Recent Updates
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Autistic murder defendant poses challenges in Ohio
Lawyer Blogs 03/20/2009Sky Walker watches recordings of "The Price is Right" over and over again on a TV positioned just outside his jail cell, a calming ritual for the autistic teenager, who is prone to erratic behavior swings when his routine is changed. He also gets his...
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Lawmakers Debate Battlefronts in Economic Crisis
Lawyer Blogs 03/16/2009A top economic aide to President Obama defended the administration’s multi-front strategy to tackle a number of economic issues at once, calling it “the right medicine,” while a House GOP leader criticized those plans as a “lack of focus.” “It is an ...
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Madoff faces 150 years in alleged Ponzi scheme
Lawyer Blogs 03/11/2009Bernard Madoff has been placed under oath in a federal courtroom to answer questions from a judge about potential conflicts of interest with his attorney. After stating his name and age, the 70-year-old disgraced financier was asked by the judge Tues...
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Court rules for prosecutors in speedy trial case
Lawyer Blogs 03/10/2009A Vermont man's freedom from jail could be short-lived after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that a state ordinarily is not responsible for a public defender's delays in bringing a criminal case to trial. The court by a 7-2 vote reversed a state ...
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Court turns down NYC case against gun industry
Lawyer Blogs 03/09/2009The Supreme Court has turned away pleas by New York City and gun violence victims to hold the firearms industry responsible for selling guns that could end up in illegal markets. The justices' decision Monday ends lawsuits first filed in 2000. Federa...
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US urges restraint after court moves against Sudan
Lawyer Blogs 03/05/2009The Obama administration called Wednesday for all parties to the Darfur conflict to exercise restraint after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on war crimes charges. The United States is n...
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Madoff trustee asks for firms, property and artwork
Lawyer Blogs 03/04/2009A court-appointed trustee in the case against Bernard Madoff has asked a judge if he may take over ownership of the accused swindler's firm, an associated trading firm, property, artwork and corporate entertainment tickets. Court documents seen on Tu...
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Gigantic gem is subject of LA court case
Lawyer Blogs 03/04/2009An 840-pound emerald-encrusted rock will remain in the custody of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department while a judge decides which of a half-dozen claimants owns the boulder-sized gem. The emerald is one of the largest ever found and a judge c...
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High court to decide when judges should step aside
Lawyer Blogs 03/03/2009The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments in a sensitive dispute about judicial ethics. The justices are expected to issue at least one ruling Tuesday morning, then consider a West Virginia case about when elected judges should step aside from cases...
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Court refuses to take case on coach's team prayer
Lawyer Blogs 03/03/2009The 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 ended Marcus Borden's f...
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Court turns down Agent Orange cases
Lawyer Blogs 03/02/2009The Supreme Court has turned down American and Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange who wanted to pursue lawsuits against companies that made the toxic chemical defoliant used in the Vietnam War. The justices offer no comment on their action Monday, re...
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Court hears appeal in freelancers case
Lawyer Blogs 03/02/2009The Supreme Court will consider reviving the $18 million settlement of a dispute involving payment to freelance writers for use of their work online. The settlement came in a class-action lawsuit filed by the freelancers against publishers and databa...