Recent Updates
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Jamar Houser: A Profile of St. Dom's Murder Suspect
Lawyer Blogs 02/02/2010As Al Milano watched in court, prosecutors laid out a sampling of Jamar Houser's previous run-ins with the law even before the 18-year-old was accused of killing 80-year-old Angeline Fimognari last month. Houser, who was arrested Friday, was arraigne...
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Calif. Court Nixes $21M Claim Against Travel Sites
Lawyer Blogs 02/02/2010A judge ruled Monday that online travel sites such as Expedia do not owe the city of Anaheim $21 million in hotel taxes for rooms booked over the Internet, the first ruling of its kind in California on an issue that has bubbled up in cities across th...
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High court's ruling is a blow to campaign finance reform
Lawyer Blogs 01/28/2010A conservative legal foundation on Wednesday asked federal regulators to give a green light to corporations and unions to begin spending their treasuries to influence this year's congressional elections. The James Madison Center for Free Speech asked...
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Oklahoma high court allows some use of line-item veto
Lawyer Blogs 01/27/2010The state Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 vote Tuesday that the governor has line-item veto power on sections of legislation that place "conditions or restrictions on previously appropriated funds.” The decision handed down Tuesday ends a legal challeng...
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Court Stops NYC Suit Vs. Online Cigarette Vendor
Lawyer Blogs 01/26/2010The Supreme Court has ruled against New York City in its effort to use federal racketeering law to sue Internet cigarette sellers for lost tax revenue. By a 5-3 vote Monday, the court ended the city's lawsuit against Hemi Group, a New Mexico-based co...
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Prisoner release plan halted pending review
Lawyer Blogs 01/20/2010A federal court order to release 40,000 inmates to relieve prison crowding in California was delayed for up to a year on Tuesday, pending a final review by the U.S. Supreme Court. Justices turned down a challenge by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's admin...
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Court dismisses California prisoner release case
Lawyer Blogs 01/19/2010The high court's decision to dismiss the appeals for lack of jurisdiction occurred as part of a long-running legal battle over California's 33 adult prisons and their often-criticized medical care for inmates.A panel of three federal judges in August...
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Court: Mass. Law on Wine Shipping Unconstitutional
Lawyer Blogs 01/15/2010A Massachusetts law that sharply restricts out-of-state winemakers from shipping their products directly to consumers in the state is unconstitutional, a federal appeals court ruled.Thursday's decision by the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold a ...
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Court Mulls California's Proposition 8
Lawyer Blogs 01/13/2010A federal court turned to historians Tuesday as it considers the constitutionality of Proposition 8, an amendment that banned same-sex marriage in California. Harvard professor Nancy Cott told a federal court in San Francisco that child rearing was o...
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Why NFL’s Supreme Court case is overhyped
Lawyer Blogs 01/12/2010The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in a case later this week that some are touting as pivotal in the business of sports. American Needle Inc. v. the NFL, a supposed David vs. Goliath-type case that could help define the NFL's antitrust status...
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Court Nixes $20M Award in Jacko Taping Suit
Lawyer Blogs 01/12/2010An appellate court tossed a $20 million award against a former jet company that secretly videotaped Michael Jackson and his attorneys during a 2003 flight.The 2nd District Court of Appeal ruled Monday that the award was excessive and that Jeffrey Bor...
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Court blocks broadcast of trial on Calif. ban of gay marriage
Lawyer Blogs 01/11/2010The Supreme Court on Monday morning temporarily blocked a federal judge in San Francisco from showing on YouTube proceedings from a trial that will determine whether a ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. The court's decision is not the fina...