Recent Updates
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Sotomayor predicts WikiLeaks case in Supreme Court
Legal News Center 08/27/2010Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor predicted Thursday that the nation's high court will be asked again to weigh issues of national security versus free speech because of the recently leaked classified war documents posted on the WikiLeaks website....
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Court: Calif. preacher can sue ABC for defamation
Legal News Center 08/25/2010A federal appeals court on Tuesday reinstated a televangelist's defamation lawsuit claiming ABC's "20/20" news program used a fictionalized sermon portraying himself as a wealthy braggart out of context.A trial court judge had earlier tossed out the ...
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Feds: Ruling led to dismissal against Westar execs
Legal News Center 08/24/2010A recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling requiring proof of kickbacks or bribes in prosecutions involving the theft of so-called honest services left prosecutors with "little choice" but to dismiss charges against two former Westar Energy executives, the U...
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ACLU sues over detention in United Arab Emirates
Legal News Center 08/20/2010American Civil Liberties Union lawyers filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the FBI, CIA and other federal intelligence agencies, accusing them of detaining and torturing an American citizen later convicted on terrorism charges in the United Arab Emirat...
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Appeals court: Stolen Valor Act unconstitutional
Legal News Center 08/18/2010A three-year-old federal law that makes it a crime to falsely claim to have received a medal from the U.S. military is unconstitutional, an appeals court panel in California ruled Tuesday.The decision involves the case of Xavier Alvarez of Pomona, Ca...
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LA judge frees thief who got 25 yrs on 3rd strike
Legal News Center 08/17/2010A judge on Monday ordered the release of a man who spent 13 years behind bars for trying to steal food from a church, his third offense under California's three-strikes law.Tears streamed down Gregory Taylor's face when Judge Peter Espinoza amended h...
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Retrial possible in dad's NY samurai sword slaying
Legal News Center 08/13/2010An appeals court has ordered a new trial for a New York man convicted of using a samurai sword to kill his stepfather while he slept on a living room couch.Zachary Gibian was convicted in 2006 of nearly beheading retired police officer Scott Nager in...
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Judge testifies he felt threatened by NJ blogger
Legal News Center 08/12/2010A federal appeals court judge from Illinois testified Wednesday that he felt threatened by a New Jersey blogger's inflammatory Internet tirades over a ruling supporting gun control.The rant against a three-judge panel in Chicago "was a threat of viol...
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Court clears way for horse roundup on CA-NV border
Legal News Center 08/11/2010A federal appeals court on Tuesday cleared the way for the roundup of more than 2,000 wild horses in California and Nevada, rejecting critics' claims that the free-roaming mustangs have a legal right to remain on the range.In an after-hours order, th...
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Stealth expert guilty of selling secrets to China
Legal News Center 08/10/2010A former B-2 bomber engineer who marketed and sold his stealth expertise to China is facing life in a federal prison following his conviction for bartering U.S. military secrets.Noshir Gowadia, 66, was found guilty Monday on charges that he designed ...
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Children in Dependency Proceedings Need Lawyers
Legal News Center 08/09/2010Lawyers who represent children in dependency proceedings say it’s time for these children – regardless of which state they live – to have a right to legal counsel.Meeting yesterday at the 2010 American Bar Association Annual Meeting in San Francisco,...
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Judge: No forced treatment for Ohio convert
Legal News Center 08/04/2010A state juvenile court judge on Tuesday rejected the request of a Christian convert's Muslim parents to order their daughter to continue chemotherapy for uterine cancer.The request from the parents of Rifqa Bary does not meet the legal requirement of...