Recent Updates
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Court nominee urged special rights for Puerto Rico
Legal News Center 05/27/2009Supreme Court nominee Sonya Sotomayor wrote as a Yale Law School student that Puerto Rico should maintain its seabed rights if it pursues U.S. statehood. The article, "Statehood and the Equal Footing Doctrine: The Case for Puerto Rican Seabed Rights,...
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Supreme Court candidates together at conference
Legal News Center 05/21/2009Federal appeals court judge Diane Wood and Solicitor General Elena Kagan, two candidates for the impending vacancy on the Supreme Court, took part in a conference Wednesday on the importance of judicial independence. Kagan gave the keynote address at...
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High court won't delay trial of ex-Rep. Jefferson
Legal News Center 05/19/2009The Supreme Court refused Monday to delay the upcoming trial of former Louisiana Rep. William Jefferson on bribery and other charges. The former Democratic congressman has argued that prosecutors trampled on his constitutional privileges as a lawmake...
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High court to rule in Pennsylvania death case
Legal News Center 05/18/2009The Supreme Court agreed Monday to consider reinstating the death sentence for a convicted murderer who twice escaped from prison after being found guilty of bludgeoning and drowning a man who was planning to testify against him. The justices said th...
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Federal judge in sex case gets nearly 3 years
Legal News Center 05/12/2009A disgraced federal judge was sentenced Monday to nearly three years in prison for lying to investigators about whether he sexually abused his secretary. U.S. District Judge Samuel Kent was sentenced to 33 months Monday. He was also fined $1,000 and ...
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Demjanjuk asks Supreme Court to stop deportation
Legal News Center 05/07/2009John Demjanjuk, branded by the U.S. government a Nazi death camp guard, on Wednesday asked the Supreme Court to stop his deportation to Germany, where an arrest warrant accuses him of 29,000 counts of accessory to murder during World War II. A federa...
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Court: Different shootings bring same penalty
Legal News Center 05/01/2009The Supreme Court says accidentally shooting a gun during the commission of a crime should bring the same penalties as intentionally using a firearm. This came as the high court on Wednesday upheld the conviction and sentence of Christopher Michael D...
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Supreme Court conservatives criticize voting rights law
Legal News Center 04/30/2009U.S. Supreme Court conservatives on Wednesday sharply criticized a central part of the 1965 Voting Rights Act that is aimed at more than a dozen states with a history of racial discrimination. It is the second major race case heard by the justices af...
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Study finds 'massive waste' in misdemeanor cases
Legal News Center 04/29/2009Treating petty, nonviolent misdemeanors as infractions rather than crimes would save millions of dollars and better protect defendants' rights without hurting public safety, according to a study commissioned by criminal defense attorneys. That is the...
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Court refuses to let officer sue over his arrest
Legal News Center 04/28/2009The Supreme Court has refused to let an Atlantic City, N.J., police officer sue prosecutors and investigators for wrongfully arresting and charging him with the murder of his wife. The high court on Monday refused to hear James L. Andros III's appeal...
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Court to weigh state's duty to English learners
Legal News Center 04/20/2009The Supreme Court on Monday takes up an Arizona case that could limit a federal court's power to tell states to spend more money to educate students who aren't proficient in English. Arizona state legislators and the state superintendent of public in...
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Fed. judge says courts can handle Gitmo cases
Legal News Center 04/03/2009A federal judge who presided over the trial of a 9/11 conspirator said Thursday that civilian courts are capable of handling the cases of Guantanamo Bay detainees. U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema told a gathering at the University of Virginia law...