Recent Updates
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The Latest: Senate panel approves tax overhaul bill
Law & Politics 11/22/2017Vice President Mike Pence says "now the ball is in the Senate's court," after the House voted Thursday to approve a $1.5 trillion overhaul of the nation's tax code. At the Tax Foundation's 80th annual dinner in Washington, Pence said, "The next few w...
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Free Speech Is Starting to Dominate the US Supreme Court's Agenda
Law & Politics 11/16/2017To get the Supreme Court's attention these days, try saying your speech rights are being violated. Whether the underlying topic is abortion, elections, labor unions or wedding cakes, the First Amendment is starting to dominate the Supreme Court's age...
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Court gives go-ahead for minimum alcohol price in Scotland
Law & Politics 11/14/2017Britain's Supreme Court has given the go-ahead for the introduction of minimum unit pricing for alcohol in Scotland — a watershed moment for public health advocates alarmed at the level of abuse. The court on Wednesday rejected the Scottish Whisky As...
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Michigan health chief back in court in Legionnaires' case
Law & Politics 11/02/2017Testimony is resuming in a criminal case against Michigan's health director, who is accused of keeping the public in the dark about Legionnaires' disease during the Flint water disaster. Nick Lyon is charged with involuntary manslaughter and miscondu...
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3 bank customers in Germany fined for ignoring collapsed man
Law & Politics 09/17/2017A German court has fined three bank customers for failing to help an elderly man who collapsed in a bank branch and later died. The Essen district court handed the defendants, a woman and two men, fines ranging from 2,400 to 3,600 euros ($2,865 to $4...
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Supreme Court Backs Dayton Veto of Legislature Budget
Law & Politics 09/09/2017The Minnesota Supreme Court says Gov. Mark Dayton’s veto of the Legislature’s budget was constitutional. The ruling Friday is counter to a lower-court ruling this summer that Dayton had acted unconstitutionally, but is not the last word in the case. ...
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Judge refuses to end Roman Polanski sex assault case
Law & Politics 08/21/2017A Los Angeles judge on Friday denied the impassioned plea of Roman Polanski's victim to end a four-decade-old sexual assault case against the fugitive director. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Scott Gordon ruled that Polanski must return to C...
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Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor to speak in Tuscaloosa
Law & Politics 08/16/2017U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor will speak at the University of Alabama law school next month. Sotomayor will participate in a discussion with dean Mark Brandon and U.S. District Judge Harold Albritton III on Sept. 12. Brandon sa...
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Judge says Kobach has shown pattern of misleading court
Law & Politics 07/26/2017A federal judge says Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach has demonstrated a pattern of misleading the court about the facts and record in a voting rights case. U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson refused Tuesday to reconsider a $1,000 fine and order...
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Supreme Court deadline nears for suit over wetland loss
Law & Politics 07/11/2017A Louisiana flood board is nearing a deadline for asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review its lawsuit seeking to make oil and gas companies pay for decades of damage to coastal wetlands. Federal district and appeals courts have rejected the lawsuit, ...
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Court: Energy firm can pass $55M cleanup costs
Law & Politics 07/03/2017The Ohio Supreme Court says an energy company is allowed to pass on the $55 million cost of cleaning up two polluted sites to its customers in the form of an added charge on their monthly bills. Duke Energy has been adding $1.67 to bills in Ohio for ...
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West Virginia high court excludes inmates from workers' comp
Law & Politics 06/12/2017Inmates participating in work-release programs do not quality for workers' compensation benefits, the West Virginia Supreme Court ruled has ruled. The court on Thursday unanimously affirmed a Workers' Compensation Board of Review's 2015 decision to n...