Recent Updates
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US appeals court OKs Facenda suit against NFL
Lawyer Blogs 09/10/2008A U.S. appeals court says the son of legendary football announcer John Facenda can sue NFL Films over the use of his father's voice.The suit stems from the brief use of his late father's voice in a show about a John Madden video game. Facenda's contr...
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LA County puts taco truck battle on front burner
Lawyer Blogs 09/09/2008Southern California's taco truck war continued to sizzle as county officials asked a judge to reinstate a law he threw out last month that had forced truck operators to move every hour or face the threat of jail.County officials say the trucks, many ...
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Court refuses to dismiss Pa. pathologist's charges
Lawyer Blogs 09/08/2008A federal appeals court Friday refused to dismiss fraud and theft charges against celebrity pathologist Cyril Wecht and said he can be tried again — but ordered the judge replaced to help ease the "rancor in the courtroom."The judge at Wecht's first ...
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Judge: Pa. mass killer too unstable to be executed
Lawyer Blogs 09/08/2008A Pennsylvania judge says mass murderer George Banks is too mentally ill to be executed.Banks killed 13 people in a 1982 shooting rampage in northeastern Pennsylvania. Five of the victims were his own children.Judge Michael Conahan agrees with defens...
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Documents held in Los Angeles priest abuse cases
Lawyer Blogs 09/05/2008The departure of a key figure in a record $660 million clergy sexual abuse settlement has endangered part of the deal that some plaintiffs consider more important than the money: the promise by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles to allow t...
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Detroit mayor expected to make plea in court
Lawyer Blogs 09/04/2008After months of defiantly holding onto his office, Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick appeared ready to give it up as part of a plea deal with prosecutors in a sex-and-misconduct scandal that has embarrassed the nation's 11th-largest city for months.The Wayne Co...
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Suit against gay marriage recognition in NY tossed
Lawyer Blogs 09/03/2008A judge has thrown out the first direct legal challenge to the New York governor's move to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states, calling the policy a legally allowable stand for fairness.A decision by gay couples to wed represents "...
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Judge's ruling frees man convicted in 1984 murder
Lawyer Blogs 09/02/2008A man convicted in a 1984 gas-station killing has been freed from prison by a judge who ruled his capital murder trial was unconstitutionally flawed.Darryl Burton, 46, was scheduled to appear Tuesday at a news conference in Kansas City along with the...
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California prisons prepare for gay weddings
Lawyer Blogs 08/29/2008Now that same-sex couples can get married in California, state prison officials are trying to figure out what that means for gay inmates.No prisoners so far have sought to arrange weddings with same-sex partners since the state Supreme Court granted ...
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Judge fears secret hearings over Guantanamo Bay
Lawyer Blogs 08/28/2008A federal judge overseeing cases against dozens of Guantanamo Bay detainees said Wednesday that he fears the public — and the detainees themselves — will be locked out of the courtroom when evidence in the case is scrutinized for the first time.Hundr...
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Man who sparked Obama threat probe due in court
Lawyer Blogs 08/28/2008The Colorado man who authorities say made racist threats against Barack Obama is scheduled to be formally charged on state drug and weapons offenses.Tharin Gartrell is due in Arapaho County Court on Thursday.Authorities say police found scoped rifles...
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Bush steps up fight over congressional authority
Lawyer Blogs 08/27/2008The Bush administration is raising the stakes in a court fight that could change the balance of power between the White House and Congress.Justice Department lawyers said Wednesday that they will soon ask a federal appeals court not to force the pres...