Recent Updates
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Legal, insurance fees mounting for Metro
Lawyer Blogs 06/26/2009The deadly Metro crash that killed nine people and injured more than 70 is already having a financial effect on the transit system, with legal fees and insurance premiums mounting. The first of what is expected to be many lawsuits was filed two days ...
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Supremacist blogger accused of threatening judges
Lawyer Blogs 06/25/2009A white supremacist blogger was arrested at his New Jersey home Wednesday and charged with threatening to assault or murder three Chicago-based judges who refused to overturn local ordinances banning handguns. Hal Turner, 47, a former Internet radio ...
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US Supreme Court issues first ruling to limit Voting Rights Act
Lawyer Blogs 06/24/2009The 8-1 ruling by the US Supreme Court Monday on the Voting Rights Act has been greeted with a mixture of relief and praise from many civil rights groups and liberal commentators. “It’s fair to say this case was brought to tear the heart out of the V...
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Judge strikes down NYC's green-cab incentive
Lawyer Blogs 06/23/2009A judge on Monday rejected the city's latest maneuver to force taxicab owners to buy fuel-efficient hybrids, the second time in eight months he deemed such rules to be pre-empted by federal laws. Under the rules rejected by U.S. District Judge Paul A...
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Court to rule on federal sex offenders law
Lawyer Blogs 06/22/2009The Supreme Court will decide the constitutionality of a federal law that permits sex offenders to be kept behind bars after they complete their prison terms. The justices, acting Monday, say they will consider the Obama administration's appeal of a ...
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Court makes it harder to prove age discrimination
Lawyer Blogs 06/19/2009The Supreme Court has made it harder to prove discrimination on the basis of age, ruling against an employee in his mid-50s who says he was demoted because of his age. In a 5-4 decision Thursday written by Justice Clarence Thomas, the court said a wo...
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Mich. court gives judges say in witnesses' dress
Lawyer Blogs 06/17/2009The Michigan Supreme Court on Wednesday voted to give judges authority over how witnesses dress in court after a Muslim woman refused to remove her veil while testifying in a small claims case. A statewide court rule letting judges regulate the appea...
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High court won't review 'Cuban 5' espionage case
Lawyer Blogs 06/16/2009Cuban exiles said Monday they were relieved the Supreme Court refused to review the convictions of five intelligence agents for the communist country, despite calls from Nobel Prize winners and international legal groups to consider the case. The con...
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Court goes further spelling out deportation rules
Lawyer Blogs 06/15/2009The Supreme Court says immigration officials do not have to have a jury determine the financial impact of an immigrant's crime in their deportation decisions. The court, in an unanimous decision Monday, turned away Manoj Nijhawan's appeal. Nijhawan, ...
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Supreme Court turns down Conrad Black bail request
Lawyer Blogs 06/12/2009The Supreme Court on Thursday turned down former media executive Conrad Black's request to be released from a Florida prison while he appeals his fraud conviction. Black has served nearly 15 months of a 6 1/2-year prison term following his conviction...
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Judge finds violation in Calif. forest planning
Lawyer Blogs 06/12/2009Federal agencies violated the Endangered Species Act by developing plans for four national forests in California without adequately addressing the impact on endangered animals, a judge ruled. The judge's order will require estimates of how forest pro...
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2 Alaska lawmakers could be freed, review ordered
Lawyer Blogs 06/11/2009Two former Alaska state lawmakers could be released from prison soon after a federal appeals court Wednesday ordered their corruption convictions reviewed. The orders were expected after the U.S. Justice Department last week concluded prosecutors imp...