Recent Updates
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Supreme court to decide federal sex offender law
Court Alerts 06/25/2009The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday that it would decide whether Congress may adopt a federal law that keeps sex offenders in custody indefinitely after they complete their prison sentences. The high court agreed to hear an Obama administration appeal...
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Woman pleads guilty, took dead mother's benefits
Court Alerts 06/25/2009A Florida woman accused of hiding her dead mother's body and collecting federal benefits for six years has pleaded guilty to a theft charge. Penelope Jordan pleaded guilty Monday to theft of government property.The 61-year-old woman was arrested in M...
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Calif. man pleads not guilty to stepdaughter abuse
Court Alerts 06/25/2009A long-haul truck driver pleaded not guilty Monday to charges he sexually abused his teenage stepdaughters and fathered one girl's baby. Tony Slone, 43, entered the plea in Superior Court in Victorville, said Susan Mickey, a spokeswoman for the San B...
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Spammer Ralsky pleads guilty to stock fraud
Court Alerts 06/23/2009Alan Ralsky, a spam kingpin who was convicted of felony bank fraud in 1995, could face more than seven years in prison after pleading guilty in a stock fraud case involving spam messages that pumped up Chinese "penny" stocks. Ralsky and four other in...
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No benefits for LA girl born from dead man's sperm
Court Alerts 06/19/2009A 10-year-old girl conceived from the frozen sperm of a dead man cannot receive his Social Security benefits, a federal appeals court ruled. A panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday upheld a lower court's rejection of child survi...
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Court upholds settlement in asbestos law
Court Alerts 06/18/2009The Supreme Court has agreed to reinstate a roughly $500 million settlement of asbestos lawsuits against the Travelers Companies Inc. Travelers had been named in lawsuits alleging that it tried to hide dangerous health effects of asbestos. The compan...
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Court finds convicts have no right to test DNA
Court Alerts 06/18/2009The Supreme Court said Thursday that convicts have no constitutional right to test DNA evidence in hopes of proving their innocence long after they were found guilty of a crime. The decision may have limited impact because the federal government and ...
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NJ man freed after murder convictions overturned
Court Alerts 06/17/2009After spending more than 20 years in prison for two murders he repeatedly denied committing, Paul Kamienski spoke Tuesday as a man freed under unusual circumstances. Last month, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia overturned his 198...
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Judge: Simpson `acquittal suit' to stay in storage
Court Alerts 06/16/2009A judge on Monday ordered O.J. Simpson's former manager to keep the former football star's so-called acquittal suit in storage until it is determined who rightfully owns it. The ruling came after a contentious hearing that ultimately spilled into a c...
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Court steps into dispute between Shell, stations
Court Alerts 06/15/2009The Supreme Court is stepping into a dispute between Shell Oil Co. and gas station operators who claim the oil company tried to drive them out of business. The justices, in an order Monday, say they will hear arguments next year in a case involving e...
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AIG and Starr Have Monday Court Date
Court Alerts 06/12/2009A long-running legal battle between American International Group Inc. and an investment firm led by its former chief executive, Maurice R. "Hank" Greenberg, is due in federal court Monday. Control of more than $4.3 billion is at stake. At issue are t...
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PA lawyer to plead guilty in $2.5M corruption case
Court Alerts 06/11/2009Federal prosecutors say a Pennsylvania lawyer who allegedly tried to cover up payments he made to a pair of judges in a $2.5 million corruption case will plead guilty. Prosecutors said Tuesday that 49-year-old Robert Powell of Hazleton falsified reco...