Recent Updates
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N.J. General Assembly Votes to Repeal Death Penalty
Lawyer Blogs 12/13/2007New Jersey is set to become the first state to legislatively abolish the death penalty since the Supreme Court restored it in the mid-1970s. Opponents of capital punishment hope the state's action may prompt a rethinking of the moral and practical im...
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Barry Bonds Ready for Legal Battle
Lawyer Blogs 12/12/2007For former San Francisco Giants superstar Barry Bonds, a man accustomed to controlling his own agenda and fortunes, life is now in the hands of his flotilla of lawyers. A seemingly calm Bonds appeared in a San Francisco federal courtroom Friday...
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Supreme Court turns down PG&E appeal
Lawyer Blogs 12/11/2007[##_1L|1069728596.jpg|width="130" height="93" alt=""|_##]The Supreme Court on Monday, without comment, turned down an appeal by PG&E Corp.'s Pacific Gas and Electric Co. in a case that centers on whether federal energy regulators have authority o...
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Appeals Court Upholds Patriot Act Ruling
Lawyer Blogs 12/11/2007A federal appeals court ruled that some portions of the U.S. Patriot Act dealing with foreign terrorist organizations are unconstitutional because the language is too vague to be understood by a person of average intelligence.The ruling released Mond...
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Wineries Fight State Shipping Laws
Lawyer Blogs 12/10/2007Unionville Vineyards plans to expand by planting more pinot noir and adding Rhone varietals next year, but winemaker Cameron Stark knows he's fighting an uphill battle. He recognizes New Jersey's reputation as a wine producer isn't exactly that of Ca...
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Court Battle Looms over Nina Wang's Estate
Lawyer Blogs 12/10/2007A High Court judge in Hong Kong Monday appointed an administrator to oversee the estate of Asia's richest woman, the late Nina Wang, ahead of an anticipated court battle over her fortune estimated to be at least 4.2 billion dollars. Wang, 69, the for...
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Federal Court Hears Pledge, Motto Cases
Lawyer Blogs 12/05/2007An atheist pleaded with a federal appeals court to remove the words "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance and "In God We Trust" from U.S. currency, saying the references disrespect his religious beliefs."I want to be treated equally," said Michae...
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High court mulls racial bias in juror selection
Lawyer Blogs 12/05/2007A deeply torn Supreme Court on Tuesday probed the actions of a Louisiana prosecutor who eliminated all blacks from a jury pool, then invoked the O.J. Simpson case in urging the all-white jury to sentence a black man to death.Prosecutor James Williams...
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Teen Pleads Guilty to Highway Shootings
Lawyer Blogs 12/05/2007A teenager pleaded guilty to reduced charges Monday in a series of Indiana highway sniper shootings that left one man dead and another wounded.Zachariah Blanton, 18, of Gaston, had been scheduled to stand trial next week on charges of murder, attempt...
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NJ top court upholds killer's death sentence
Lawyer Blogs 12/04/2007[##_1L|1316004220.jpg|width="140" height="105" alt=""|_##]A unanimous state Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the death sentence for Ambrose Harris, ruling that the special circumstances that removed another killer from death row did not apply to Harri...
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Pledge, Motto Cases to Be Heard by Court
Lawyer Blogs 12/04/2007An atheist seeking to remove the words "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance and U.S. currency is taking his arguments back to a federal appeals court.Michael Newdow, a Sacramento doctor and lawyer, sued the Elk Grove Unified School District in 2...
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Court Rejects Mental Health Case
Lawyer Blogs 12/03/2007[##_1L|1399685188.jpg|width="140" height="105" alt=""|_##]A Mississippi death row inmate whose lawyer had never tried a case and suffered from mental illness failed Monday to persuade the Supreme Court to take his case. The court did not comment in d...