Recent Updates
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Black robes or bathrobes? Virus alters high court traditions
National Legal News 05/01/2020The coronavirus pandemic is forcing big changes at the tradition-bound Supreme Court. The justices will hear arguments this month by telephone for the first time since Alexander Graham Bell patented his invention in 1876.Audio of the arguments will b...
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Georgia high court election cancellation headed for appeal
National Legal News 03/17/2020A would-be candidate for a seat on Georgia's highest court on Wednesday asked the state's lower appeals court to step in after a judge this week said the governor had the right to fill the position even though a judge who's resigning won't leave unti...
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Ex-Phoenix area sheriff declares victory despite court loss
National Legal News 03/02/2020Former Phoenix-area Sheriff Joe Arpaio lost a bid to erase his criminal conviction for disobeying a 2011 court order, but claimed victory Thursday after an appeal's court said the verdict no longer has any legal consequence because of President Donal...
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Justices return for season of big decisions, amid campaign
National Legal News 02/20/2020For a Supreme Court that says it has an allergy to politics, the next few months might require a lot of tissues.The court is poised to issue campaign-season decisions in the full bloom of spring in cases dealing with President Donald Trump’s ta...
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Man Stirs the Pot by Lighting Joint in Court
National Legal News 01/25/2020The rapper Afroman famously sang about how getting high on marijuana prevented him from going to court. A Tennessee man decided to combine the two when he lit a marijuana cigarette in the courtroom, authorities said.Spencer Alan Boston, 20, was arres...
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German court may reject appeal to remove anti-Semitic relic
National Legal News 01/16/2020A court in eastern Germany indicated Tuesday that it will likely reject a Jewish man’s bid to force the removal of an ugly remnant of centuries of anti-Semitism from a church where Martin Luther once preached.The Naumburg court's senate said, a...
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Court to hear resentencing bid in Arizona death penalty case
National Legal News 12/10/2019The U.S. Supreme Court will hear an appeal Wednesday by an Arizona death row inmate who is seeking a new sentencing trial, arguing the horrific physical abuse that he suffered as a child wasn't fully considered when he was first sentenced. The appeal...
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Hong Kong court reinstates mask ban ahead of elections
National Legal News 11/22/2019A Hong Kong court that had struck down a ban on face masks at protests said Friday that the government could enforce it for one week, as police readied for any unrest during keenly contested elections this weekend.The High Court granted the temporary...
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California court invalidates law requiring Trump tax returns
National Legal News 11/20/2019President Donald Trump does not have to disclose his tax returns to appear as a candidate on California’s primary ballot next spring, the state Supreme Court ruled unanimously Thursday.The law, the first of its kind in the nation and aimed squa...
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French court postpones ruling on cement firm Lafarge case
National Legal News 10/25/2019A French court has postponed until Nov. 7 a decision on whether to uphold preliminary charges against French cement manufacturer Lafarge, including "complicity in crimes against humanity."The decision comes as the Paris appeal court on Thursday ruled...
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Court Weighing Whether Judge Can Unseal Lynching Records
National Legal News 10/20/2019A historian’s effort to unseal grand jury records from the brazen 1946 lynching of two black couples on a Georgia riverbank prompted tough questions in a federal appeals court, but the judges also suggested there might be another way to win rel...
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Divided Supreme Court weighs LGBT people’s rights
National Legal News 10/10/2019A seemingly divided Supreme Court struggled Tuesday over whether a landmark civil rights law protects LGBT people from discrimination in employment, with one conservative justice wondering if the court should take heed of “massive social upheav...