Chief Judge McMahon’s announcement, issued today and effective tomorrow, is here.
Chief Judge McMahon Upholds New York’s COVID-19 Eviction Suspension
In an opinion today, Chief Judge McMahon upheld a New York executive order that allowed tenants to apply their security deposits towards rent and that temporarily suspended evictions.
She ruled that the executive order did not violate the U.S. Constitution’s Takings Clause because landlords necessarily have entered into a heavily regulated area of the economy, and because the executive order was consistent with the type of ordinary ebb and flow of that regulation — as opposed to an impermissible destruction of landlords’ property investment:
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Judge McMahon: Holding Bench Trial in July via Remote Platform is a “No-Brainer”
Last week, Chief Judge McMahon scheduled what appears to be the first remote trial to be held in the Southern District during the COVID-19 pandemic. The trial will commence on July 6, 2020 in Ferring Pharmaceuticals v. Serenity Pharmaceuticals, a patent dispute involving drugs used to treat the condition nocturia (a form of waking during the night).
Judge McMahon considered several issues that counseled in favor of a remote trial:
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SDNY Restricts Courthouse Access Further
In an Order yesterday, Chief Judge McMahon, going beyond last week’s order, limited courthouse access to, essentially, those that have a concrete reason to be there in person. Specifically, the Order allows only for the following groups to enter the courthouse:
- Persons who have been ordered to appear by any judge of the Southern
SDNY Restricts Courthouse Access for People With Certain Coronavirus Risk Factors
Chief Judge McMahon issued a Notice to the Bar today barring entry into the courthouses by various people at risk for spreading the coronavirus, including:
- People who in the prior two weeks have visited China, South Korea, Japan, Italy or Iran
- People in close contact with people who have traveled to those countries
- People who
In Case Over Inmate Death, Judge McMahon Tells NY: Good Luck Arguing that Mental Disabilities Reduced the Value of the Inmate’s Life
A mentally disabled man named Karl Taylor died in prison, and his estate has sued, accusing prison guards of beating and choking him to death. In defending the case, New York State proposed to offer expert testimony “that in the time leading up to and at the time of his death, Mr. Taylor was experiencing acute symptoms of his psychotic illness.”
In an order today, Chief Judge McMahon granted a motion in limine to exclude the testimony, and, in doing so, warned the defendants about trying to devalue the life of Mr. Taylor:
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New York Court of Appeals Answers Question First Raised by Judge McMahon: No Common Law Right of Public Performance For Pre-1972 Sound Recordings
Today, the New York Court of Appeals, in response to a question certified from the Second Circuit (after being certified for interlocutory review by Judge McMahon), held that New York common-law copyright law does not recognize a right of public performance for creators of sound recordings predating the 1972 federal Copyright Act. The question was certified as part of a putative class action of artists of pre-1972 sound recordings (led by The Turtles, who wrote “Happy Together”) seeking royalties from Sirius XM Radio for allegedly playing recordings without permission.
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Makers of Sour Patch Kids Move to Dismiss Case Over Allegedly Under-Filled Boxes
This week, Mondelez Global moved to dismiss a putative class action led by a consumer who allegedly bought an under-filled container of Sour Patch Kids candy from a movie theater in Manhattan. The complaint alleges that the candy’s labeling is misleading, as consumers purchased far less candy than they believed due to large amounts of empty space in the packaging known as “slack-fill”:
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Courthouse News Profiles New Chief Judge McMahon
New York Court of Appeals Will Hear Copyright Issue Judge McMahon Originally Certified for Interlocutory Appeal
The New York Court of Appeals has accepted a certified question from the Second Circuit regarding whether New York copyright holders for pre-1972 recordings (governed by state copyright law, and not the federal Copyright Act) have a right to exclusive public performance of those recordings. The case, initially before Judge McMahon, arose after Sirius XM