founded Mid City Auto Salvage (Mid City) in…
Continue Reading Prohibition of Fraudulent Ads Not Limited to Wisconsin Residents

Aug. 18, 2023 – A man who died unloading a trailer was operating a motor vehicle, and the two-year statute of limitations applied to a wrongful death lawsuit filed by his estate, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals has ruled.In Estate of Kevin Wiemer v. Zeeland Farm Services, Inc., 2022 AP 1436 (Aug. 8, 2023), the Court of Appeals District III held that because the lawsuit was filed 30 months after the man’s death, the circuit court erred by…
Continue Reading Lawsuit Over Trailer Death Subject to Motor Vehicle Statute of Limitations

August 15, 2023 – An attorney who wrote a book about a 2005 murder that his client was convicted of committing has successfully defended a defamation claim brought by the client’s husband, under a decision issued by the Wisconsin Court of Appeals.In Sidoff v. Merry, 2022 AP 1871 (Aug. 3, 2023), a three-judge panel ruled that David Sidoff was considered a “limited public figure” and could not meet his burden to prove that his wife’s attorney published allegedly…
Continue Reading Defamation Appeal Fails Against Attorney Who Wrote Book on Murder Case

Aug. 15, 2023 – The warrantless seizure of a man on his front porch on suspicion that he’d been involved in a hit-and-run collision violated the Fourth Amendment’s warrant requirement, a three-judge panel for the Wisconsin Court of Appeals District IV has ruled in State v. Cundy, 2022 AP 540 (July 13, 2023).Fender BenderA man called the Mayville Police Department on July 2, 2019, to report a hit-and-run collision. About 15 minutes earlier, the man said, he’d seen…
Continue Reading Warrantless Seizure on Front Stoop Violates Fourth Amendment

Aug. 2, 2023 – An invasion of privacy claim brought by a union member against his employer in state court is pre-empted by federal law, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals has ruled.In Toboyek v. Wisconsin Public Service Corporation, 2022AP1536 (July 18, 2023), the Court of Appeals District 1 also held that the union member’s claim for negligent hiring and training was subject to the Wisconsin Workers’ Compensation Act (WCA).Mask Non-complianceWisconsin Public Service Corporation (WPS) hired Brian Toboyek in…
Continue Reading Union Members’ Invasion of Privacy Claim Pre-empted by Federal Law