Recent Updates
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Rome court acquits ex-Vatican accountant of corruption
Ethics 01/15/2016A lawyer for an Italian monsignor who was fired from his Vatican accountant's job says a Rome court has acquitted his client of corruption. Prosecutors alleged Monsignor Nunzio Scarano was involved in a purported plot to use a private plane to try to...
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High court seems skeptical of mandatory public union fees
Notable Attorneys 01/14/2016The Supreme Court appears ready to deliver a major setback to American unions as it considers scrapping a four-decade precedent that lets public-sector labor organizations collect fees from workers who decline to join. During more than an hour of ora...
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High court raises doubts over Puerto Rico sovereignty
Recent Cases 01/14/2016The Supreme Court on Wednesday raised doubts about whether Puerto Rico should be treated as a sovereign state with powers that go beyond its status as a territory of the United States. The justices considered the question during arguments in a...
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Florida asks court to deny inmate's execution-delay request
Recent Cases 01/13/2016Florida has asked the state's high court to reject a condemned inmate's request to delay his execution based on the U.S. Supreme Court's finding that Florida's procedure for imposing the death penalty is illegal. In a brief filed Thursday, Florida At...
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Japan court gives go-ahead for restart of 2 nuke reactors
Legal Events 12/24/2015A Japanese court gave the go-ahead for the restart of two nuclear reactors Thursday after its operator said in an appeal they were safe. The Fukui District Court in western Japan lifted an April injunction that was filed by a group of residents who s...
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ACLU to appeal court ruling in Missouri drug testing case
Legal Solutions 12/22/2015The American Civil Liberties Union said it plans to appeal a federal court ruling that upheld a technical college’s plan to force every incoming student to be tested for drugs. Tony Rothert, legal director for the ACLU’s Missouri chapter, told the Je...
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Court won't order immediate evaluation of mogul Redstone
National News 12/21/2015A judge Monday declined to order a medical examination of Sumner Redstone but ruled that lawyers for his former companion can take the sworn testimony of two of the ailing media mogul's doctors. Judge David J. Cowan also ruled that Redstone's longtim...
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Ex-Illinois guardsman pleads guilty in Islamic State plot
Legal Issues 12/20/2015A former Illinois National Guard soldier pleaded guilty Monday to charges alleging he conspired to provide material support to the Islamic State group. Hasan Edmonds, 23, of Aurora, Illinois, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to provide mater...
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High court takes up challenges to drunken-driving test
Headline Legal News 12/20/2015The Supreme Court will decide whether states can criminalize a driver's refusal to take an alcohol test even if police have not obtained a search warrant. The justices on Friday agreed to hear three cases challenging laws in Minnesota and North Dakot...
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Polish court convicts chemist of planning parliament attack
Legal Issues 12/19/2015A court in southern Poland has handed a 13-year prison term to a chemist found guilty of having plotted a bomb attack on parliament and other buildings in 2012. The man, identified as Brunon Kwiecien, a university teacher in Krakow, was arrested in 2...
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Japan court says requiring same surname in marriage is legal
Legal Events 12/18/2015Japan's Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that requiring married couples to have the same surname is constitutional, dealing a blow to a longtime effort for gender equality in choosing names. The law does not say which partner must give up his or her nam...
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Court papers: Witness ID'd man in playground shooting
Headline Legal News 12/01/2015A witness's statement and photo identification led to the arrest of a man accused in a playground shootout that wounded 17 people, court papers show. Joseph "Moe" Allen, 32, faces 17 counts of attempted murder in the Nov. 22 gunfight at Bunny Friend ...