Recent Updates
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Wash. Senate hopeful sought to seal court files
Law & Politics 07/18/2012A couple months before Brad Toft emerged as the only Republican in a crucial state Senate race, he pressed officials to seal records from a past court case. In a signed letter, Toft seemed to suggest that he wasn't the same person cited in the court ...
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Senate confirms Arizona jurist to 9th Circuit
Law & Politics 06/13/2012An Arizona Supreme Court justice was confirmed as a U.S. appellate judge Tuesday, despite complaints from conservatives that he influenced the Roe v. Wade ruling while a law clerk four decades ago. The Senate confirmed Andrew David Hurwitz by voice v...
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2 plead not guilty in Mass. extortion attempt case
Law & Politics 06/09/2012Howie Winter, the 83-year-old former head of a Boston-area gang that was later run by James "Whitey" Bulger, pleaded not guilty Friday to attempted extortion and conspiracy charges. Winter and co-defendant James Melvin, 70, were arrested Thursday aft...
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US bishops fight birth control deal
Law & Politics 02/14/2012The top U.S. Catholic bishop vowed legislative and court challenges Tuesday to a compromise by President Barack Obama to his healthcare mandate that now exempts religiously affiliated institutions from paying directly for birth control for their work...
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Attorney: Texas redistricting talks have stalled
Law & Politics 01/31/2012Negotiations between minority groups and Texas officials in a lengthy clash over new political districts appeared stalled Monday as both sides prepared to argue in Washington over whether the Republican-drawn maps violate the federal Voting Rights Ac...
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Abortion foes march with eye on fall elections
Law & Politics 01/24/2012Thousands of abortion opponents marched to the Supreme Court on Monday to mark the 39th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion, and supportive lawmakers urged them to further their cause by working to defeat President Barack Obam...
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Administration moves plan to ax hundreds of rules
Law & Politics 08/23/2011The Obama administration disclosed plans Tuesday to cut or roll back hundreds of federal regulations, including some that will streamline tax forms at the Internal Revenue Service, let railroad companies pass on installing expensive new technology, a...
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Obama to announce fuel economy standards on Friday
Law & Politics 07/28/2011President Barack Obama plans to announce new fuel economy standards for cars and light trucks for the model years 2017 through 2025 at an event Friday in Washington.The administration has been in negotiations with automakers on boosting fuel economy....
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Economic worries pose new snags for Obama
Law & Politics 06/24/2011Increasingly troubled by the economy, more Americans are convinced the country is headed in the wrong direction and fewer approve of President Barack Obama's economic stewardship. The sentiments pose a new complication for the president's re-election...
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Obama: Midwest storms devastating, heartbreaking
Law & Politics 05/24/2011President Barack Obama says he will travel to Missouri on Sunday to meet with people affected by the devastating tornadoes there.The president said Tuesday he wants Midwesterners whose lives were upended by the deadly storms last weekend to know that...
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Texas may strip away transgender marriage rights
Law & Politics 04/25/2011Two years after Texas became one of the last states to allow transgendered people to use proof of their sex change to get a marriage license, Republican lawmakers are trying to roll back the clock.Advocates for the transgendered say a proposal to bar...
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White House: Obama to lay out spending plan
Law & Politics 04/11/2011One budget deal down, President Barack Obama and Congress began to pivot Sunday from the painful standoff over this year's spending to a pair of defining debates over the nation's borrowing limit and the election-year budget.Much will be revealed at ...