Recent Updates
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Court says no exclusive cable rights in apartments
Court Alerts 05/27/2009Cable companies cannot have exclusive rights to provide service in apartment buildings that they wire, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday. The decision from the Court of Appeals in Washington upholds a Federal Communications Commission ruling that...
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Suspects can be interrogated without lawyer
Court Alerts 05/26/2009The Supreme Court has overturned a long-standing ruling that stops police from initiating questions unless a defendant's lawyer is present, a move that will make it easier for prosecutors to interrogate suspects. The high court, in a 5-4 ruling, over...
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Guilty Plea for Man Behind Creative E-Trade Scam
Court Alerts 05/22/2009A California man has pleaded guilty to opening tens of thousands of bogus online brokerage accounts and then pocketing tiny test deposits made by companies like E-Trade Financial and Charles Schwab. Michael Largent, 23, of Plumas Lake, Calif. pleaded...
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Judge: Giuliani golf lawsuit slices off course
Court Alerts 05/21/2009A federal judge uses golf lingo and quotes from "Caddyshack" in his ruling that a lawsuit by ousted Duke University golfer Andrew Giuliani against the school landed out of bounds. The opinion issued Tuesday by U.S. Magistrate Judge Wallace Dixon reco...
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Court: Old maternity leave doesn't count
Court Alerts 05/20/2009Women who took maternity leave before Congress outlawed pregnancy discrimination could be stuck with lower retirement paychecks after the Supreme Court refused to let four women sue AT&T Corp. for higher pension payments. The high court, in a 7-2...
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Court refuses to hear medical marijuana challenges
Court Alerts 05/18/2009The Supreme Court won't hear another challenge to California's decade-old law permitting marijuana use for medical purposes. The high court on Monday refused to hear appeals from San Diego and San Bernardino counties, which say the justices have neve...
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Court turns away appeal over Steinbeck copyrights
Court Alerts 05/18/2009The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by a son of author John Steinbeck over the publishing rights to "The Grapes of Wrath" and other early works. The court said Monday it won't disturb a ruling by the federal appeals court in New York that the ri...
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Appeals court sides with Redskins over trademark
Court Alerts 05/16/2009A federal appeals court is siding with the Washington Redskins against a group of American Indians who say the football team's trademark is racially offensive. The decision issued Friday by the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington doesn't address the ...
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3 plead not guilty in Anna Nicole Smith drug case
Court Alerts 05/14/2009Anna Nicole Smith's lawyer-turned-boyfriend and two doctors pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges they conspired to provide thousands of prescription pills to the former model before her overdose death two years ago. The appearance of Howard K. Ste...
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Court hears appeal by DC sniper mastermind
Court Alerts 05/12/2009A lawyer for John Allen Muhammad says the sniper mastermind never should have been allowed to act as his own lawyer for part of his 2003 capital murder trial. Jonathan Sheldon told a federal appeals court Tuesday that the failure of Muhammad's trial ...
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Judge Blasts Law Firm Over Asbestos Suit
Court Alerts 05/08/2009A Los Angeles judge has blasted one of the nation's leading plaintiffs firms in asbestos litigation for attempting to obtain an upper hand in the case through what he called a "type of judicially sanctioned extortion." The judge's statements came in ...
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Feds want 3-year term for Mo. mom in MySpace hoax
Court Alerts 05/07/2009A Missouri mother should serve three years in prison for her role in a MySpace hoax on a 13-year-old neighbor who committed suicide, federal prosecutors said in court documents filed Wednesday. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Krause outlined the governm...