Recent Updates
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Bernard Madoff expected to speak in court Tuesday
Court Alerts 03/10/2009Bernard Madoff (MAY'-dawf) was likely to speak in court in an attempt to clear his lawyer of any potential conflicts of interest. Defense attorney Ira Lee Sorkin's late father once had an account with Madoff. The lawyer also represented two Madoff-li...
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Court refuses to get involved in tobacco fight
Court Alerts 03/09/2009The Supreme Court has refused to get in the middle of a patent fight over a way to cure tobacco that may make it less carcinogenic. The high court on Monday refused to hear an appeal from R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., who is being sued by Star Scientifi...
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Court to decide on convict's right to test DNA
Court Alerts 03/04/2009The Supreme Court expressed skepticism Monday about giving a convict the broad constitutional right to test DNA evidence, which for 232 people has meant exoneration years after they were found guilty. At issue is the case of William Osborne, who was ...
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Court refuses to take case on coach's team prayer
Court Alerts 03/02/2009The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from a high school football coach who wants to bow his head and kneel during prayers led by his players despite a school district policy prohibiting it. In an order Monday, the justices are ending Marcus Borde...
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Media urge unsealing of juror data in Bonds trial
Court Alerts 02/27/2009Media companies urged a federal judge Thursday to allow access to the completed questionnaires from potential jurors in Barry Bonds' perjury trial.U.S. District Judge Susan Illston ordered last week that the answers provided on the forms, which are i...
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NY court: Helmsley fortune goes to more than dogs
Court Alerts 02/26/2009Real estate baroness Leona Helmsley's multibillion-dollar fortune can go to more than just the dogs. In a ruling announced Wednesday, a New York judge says trustees managing Helmsley's estate can distribute her funds to a broad range of charities.Hel...
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Court upholds conviction in guns case
Court Alerts 02/24/2009The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the conviction of a West Virginia man for violating a federal law barring people convicted in domestic violence cases from possessing firearms. In a 7-2 vote, the court ruled that a federal appeals court in Richmon...
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Court turns down FTC in Rambus case
Court Alerts 02/23/2009The Supreme Court has sided with Rambus Inc., a developer of computer memory technology, in its long-standing antitrust fight with the Federal Trade Commission. The justices, in an order Monday, are refusing to hear FTC's plea to reinstate the commis...
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Stimulus highlights stakes of Minnesota recount
Court Alerts 02/18/2009Neither side is giving an inch in Minnesota's protracted Senate election fight, and the tiny margin used to secure the newly passed economic stimulus package is a vivid reminder of why. Supporters of both Democrat Al Franken and Republican Norm Colem...
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Jury deliberating in Fla. tobacco trial
Court Alerts 02/13/2009A jury is deliberating a key phase in the first of 8,000 Florida lawsuits blaming health problems and deaths on tobacco companies. The six-person Broward County jury must decide whether Stuart Hess was addicted to cigarette nicotine before he got lun...
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Court says measles vaccine not to blame for autism
Court Alerts 02/12/2009A special vaccine court ruled against parents with autistic children Thursday, saying that vaccines are not to blame for their children's neurological disorder. The judges in the cases said the evidence was overwhelmingly contrary to the parents' cla...
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Mass. court: Juveniles can't be held extra 3 years
Court Alerts 02/11/2009Massachusetts cannot hold juvenile offenders for three years past their 18th birthday because the law is vague on how a youth's potential danger to the public is decided, the state's highest court ruled Tuesday. Most juvenile offenders are released w...