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September 8, 2010 | Posted in Law | Read More »
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The California Supreme Court on Thursday limited the ability of death row inmates and those sentenced to life without parole to obtain information from law enforcement that might help their appeals. In interpreting a 2002 law, the state high court ruled 4 to 3 that such inmates must show the material they want exists to [...]
A California attorney known as the “tax lady” whose law firm grosses some $25 million a year has been accused by the state attorney general of operating a “heartless scheme” that takes retainers from thousands of clients while doing little or nothing to help them. In fact, instead of reducing clients’ tax liability to the [...]
Law enforcement officers may secretly place a GPS device on a person’s car without seeking a warrant from a judge, according to a recent federal appeals court ruling in California. Drug Enforcement Administration agents in Oregon in 2007 surreptitiously attached a GPS to the silver Jeep owned by Juan Pineda-Moreno, whom they suspected of growing [...]
A federal judge in California ordered Wells Fargo & Co. to change what he called “unfair and deceptive business practices” that led customers into paying multiple overdraft fees, and to pay $203 million back to customers. In a decision handed down late Tuesday, U.S. District Judge William Alsup accused Wells Fargo of “profiteering” by changing [...]
Elena Kagan was sworn in Saturday as the 112th justice and fourth woman ever to serve on the Supreme Court. Chief Justice John Roberts administered the oath to Kagan in a brief private ceremony at the court. Kagan, joined by family and friends, pledged to faithfully and impartially uphold the law. Afterward, she smiled broadly [...]
The U.S. Senate by a 63-37 vote on Thursday confirmed Elena Kagan as the nation’s 112th Supreme Court justice and its fourth-ever female member –- but, as predicted, with just a handful of votes from Republican senators. That a former U.S. solicitor general and dean of Harvard Law School would attract just five votes from [...]
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger nominated 3rd District Court of Appeal Justice Tani Gorre Cantil-Sakauye as the next chief justice Wednesday morning, which would make her the first Asian American to lead the state’s judiciary and give the California Supreme Court a female majority for the first time in its history. Cantil-Sakauye, 50, a Sacramento native who [...]
The civil rights attorney Lynne Stewart’s sentence was increased Thursday after an appeals court ruled that two years and four months of prison time was too light. Stewart was found guilty in 2005 of distributing press releases on behalf of her jailed client Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, also known as the “Blind Sheikh.” We play excerpts [...]
High-ranking officials at the Department of Justice argued on Tuesday that the suit they filed challenging the legality of Arizona’s new immigration law was a necessary step in order to avoid a “patchwork” of policies across the country. “This is about who in our constitutional system has the authority to formulate immigration policy,” said a [...]
In a setback for prosecutors, the Supreme Court on Thursday narrowed the scope of a federal fraud law frequently used to go after white-collar crime suspects. The decision could benefit former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling and a host of politicians who face charges or have been convicted of “honest services” fraud. The justices were unanimous [...]
The Supreme Court blocked the government Tuesday from deporting legal immigrants for minor drug possession charges, ruling that only serious or violent crimes called for removing otherwise law-abiding people from this country. In a 9-0 decision, the justices stopped the deportation of a Texas man who had pleaded guilty at different times to having a [...]
The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that suspects must explicitly tell police they want to be silent to invoke Miranda protections during criminal interrogations, a decision one dissenting justice said turns defendants’ rights “upside down.” A right to remain silent and a right to a lawyer are the first of the Miranda rights warnings, which police [...]
A good way to end up on death row in Texas is to be accused of a capital crime and have Jerry Guerinot represent you. Twenty of Mr. Guerinot’s clients have been sentenced to death. That is more people than are awaiting execution in about half of the 35 states that have the death penalty. [...]
The Supreme Court ruled Monday that federal officials can indefinitely hold inmates considered “sexually dangerous” after their prison terms are complete. The high court reversed a lower court decision that said Congress overstepped its authority in allowing indefinite detentions of considered “sexually dangerous.” “The statute is a ‘necessary and proper’ means of exercising the federal [...]
Many a proud parent is watching a child graduate from law school this month after years of hard work and hefty expense. But for attorney Daniel Formeller it will be a scene played out in triplicate. All three of his 26-year-old triplets will earn their juris doctor degrees this weekend from DePaul University College of [...]
President Barack Obama will nominate Solicitor-General Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court, a person familiar with the president’s thinking said Sunday night. The move positions the court to have three female justices for the first time in history. The source spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision had not been made public. President Obama [...]
The Supreme Court is closing its iconic front entrance beneath the words “Equal Justice Under Law.’’ Beginning today, visitors no longer will ascend the wide marble steps to enter the 75-year-old building. They will be directed to a central screening facility to the side of and beneath the central steps that was built to improve [...]
First black district attorney is using his office to get prisoners out of jail and rein in a culture of harsh sentences. Chris Scott spent a dozen years pleading his innocence from one jail cell after another. Through a bizarre coincidence he even discovered who had committed the murder for which he was serving a [...]
In a decision that could affect tens of thousands of people, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that immigrants living in this country must be told by their lawyers whether pleading guilty to a crime could lead to deportation. Jose Padilla, a native of Honduras and a decorated Vietnam War veteran, has lived in the [...]
The Supreme Court granted a temporary stay of execution late Wednesday for a condemned Texas inmate who is requesting DNA testing of evidence in his case. The order was handed down less than an hour before Henry “Hank” Skinner, 47, was scheduled to be executed by injection for the New Year’s Eve 1993 killings of [...]
The Supreme Court appeared willing Tuesday to say that the Constitution’s right to possess guns limits state and local regulation of firearms. But the justices also suggested that some gun control measures might not be affected. The court heard arguments in a case that challenges handgun bans in the Chicago area by asking the high [...]
It’s a 28-word law that federal prosecutors have used for more than two decades to send high-profile public officials and corporate executives, including former Enron Corp. CEO Jeff Skilling, to prison. But the law’s future could be in doubt as Skilling’s appeal of his criminal convictions — in which he challenges the statute’s constitutional validity [...]
A federal judge has ruled that McGuireWoods won’t get any attorney fees in a $49 million antitrust settlement with BAR/BRI parent company West Publishing Corp. U.S. District Judge Manuel Real ruled earlier this month that the law firm is not entitled to $12 million in fees because of a conflict of interest that violated ethics [...]
As more people seek dismissal for financial hardship, their claims face much tighter scrutiny. In one case the jury pool was so rebellious and ‘scary’ that both sides agreed to let the judge decide. Spurned in his effort to get out of jury duty, salesman Tony Prados turned his attention to the case that could [...]
For weeks, the right has heckled Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. for his plans to try the alleged 9/11 conspirators in New York City and his handling of the Christmas bombing plot suspect. Now the left is going to be upset: an upcoming Justice Department report from its ethics-watchdog unit, the Office of Professional Responsibility [...]
The Supreme Court today overturned a century-old restriction on corporations using their money to sway federal elections and ruled that companies have a free-speech right to spend as much as they wish to persuade voters to elect or defeat candidates for Congress and the White House. In a 5-4 decision, the court’s conservative bloc said [...]
The FBI violated the law in collecting thousands of U.S. telephone records during the Bush administration, according to a report published on Tuesday. Citing internal memos and interviews, the report states that the FBI invoked nonexistent terrorism emergencies or persuaded phone companies to provide information. The report said the result was more than 2,000 illegally [...]
The 6th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees a criminal defendant the right “to be confronted with the witnesses against him.” In June, 2009 the Supreme Court adapted that principle to the age of “CSI” by requiring prosecutors who use laboratory reports to call the experts who prepared them so that they can be cross-examined [...]
As a young prosecutor in the early 1990s, Bobby DeLaughter was a hero to the civil rights community, a white Mississippian who gambled with his future by pursuing an old race crime that many locals simply wanted to forget. Mr. DeLaughter’s doggedness in successfully prosecuting the white supremacist Byron De La Beckwith was celebrated in [...]
A federal appeals court on Monday issued one of the most comprehensive rulings yet limiting police use of Tasers against low-level offenders who seem to pose little threat and may be mentally ill. In a case out of San Diego County, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals criticized an officer who, without warning, shot [...]
If a defense attorney, a prosecutor and a judge were to walk into a music hall what would be the first thing they’d do? “Spend a half-hour arguing legal motions,” veteran Los Angeles lawyer David Waller says one of his colleagues told him when he learned Waller would be toting his cello to a rehearsal [...]
A controversial United Nations-backed operation in the Democratic Republic of Congo that is reported to have claimed hundreds of civilian lives will be wrapped up by year’s end, a senior UN envoy has said. Speaking to the Security Council on Wednesday, Alan Doss, the UN special envoy to the Congo said the objective of the [...]
After more than three decades in prison, James Bain is eager to be able to help his wheelchair-bound mother. If all goes as planned in a Florida courtroom Thursday, Bain, 54, will be allowed to go home for the first time in 35 years — free from his life sentence thanks to a DNA test [...]
A man who spent 28 years in prison for a rape and murder has been released, after DNA testing showed he is innocent.“I’m happy that I’m a free man and I’m going home,” Gates said.Tucson federal prison officials say 58-year-old Donald Eugene Gates was released Tuesday morning from the federal prison on Wilmot Rd.“I’m just [...]
Police officers must obtain a search warrant before searching the contents of a suspect’s cell phone unless their safety is in danger, a divided Ohio Supreme Court ruled Tuesday on an issue that appears never to have reached another state high court or the U.S. Supreme Court. The court ruled 5-4 in favor of Antwaun Smith, [...]
Illinois State Attorney General, Lisa Madigan, is attacking Journalism Students at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism for their efforts to investigate the facts surrounding the criminal charges and convictions obtained against prison inmates in the State. Illinois has gained the reputation of convicting innocent people of crimes they did not commit. The death penalty [...]
It’s an expensive lesson on the importance of reading your mail. A Wisconsin judge has ordered PepsiCo Inc to pay $1.26 Billion to two men who said it stole their idea to sell purified water after a secretary mislaid a document alerting the world’s No. 2 soft drink maker the lawsuit existed. The case was [...]
Image via Wikipedia An apartment management company in Illinois has sued a tenant for libel over a “malicious and defamatory” tweet about the state of her apartment to her 20 followers on Twitter. The Horizon Group Management filed a lawsuit against Amanda Bonnen, who was a tenant in one of its Chicago buildings. The complaint [...]
Bangladesh Anthrax Spreads, Public Panics
Top Police Official In Siberia Accused Of Taking $450,000 In Bribes
Russian Banker Shot Dead In Moscow
Russian Performers Drop Fish-Eating Circus Act
Taliban Chief Says Victory Imminent
North Korea Marks 62nd Founding Day
Fear Of Fresh Violence In Nigeria
Rachel Corrie Trial: During War There Are No Civilians
Egypt’s Leprosy Colony Lives On, VIDEO
US Soldiers ‘Kept Afghan Body Parts’
China’s Blind Activist Lawyer Released From Prison
9th Circuit Throws Out CIA Torture Lawsuit For National Security Reasons
Mexican Mayor Gunned Down Inside Own Office
Giant Rats Put Noses To Work On Africa’s Land Mine Epidemic
Fidel: ‘Cuban Model Doesn’t Even Work For Us Anymore’
Vitamin B Halts Memory Loss In Breakthrough British Trial
Bremner: ‘I Represent Seattle Police, You Can’t Arrest Me’
Russian Rokot Carrier With Three Satellites Blasts Off From Plesetsk Space Center
Police In Kamchatka Seize Poached Caviar Worth $1 Million
Europe Raids File-Sharing Groups Including Sweden
Kabul Bank Freezes Assets of Directors And Major Borrowers
Meeting The Taliban In Baghlan, VIDEO
United Nations ‘Failed’ Congo Rape Victims
California Regulators Seek Up To $9.9 Billion In Fines From PacifiCare
18 Murdered In Shoe Factory Shooting In Honduras
The Amazing World Of The Praying Mantis
9/11 Koran Burning Would Put US Troops’ In Danger, Petraeus Warns
Dozens Of Homes Burn Across Detroit, VIDEO
John Lennon’s Killer Denied Parole For The 6th Time
Belize Mob Torches Americans’ Animal Sanctuary
Pastor Wonders If It’s Wise To Burn Qurans Amid U.S. Warnings, VIDEO
Italian Crime Fighting Mayor Is Killed In Mafia-Style Execution
With A Little Help From My Friends
In Russia, No Kasha Creates Political Tension
Thieves Steal 3 Ancient Icons From Moscow Region Church
George Soros Donates $100 Million To Human Rights Watch
Congolese Poachers Destroy Protected Birds
French Unions Stage Nationwide Strike
Oracle Hires Former HP’s Mark Hurd
LAPD Kills Unarmed Migrant, Community Protests
El Salvador: 3rd Migrant Survived Mexico Massacre
Mexican Soldiers Open Fire On Family’s Car At Checkpoint, Killing 15-Year-Old And Father
U.S. Considers Boosting Funds For Mexico Drug War
California’s Union Jobs Take Hit From Recession
Israeli Minister: Speed Up Building, A Promise Is A Promise
Miners Seeking Gold Destroy Suriname Ecosystem
Little Rock Nine Member, Jefferson Thomas
Putin Compares Himself To Roosevelt As He Hints At Third Term
Condoleezza Rice ‘Ordered Bush To Stay Out Of Washington’ After 9/11
Stone Mason Sparks Cathedral Row With ‘Muslim’ Gargoyle
John Travolta Drops Charges In Extortion Case
150 Arrested In Mozambique Following Deadly Protests
U.S. Investors Sue For Payback For Pre-World War II German Bonds
Saad al-Hariri Retracts Charge That Syria Killed His Father
North Korea Plans Succession Meeting
The Arrest And Trial Of Human Rights Activist Shiva Nazar-Ahari
Arsenic Scare Hits Argentina, VIDEO
President Obama Unveils $50 Billion Infrastructure Plan
Cockroach Immune To Deadly Super-Bacteria
Gulf Residents Test Positive For Oil In Blood
