Recent Updates
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Court says defendant must be resentenced
Lawyer Blogs 11/30/2009The Iowa Court of Appeals has ruled a Washington County man convicted of shaking his 6-month-old daughter to death must be resentenced.Jared York was found guilty of child endangerment with bodily injury and involuntary manslaughter. He was sentenced...
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Polanski stuck in jail; must pay full $4.5M
Lawyer Blogs 11/30/2009Roman Polanski remained in jail Monday, despite visits from his lawyer and a French diplomat, and it was unclear if the director had met Switzerland's demand of a full bail payment of $4.5 million to be released. The Swiss Justice Ministry declined t...
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Federal court allows Dec. 8 execution in Ohio
Lawyer Blogs 11/25/2009A federal court has ruled that an execution set for Dec. 8 can go forward due to a change in Ohio's lethal injection policies.The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati said Wednesday that the change renders moot Kenneth Biros' argument that...
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Gay marriage momentum stalls in liberal NY, NJ
Lawyer Blogs 11/25/2009The state-to-state march to legalize gay marriage across the left-leaning Northeast has lost more momentum since a major setback three weeks ago at the ballot box in Maine.Since then, legislatures in New York and New Jersey have failed to schedule lo...
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Court: NY can seize property for new NJ Nets arena
Lawyer Blogs 11/24/2009New York's top court ruled Tuesday that the state can use eminent domain to force homeowners and businesses to sell their properties for a massive development in Brooklyn that includes a new arena for the New Jersey Nets.In a 6-1 ruling Tuesday, the ...
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Ky. court upholds $6M verdict in strip search case
Lawyer Blogs 11/23/2009A Kentucky appeals court upheld a $6.1 million award to a former fast food worker who was forced to strip in a McDonald's restaurant office after someone called posing as a police officer.The appellate court on Friday ruled that Illinois-based McDona...
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Lethal injection creator fine with 1 drug in Ohio
Lawyer Blogs 11/23/2009The man considered the father of lethal injection in the United States said it doesn't matter whether three fatal drugs are used or one — as his home state of Ohio has proposed — as long as the drug works efficiently.Dr. Jay Chapman, who developed th...
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Senate girds for historic debate on health bill
Lawyer Blogs 11/19/2009Congressional budget crunchers Thursday said the Democrats' latest health care plan would hold down federal red ink for at least a 20-year stretch, an assessment that boosted the bill's advocates as the Senate moved gingerly toward a historic debate....
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Man on jet diverted to Boston denies being unruly
Lawyer Blogs 11/18/2009A Scottish man who was branded unruly and disruptive by the flight crew on a Philadelphia-to-London jet that was diverted to Boston has been ordered held on $300 bail.Prosecutors say Glasgow resident John Alexander Murray's arm was in a splint and he...
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Court to consider Mich. affirmative action ban
Lawyer Blogs 11/17/2009A federal appeals court is about to consider a lawsuit challenging Michigan's ban against racial preferences in public university admissions and government hiring.Civil rights groups and University of Michigan students, faculty and applicants say the...
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NY ex-lawyer in terror case ordered to prison
Lawyer Blogs 11/17/2009A federal appeals court on Tuesday ordered a disbarred civil rights lawyer convicted in a terrorism case to go to prison and said a judge must consider whether her sentence of a little more than two years behind bars was too lenient.Lynne Stewart, 70...
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Prominent state challenges to lethal injection
Lawyer Blogs 11/16/2009Here are some states where there have been recent high-profile challenges to the lethal-injection death penalty method:California: A federal judge has suspended executions until prison officials fix the deficiencies he identified in the lethal-inject...