Recent Updates
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Death penalty revoked in N.J.
Legal News Center 12/18/2007[##_1L|1078730658.jpg|width="140" height="105" alt=""|_##]New Jersey became the first state in decades yesterday to abolish the death penalty, giving hope to opponents of capital punishment that Maryland and other states could soon follow. But the ob...
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Supreme Court rules on sentences
Legal News Center 12/16/2007[##_1L|1396992692.jpg|width="131" height="91" alt=""|_##]Advocates of greater fairness in criminal sentencing won an important battle at the U.S. Supreme Court last week. But they could lose the war if individual judges exploit the decision to return...
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High court gives U.S. judges more freedom in sentencing
Legal News Center 12/11/2007The Supreme Court restored federal judges Monday to their traditional central role in criminal sentencing.In two decisions, the court said U.S. district judges have broad discretion to impose what they think are reasonable sentences, even if federal ...
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Supreme Court Upholds Budget Bill
Legal News Center 12/11/2007A consumer-rights group's challenge to a deficit reduction law ended Monday when the Supreme Court let the law stand, even though the House and Senate never approved identical versions.The justices, without comment, refused to disturb lower court rul...
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Court: Prison Program Unconstitutional
Legal News Center 12/04/2007[##_1L|1142571513.jpg|width="130" height="90" alt=""|_##]A federal appeals court ruled Monday that the state of Iowa cannot fund an evangelical Christian prison ministry program because doing so advances or endorses religion, violating the Constituti...
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Supreme Court to Hear Maine Internet Case
Legal News Center 11/28/2007[##_1L|1329825927.jpg|width="131" height="91" alt=""|_##]The Supreme Court will consider today whether federal law bars Maine from imposing handling requirements on delivery companies, a case that could undercut similar laws in other states. When Mai...
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Court Won't Review San Diego Home Hunts
Legal News Center 11/26/2007[##_1L|1073880711.jpg|width="130" height="90" alt=""|_##]The Supreme Court rejected a challenge Monday to a county's practice of routinely searching welfare applicants' homes without warrants and ruling out assistance for those who refuse to let them...
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Ellison files brief in Supreme Court voter ID case
Legal News Center 11/16/2007Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison has filed a brief with the Supreme Court in a voter ID case. The Minnesota Democrat is asking the court to strike down an Indiana law that requires people to have a photo ID to vote, arguing it disenfranchises blac...
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First U.S. Law Firm Creates Sustainability Officer Job
Legal News Center 11/13/2007In recent years, sustainability officers have been hired by corporations and universities, foundations and government agencies to manage their relationships with the environment on many levels - ecological, social, economic, policy and political, and...
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Calif. Court to Hear Marijuana Case
Legal News Center 11/06/2007[##_1L|1223052704.jpg|width="130" height="90" alt=""|_##]When Gary Ross was ordered to take a drug test at his new job, the recently hired computer tech had no doubt the results would come back positive for marijuana. But along with his urine sample,...
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Court weighs municipal bonds' purpose
Legal News Center 11/06/2007In a case that could revolutionize the country's $2.5 trillion municipal bond market, the U.S. Supreme Court wrestled on Monday with whether a municipal bond is mainly a commodity or a means of financing unique public services that only state and loc...
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High Court Will Hear Mayoral Election Case
Legal News Center 11/05/2007[##_1L|1311613480.jpg|width="130" height="98" alt=""|_##]The state Supreme Court has agreed to hear arguments Monday on whether Tuesday's mayoral election in Bridgeport should be postponed. Bridgeport state Rep. Christopher Caruso requested the delay...