Appellate court overturns Kickapoo conviction
Headline Legal News
A federal appellate court has overturned the conviction of a former tribal casino manager and his family for allegedly stealing from a tribal casino near the Texas-Mexico border.
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans overturned the embezzlement convictions of Isidro Garza Jr., his wife and one of his sons. The trio had been among so-called the "Kickapoo Seven" — a group of tribal and casino employees from the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas accused of stealing from the tribe's small casino near Eagle Pass.
The appellate court overturned the convictions because it said that U.S. District Judge Alia Ludlum erred in transferring the case to Waco, about 300 miles from where the defendants, attorneys and witnesses lived.
Related listings
-
Supreme Court halts release of 2 murderers
Headline Legal News 12/18/2009North Carolina's Supreme Court has temporarily halted the release of two convicted murderers under life sentences.The court granted a request from the state attorney general's office Friday afternoon, shortly before Alford Jones and Faye Brown were s...
-
Guilty plea in Wash. shooting spree that killed 6
Headline Legal News 11/18/2009A man who killed six people, including a sheriff's deputy, in a northwest Washington shooting rampage last year pleaded guilty Tuesday and will spend the rest of his life in a mental hospital or prison.Isaac Zamora entered the pleas to 18 charges, in...
-
Obama administration: Toss wiretap lawsuit
Headline Legal News 11/02/2009Attorney General Eric Holder says a lawsuit in San Francisco over warrantless wiretapping threatens to expose ongoing intelligence work and must be thrown out. In making the argument, the Obama administration agreed with the Bush administration's pos...
USCIS Issues Clarifying Guidance on NAFTA TN Status Eligibility for Economists
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today that it is clarifying policy guidance (PDF, 71 KB) on the specific work activities its officers should consider when determining whether an individual qualifies for TN nonimmigrant status as an economist.
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) TN nonimmigrant status allows qualified Canadian and Mexican citizens to temporarily enter the U.S. to engage in specific professional activities, including the occupation of economist. The agreement, however, does not define the term economist, resulting in inconsistent decisions on whether certain analysts and financial professionals qualify for TN status as economists.
TN nonimmigrant status is intended to allow a limited number of professionals and specialists to work temporarily in certain specifically identified occupations in the United States. This updated guidance provides USCIS officers with a specific definition of one such category – economists – allowing them to adjudicate applications in a way that complies with the intent of the agreement. This policy update clarifies that professional economists requesting TN status must engage primarily in activities consistent with the profession of an economist. Individuals who work primarily in other occupations related to the field of economics — such as financial analysts, marketing analysts, and market research analysts — are not eligible for classification as a TN economist.