Recent Updates
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Gov't hopes new drilling moratorium can survive
Lawyer Blogs 07/13/2010Rebuffed twice by the courts, the Obama administration is taking another crack at a moratorium on deep-water drilling, stressing new evidence of safety concerns and no longer basing the moratorium on water depth. But those who challenge the latest ba...
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Chicago's tough new gun ordinance goes into effect
Lawyer Blogs 07/12/2010A new gun ordinance in Chicago that officials say is the strictest of its kind in the country went into effect on Monday.The ordinance was pushed through quickly by Mayor Richard Daley and the City Council after the U.S. Supreme Court last month made...
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Violent protests after Calif train killing verdict
Lawyer Blogs 07/09/2010The U.S. Department of Justice's civil rights division will investigate a white Oakland police officer accused of killing an unarmed black man on a crowded train platform, a case reminiscent of the racially charged 1992 police beating of Rodney King....
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Appeals court to hear drilling moratorium case
Lawyer Blogs 07/08/2010A federal appeals court is set to hear the Justice Department's bid to delay a judge's decision to overturn a six-month deepwater drilling moratorium.A three-judge panel from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans is scheduled to hear a...
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Ky. man pleads guilty to threatening Obama in poem
Lawyer Blogs 07/07/2010A Kentucky man has pleaded guilty to writing and posting on a white supremacist website a poem threatening the assassination of President Barack Obama.Johnny Logan Spencer Jr. of Louisville entered an open plea — admitting guilt without a deal with p...
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Band penalized for copied riff in 'Down Under' hit
Lawyer Blogs 07/06/2010A judge ordered Australian band Men at Work on Tuesday to hand over a portion of the royalties from their 1980s hit "Down Under," after previously ruling its distinctive flute riff was copied from a children's campfire song.But the penalty — 5 percen...
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WTO rules some EU Airbus subsidies illegal
Lawyer Blogs 07/05/2010The WTO on Wednesday dealt the European Union a painful blow in a transatlantic trade row over multibillion dollar subsidies for US and European aircraft, ruling some state support for Airbus illegal.Rival US airplane manufacturer Boeing claimed a "s...
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New trial ordered in NYC for ex-food service boss
Lawyer Blogs 07/02/2010A federal appeals court ordered a new trial Thursday for the former chief marketing officer of one of the nation's biggest food products distributors, saying errors by a judge make it necessary to dissolve the conviction and the seven-year prison ter...
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Court lets Vatican-sex abuse lawsuit move forward
Lawyer Blogs 07/01/2010The Supreme Court won't stop a lawsuit that accuses the Vatican of transferring a priest from city to city despite repeated accusations of sexual abuse.The high court on Monday refused to hear an appeal from the Holy See, the legal name for the Vatic...
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SEC paying $755K to settle with fired lawyer
Lawyer Blogs 06/30/2010The Securities and Exchange Commission is paying $755,000 to settle a lawsuit with a former staff lawyer who accused the agency of blocking his investigation of a prominent hedge fund.The SEC settlement of Gary Aguirre's wrongful termination claim re...
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Kagan on guns: Court precedents are 'settled law'
Lawyer Blogs 06/29/2010Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan says she considers recent high court decisions expanding gun rights to be "settled law."Kagan was asked at her confirmation hearing about two recent decisions, including a 5-4 ruling Monday, which essentially guarant...
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US top court extends gun rights to states, cities
Lawyer Blogs 06/28/2010The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday extended gun rights to every state and city in the nation in a ruling involving Chicago's 28-year-old handgun ban.By a 5-4 vote and splitting along conservative and liberal lines, the nation's highest court extended i...