Recent Updates
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Federal court officials fear budget cuts
Legal Events 08/06/2013Federal courts officials in Minnesota say they're worried automatic spending cuts will jeopardize the justice system's smooth operation, with layoffs likely in both the U.S. attorney and public defender's offices. The cuts are part of what's known as...
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Iowa top court: Firing of attractive aide is legal
Legal Events 07/13/2013The Iowa Supreme Court on Friday stood by its ruling that a dentist acted legally when he fired an assistant because he found her too attractive and worried he would try to start an affair. Coming to the same conclusion as it did in December, the all...
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US Supreme Court orders 6 death row cases reviewed
Legal Events 06/04/2013The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday sent the cases of six Texas death row inmates, including one of the infamous "Texas 7" gang of escapees, back to a lower court for reviews of whether attorneys in earlier stages of appeals let the men down. The decisi...
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Court dismisses lawsuits in power plant deaths
Legal Events 05/14/2013The Colorado Court of Appeals has dismissed lawsuits against three companies in the deaths of five workers at a power plant in 2007. The appeals court agreed Thursday with a judge that there was no evidence that the companies violated duties or faile...
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Lawyer questions memory of Philadelphia accuser
Legal Events 01/18/2013A longtime heroin addict whose complaint helped imprison a Philadelphia archdiocese official came under attack Wednesday, as jurors in a priest-abuse trial learned that he had given three different locations for one alleged rape.Defense lawyers quest...
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Court weighs warrantless blood tests in DUI cases
Legal Events 01/09/2013The Supreme Court is considering whether police must get a warrant before ordering a blood test on an unwilling drunken-driving suspect. The justices heard arguments Wednesday in a case involving a disputed blood test from Missouri. Police stopped a ...
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Fla. to execute mass killer after court lifts stay
Legal Events 10/27/2012A convicted mass killer from the 1970s is again scheduled for execution Tuesday after an appeals court lifted a last-minute stay that was based on his mental illness. His attorneys sought a last-minute reprieve from the U.S. Supreme Court. The execut...
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Supreme Court views not 'liberal or conservative'
Legal Events 10/19/2012U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts said Wednesday that people shouldn't think the high court's justices make decisions in terms of a liberal or conservative agenda. Roberts told a crowd of nearly 4,800 people at Rice University in Houston ...
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Ex-NFL WR Hurd pleads not guilty to new charges
Legal Events 10/08/2012Former NFL receiver Sam Hurd pleaded not guilty Wednesday to a new indictment accusing him of trying to obtain cocaine and marijuana while he was out on bond awaiting trial on charges of trying to start a drug ring in the Chicago area. The indictment...
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Federal court upholds Texas open meetings law
Legal Events 09/29/2012A federal appeals court has upheld Texas' open meetings law as constitutional, rejecting a lawsuit that argued it stifled free speech for government officials. The 1967 Texas Open Meetings Act prohibits a quorum of members of a governmental body from...
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MacDonald goes to court in 'Fatal Vision' case
Legal Events 09/20/2012Jeffrey MacDonald, a clean-cut Green Beret and doctor convicted of killing of his pregnant wife and their two daughters, is getting another chance to try proving his innocence — more than four decades after the nation was gripped by his tales of Char...
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W.Va. court hears 'rescue' funding arguments
Legal Events 09/05/2012Whether West Virginia Supreme Court candidate Allen Loughry receives additional public funds for his campaign hinges on whether the U.S. Supreme Court sees a difference between elections for the judiciary and races for other political posts, the stat...