Recent Updates
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Last defendant in NM courthouse scandal pleads
Lawyer Blogs 12/17/2008The last defendant in a courthouse construction scandal that involved a once-powerful New Mexico politician has pleaded guilty in the case.Construction manager Michael Murphy's plea Wednesday in federal court closes the case, which earlier led to gui...
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Man accused of threat to Obama cops to gun charge
Lawyer Blogs 12/16/2008One of three men arrested after allegedly making racist threats against Barack Obama before the Democratic National Convention has pleaded guilty to a weapons charge in Denver federal court.Nathan Johnson pleaded guilty Tuesday in Denver federal cour...
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Court sides with NY Times in anthrax libel case
Lawyer Blogs 12/15/2008The Supreme Court has rejected a plea by former Army scientist Steven J. Hatfill to revive his libel lawsuit against The New York Times over columns falsely implicating him in the deadly 2001 anthrax attacks.The justices did not comment Monday in tur...
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Illinois AG asks high court to declare gov. unfit
Lawyer Blogs 12/13/2008The Illinois attorney general has filed a motion with the state's highest court asking justices to remove scandal-plagued Gov. Rod Blagojevich bluh-GOY'-uh-vich) from office.Lisa Madigan took the action Friday as pressure on the governor intensified ...
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High court weighs lawsuit against FBI head, ex-AG
Lawyer Blogs 12/10/2008Supreme Court justices voiced concern Wednesday about including former Attorney General John Ashcroft and FBI Director Robert Mueller in a lawsuit that claims prisoners detained after the Sept. 11 attacks were abused because of their religion and eth...
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Court blocks FAA auction of airport slots
Lawyer Blogs 12/08/2008A federal appeals court in Washington has blocked the Bush administration's plan to auction some landing slots at three New York City-area airports.In an order issued late Monday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit says th...
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Calif. trio charged with torturing, abusing teen
Lawyer Blogs 12/05/2008A couple accused of beating and torturing a teenager, who authorities say was sometimes kept shackled inside their home, appeared in shackles themselves to face more than a dozen kidnapping and child abuse charges.It was Michael Schumacher and Kelly ...
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NYC court: Big city guns can equal stiff sentence
Lawyer Blogs 12/05/2008Federal judges can give harsher penalties to people who help bring illegal guns to big cities, a federal appeals court decided Thursday.The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals approved the practice in its ruling for the case of an illegal gun dealer wh...
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High court to hear enemy combatant case
Lawyer Blogs 12/05/2008The Supreme Court agreed Friday to decide whether the president may order that people picked up in the United States be detained indefinitely and without criminal charges.The court is undertaking a fresh review of the Bush administration's aggressive...
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Smoker's widow seeks $79.5M award at high court
Lawyer Blogs 12/03/2008A cigarette maker and a smoker's widow squared off at the Supreme Court on Wednesday for the third time over a $79.5 million punitive damages award, but the real battle was between the justices and their counterparts on Oregon's high court.Twice befo...
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Junk-bond king among those seeking Bush pardon
Lawyer Blogs 11/29/2008Some high-profile convicts past and present are among more than 2,000 people asking President George W. Bush to pardon them or commute their prison sentences before he leaves office.Junk-bond king Michael Milken, media mogul Conrad Black and American...
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Appeals court lets Vatican sex-abuse case proceed
Lawyer Blogs 11/25/2008A lawsuit can continue against the Vatican alleging that top church officials should have warned the public or authorities of known or suspected sexual abuse of children by priests in the Archdiocese of Louisville, a federal appeals court ruled Monda...