Daily Briefs

 YouTube video purports to show rare U.S. Supreme Court action 

WASHINGTON (AP) — A protest group has posted what appears to be the first video of the Supreme Court taken inside the courtroom with the court in session.

The Supreme Court forbids cameras and all other electronic devices, but members of the protest group 99Rise appear to have shot video on two separate occasions since October.
 
The more recent footage captures a courtroom protest on Wednesday by a man the court identified as Noah Newkirk of Los Angeles. A 99Rise news release posted online says group co-founder Kai Newkirk was the person who called on the court to overturn its 2010 Citizens United decision. Police hustled him out of the courtroom and charged him with disturbing the proceedings.

The protest was the first to disrupt an argument session in more than seven years, since the court heard an abortion dispute in late 2006.

The first part of the video, which runs just over two minutes, seems to come from Oct. 8, when the court heard argument in McCutcheon v. FEC. That case about contribution limits has yet to be decided and is the court's first major foray into campaign finance law since the Citizens United decision.

“I rise on behalf of the vast majority of the American people, who believe that money is not speech, corporations are not people and our democracy should not be for sale to the highest bidder,” Newkirk said on the video. “Overturn Citizens United. Keep the cap in McCutcheon.”

Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg said the court is reviewing the video and courtroom screening procedures.
 
 

Wassom honored as one of Patterson’s ‘Elite 40 Under 40’

 
Attorney Brian D. Wassom, a partner in Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP’s Intellectual Property Litigation Practice Group and Leader of the firm’s Social, Mobile and Emerging Media Industry Group, has been named one of Oakland County Executive Brooks Patterson’s “Elite 40 Under 40 Class of 2014.” The award honors people under 40 who excel in their industry and show dynamic leadership. 
 
Wassom was recognized in particular for the national reputation he has developed as a thought leader on the legal ramifications of augmented reality and the technology of digitizing the physical world. Wassom speaks regularly to business, legal and educational audiences around the country on such topics as augmented reality, social media, intellectual property and related issues. He is also a prolific writer on these topics—including on his blog at Wassom.com.
Wassom earned his J.D., magna cum laude, at Case Western Reserve University School of Law. He also holds a B.A. in Political Science and International Studies from Wayne State University.

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