Recent Updates
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Court rejects appeals in student speech cases
Court Alerts 01/17/2012The U.S. Supreme Court has passed up a pair of cases for the online age — whether schools may censor students who are at home when they create online attacks against school officials and other students. The justices on Tuesday rejected appeals from P...
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Court upholds firing of deputy who claimed racism
Court Alerts 01/16/2012A federal appeals court has upheld the firing of an Indiana sheriff's deputy who accused the department of racism in part because detectives watched excerpts from the movie "Blazing Saddles" in his presence. The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled...
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Court Upholds Burlington Man's Murder Conviction
Court Alerts 01/16/2012The Iowa Supreme Court has overturned an appeals court ruling that threw out the conviction of a Burlington man in his ex-wife's death. The court ruled Friday that even if the trial court erred in refusing to let a physical therapist testify, the err...
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Md. man's leave lawsuit lands in Supreme Court
Court Alerts 01/12/2012A man who sued the state of Maryland after allegedly being fired for trying to take a 10-day medical leave from his state job will have his case heard Wednesday by the U.S. Supreme Court, and the outcome could affect whether state workers nationwide ...
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Ex-DC councilmember pleads guilty to theft
Court Alerts 01/06/2012A former D.C. councilmember pleaded guilty Friday to embezzling more than $350,000 in government funds earmarked for youth sports and arts programs and admitted that he spent the money on a luxury SUV, travel to exclusive golf courses and clothing. H...
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DA asks Wis. Supreme Court to reopen union lawsuit
Court Alerts 01/02/2012A prosecutor asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court on Friday to reopen his lawsuit challenging Gov. Scott Walker's contentious collective bargaining law, contending a justice who voted to dismiss the suit earlier this year got free legal help from the fi...
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Appeals court upholds sentence of former deputy
Court Alerts 12/30/2011An appellate court has upheld a four-month prison sentence of a former Shelby County Sheriff's deputy involved in a fatal crash. The Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals this week rejected the petition of Alvin Dortch, who was convicted last year of f...
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Lawyer: Moms stole from Hawaii toy store for kids
Court Alerts 12/29/2011Single mothers filled with regret were making arrangements to turn themselves after they were seen on surveillance footage taking toys from a Hawaii store before Christmas, according to a lawyer who referred to the theft as a "desperate" act. Surveil...
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Court: Ark. can't stop desegregation funds
Court Alerts 12/28/2011A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that Arkansas can't cut off funding for desegregation programs in Little Rock-area school districts without a separate hearing and judge's order. The ruling from the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals comes mont...
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Federal judge ends BP's probation for Alaska spill
Court Alerts 12/27/2011A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed prosecutors' argument that a BP subsidiary violated its probation after an oil spill because of another spill on Alaska's North Slope.Judge Ralph Beistline also lifted BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc.'s probation alto...
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Pa.'s rhyming justice pens insurance fraud opinion
Court Alerts 12/22/2011A state Supreme Court justice known for opinions written in rhyme has done it again, producing six pages of verse Thursday in the case of whether the maker of a forged check also had committed insurance fraud. Justice J. Michael Eakin, writing for a ...
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Alleged Ponzi schemer due in court
Court Alerts 12/21/2011Former Albuquerque real estate executive Doug Vaughan is due in court Wednesday to plead guilty to charges stemming from allegations he ran Ponzi scheme that swindled some 600 investors out of $74 million. Vaughan's attorney, Amy Sirignano, last week...