Recent Updates
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Payday lending law violated constitution
National News 11/06/2008A 1999 state law allowing so-called payday lenders to charge high fees for short-term loans violates the state constitution, the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled Thursday.In a 6-0 decision, the court said the fees permitted under the 1999 Check Cashers A...
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Hall & Oates sue in NY over `Maneater' recording
National News 11/05/2008Daryl Hall and John Oates have filed a lawsuit saying their music publisher failed to protect their rights to their 1982 hit "Maneater."The pop duo's lawsuit says they learned in April 2007 that an unidentified singer-songwriter had used "Maneater" i...
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Court to decide on convict's right to test DNA
National News 11/03/2008The Supreme Court will decide whether, years after his conviction, a defendant has a constitutional right to test genetic evidence found at the crime scene.The justices, in an order Monday, accepted the appeal of prosecutors in Alaska. They asked the...
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Navy Refuses to Release McCain Car Crash Records
National News 10/20/2008Journalists say the U.S. Navy refuses to release documents about a 1964auto accident in which then-Lt. John McCain was involved, and injured,along with another man, outside the main gate of the Norfolk Navy Base.The Navy allegedly located the documen...
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Court Stays Guantanamo Prisoner Release
National News 10/09/2008The Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on Wednesday stayed a federaljudge's order that the Bush administration free 17 prisoners fromGuantanamo. U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina ordered the governmentto bring the prisoners to his court Friday, s...
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Tokyo Broadcasting Sues ABC for Ripping off Shows
National News 10/07/2008ABC's "reality" show "Wipeout" is a ripoff of Tokyo BroadcastingSystem's shows, the Japanese network claims in Federal Court. TBS saysABC's show might "more aptly be titled 'Swipe-Out, given that it isnothing more than a blatant copycat combination o...
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State Farm Won't Back Mean Mom
National News 10/06/2008State Farm says a policyholder, a mother, suggested her daughter taunta girl the daughter doesn't like by writing insults, including "bitch,""whore," "slut" and "you have no friends," on disposable diapers andstrewing them about the girl's yard. The ...
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Judge Rejects Challenge to College Religious Displays
National News 09/30/2008Religious displays in the bursar's office at Hunter College do not constitute a government endorsement of religion, a federal judge ruled. U.S. District Judge Richard Holwell dismissed a challenge brought by Herman Menes, a college accountant who sai...
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New class action filed over US warrantless surveillance program
National News 09/22/2008The Electronic Frontier Foundation on Thursday filed a class action lawsuit seeking injunctive, declaratory and equitable relief from the National Security Agency warrantless surveillance program, which gave government agencies access to over 300 ter...
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Bush to sign disabilities bill passed by US House
National News 09/19/2008A bill overwriting judicial interpretations which have narrowed protections under the Americans With Disabilities Act awaits President Bush's signature following passage by the US House of Representatives on Wednesday. The ADA Amendments Act of 2008,...
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TSA Wins Ruling over Air Marshal's Text Leak
National News 09/18/2008The Transportation Safety Agency did not violate an air marshal's due process rights when it disciplined him for leaking a text message to the media, the 9th Circuit ruled. Robert McLean received a text message in late July 2003 stating that there wo...
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Pole Dance Teacher Sues City To Combat 'Pall Of Orthodoxy'
National News 08/29/2008Adams Township unconstitutionally refused a permit to a woman who wants to open a "dance and fitness studio ... to teach women how to pole dance, power lap dance, and strip tease - all while fully clothed," Stephanie Babines claims in Federal Court. ...