Recent Updates
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NY's top court rejects prison phone rate refunds
Legal News Center 11/24/2009New York's highest court ruled Monday that families forced to pay high phone rates to talk to relatives in state prison won't receive refunds for the cost.The lawsuit was first brought by the inmates' families in 2004.In a 5-1 decision, the Court of ...
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Atlanta judicial leaders declare court 'emergency'
Legal News Center 11/20/2009Georgia's biggest court system has warned that a 2010 Fulton County proposal that cuts $53 million from the judicial budget could force them to shut down the courthouse, jeopardize death penalty cases and slash as many as 1,000 jobs.Fulton County's j...
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Law Firm Manager Gets 41 Months for Embezzling $1.3M
Legal News Center 11/19/2009Regina Schenck, 46, of Herald, a small community in southern Sacramento County, is headed to prison for three years and five months, the sentenced handed down for her stealing $1.3 million from her employer, Sacramento law firm Diepenbrock Harrison.S...
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US court: CIA didn't violate Plame's speech rights
Legal News Center 11/13/2009A federal appeals court in New York says the CIA did not violate Valerie Plame's free speech rights.The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a 2007 lower court decision in its ruling Thursday. The decision barred Plame from revealing the length of her...
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U.S. Seeks Forfeiture From Florida Law Firm Founder Rothstein
Legal News Center 11/11/2009Scott Rothstein, the Florida lawyer whose firm asked U.S. prosecutors to investigate the alleged disappearance of $500 million in investor funds, was accused in a government filing of conducting a “Ponzi” scheme. Acting U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Sloman i...
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High court to look at life in prison for juveniles
Legal News Center 11/09/2009The Supreme Court is considering whether sentencing a juvenile to life in prison with no chance of parole is cruel and unusual punishment, particularly if the crime is less serious than homicide.The cases being heard Monday involve two Florida convic...
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Supreme Court wades into mutual fund fee disparity
Legal News Center 11/06/2009The U.S. Supreme Court is taking a close look at a question individual investors have long asked about their mutual funds, but the courts have largely ignored: Why am I getting charged twice as much as big institutional clients?Sure enough, the money...
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Ariz. court rules records law covers 'metadata'
Legal News Center 10/30/2009Hidden data embedded in electronic public records must be disclosed under Arizona's public records law, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday in a case that attracted interest from media and government organizations.The Supreme Court's unanimous dec...
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Conviction of Berlusconi-linked lawyer upheld
Legal News Center 10/27/2009An appeals court has upheld the conviction of British lawyer David Mills for accepting a bribe to lie in court to protect Silvio Berlusconi.The decision Tuesday is a potential embarrassment for the Italian premier, whose trial in the same corruption ...
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2 Supreme Court justices taking stage in DC opera
Legal News Center 10/26/2009Two U.S. Supreme Court justices are taking theatrics out of the courtroom — and into to a more suitable venue.Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Antonin Scalia will have nonspeaking roles Saturday night in a production by the Washington National Opera....
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Ashcroft: Judges should rehear 9/11 witness case
Legal News Center 10/21/2009Former Attorney General John Ashcroft has asked a federal appeals court to reconsider its ruling that he can be held personally responsible for wrongfully detaining people as material witnesses after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.Abdullah al-Kidd, a U.S...
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NC inmates being freed have 256 prison infractions
Legal News Center 10/18/2009The AlabaThe violent North Carolina criminals set to be freed later this month because of a court ruling and good conduct credits have racked up more than 250 infractions in prison for offenses such as fighting, weapon possession and theft.Department...