Recent Updates
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US court denies cash for suspected Somali pirate
Lawyer Blogs 07/07/2011A federal judge has denied a request from a Somali man accused of piracy to have $1,600 in cash returned to him for humanitarian needs, saying he failed to prove he was lawfully in possession of the money. Mohammad Saaili Shibin is accused of acting ...
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No manslaughter convictions in ground zero fire
Lawyer Blogs 07/06/2011A toxin-cleanup director and a company were acquitted Wednesday of manslaughter in an August 2007 blaze that killed two firefighters at a condemned tower at ground zero, although the firm was convicted of a misdemeanor. The John Galt Corp. was found ...
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Borrowers sue over apparent loan mod mishaps
Lawyer Blogs 07/05/2011It seemed Maria Campusano's financial problems were behind her when the mortgage on her Victorian home in a Massachusetts mill town was chopped by hundreds of dollars a month. She soon learned that her troubles had just begun. Weeks after making her ...
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Justice Ginsburg's future plans closely watched
Lawyer Blogs 07/05/2011Democrats and liberals have a nightmare vision of the Supreme Court's future: President Barack Obama is defeated for re-election next year and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, at 78 the oldest justice, soon finds her health will not allow her to continue...
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In Strauss-Kahn case, DA weighs limited options
Lawyer Blogs 07/04/2011At first, prosecutors said their sexual assault case against Dominique Strauss-Kahn was growing more formidable by the day. Six weeks later, they said his accuser's history of lying raised major red flags, but they weren't dropping the case, at least...
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Lawyer: Mladic to boycott court appearance
Lawyer Blogs 07/03/2011Former Bosnian Serb military chief Ratko Mladic plans to boycott Monday's hearing at the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal, where he is scheduled to enter pleas to charges including genocide, his Serbian lawyer said. Mladic is boycotting to demand the pow...
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Appeals court dismisses nuclear waste suit
Lawyer Blogs 07/01/2011The Obama administration won a legal battle Friday in the long-standing fight over where to bury the nation's nuclear waste, but it's not likely to be the last.The federal appeals court in Washington ruled against South Carolina, Washington state and...
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Google Wi-Fi snooping lawsuits can proceed
Lawyer Blogs 07/01/2011A federal judge has refused Google's plea to dismiss several class-action lawsuits accusing the Internet search giant of illegally collecting online information from unencrypted wireless networks while working on its "Street View" map feature. Google...
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High court undoes Scalia's pro-tobacco order
Lawyer Blogs 06/30/2011Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia exercised a rarely used power last fall to let Philip Morris USA and three other big tobacco companies delay making multimillion-dollar payments for a program to help people quit smoking.Scalia, a cigarette smoker...
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High court to rule on FCC indecency policy
Lawyer Blogs 06/29/2011The Supreme Court will take up the First Amendment fight over what broadcasters can put on the airwaves when young children may be watching television. The justices said Monday they will review appeals court rulings that threw out the Federal Communi...
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State seeks dismissal of Smart kidnapper charges
Lawyer Blogs 06/29/2011Prosecutors have asked a judge to dismiss state charges against Elizabeth Smart's kidnapper after the man was convicted in federal court and sentenced to life in prison.Brian David Mitchell was sentenced May 25 to two life sentences without parole fo...
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Idaho landowners to get high court hearing
Lawyer Blogs 06/28/2011The Supreme Court has agreed to consider the rights of landowners when confronted with an order from the Environmental Protection Agency that they are violating the federal Clean Water Act.The justices on Tuesday added the case of Idaho property owne...