Recent Updates
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In Supreme Court loss, death penalty foes see an opening
Legal Events 07/01/2015A strongly worded dissent in the U.S. Supreme Court's narrow decision this week upholding the use of an execution drug offered a glimmer of hope to death penalty opponents in what they considered otherwise a gloomy ruling. One advocate went so far Tu...
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High court won't hear Nevada patient dumping case
Legal Events 07/01/2015The Supreme Court won't hear an appeal from Nevada over a lawsuit that claims the state wrongfully bused indigent psychiatric patients to San Francisco without paying the costs of their medical care. The justices on Tuesday let stand a lower c...
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Decisions in last 3 Supreme Court cases expected Monday
Legal Events 06/29/2015The Supreme Court is meeting for the final time until the fall to decide three remaining cases and add some new ones for the term that starts in October. The court decided its two blockbuster cases last week by declaring the right of same-sex couples...
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Kansas court rules against parts of state school funding law
National News 06/29/2015A district court panel in Kansas declared Friday that key parts of a new state law for funding public schools violate the state constitution and ordered an immediate increase in aid. State officials and an attorney for four school districts challengi...
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Pennsylvania court rejects law that aided NRA gun challenges
National News 06/26/2015A Pennsylvania state court on Thursday struck down a law designed to make it easier for gun owners and organizations like the National Rifle Association to challenge local firearms ordinances in court. The Commonwealth Court said the procedure...
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Supreme Court upholds key tool for fighting housing bias
National News 06/25/2015The Supreme Court handed a surprising victory to the Obama administration and civil rights groups on Thursday when it upheld a key tool used for more than four decades to fight housing discrimination. The justices ruled 5-4 that federal housing laws ...
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US court upholds tough rules on for-profit college loans
Recent Cases 06/24/2015A federal court has ruled in favor of tough new regulations aimed at career training programs, dealing a major blow to the for-profit college industry. In an opinion released Tuesday, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled the Edu...
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Supreme Court Voids Routine Police Check Of Hotel Registries
National News 06/23/2015The Supreme Court struck down a Los Angeles ordinance Monday that allowed police to inspect hotel guest records on demand. The justices voted 5-4 to reject the city's argument that the measure was needed to help fight prostitution, drug trafficking a...
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Same-sex marriage opponents urge Supreme Court to go slow
Legal Events 06/23/2015Same-sex marriage opponents acknowledge they face a tough task in trying to persuade the Supreme Court to allow states to limit marriage to a man and a woman. But they are urging the court to resist embracing what they see as a radical change in soci...
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Man pleads guilty to charge over noose on Ole Miss statue
Recent Cases 06/22/2015A federal prosecutor said in court Thursday that Graeme Phillip Harris hatched a plan, after a night of drinking at a University of Mississippi fraternity house, to hang a noose on a campus statue of James Meredith, the first black student at Ole Mis...
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High court strikes down raisin program as unconstitutional
Headline Legal News 06/22/2015The Supreme Court ruled Monday that a 66-year-old program that lets the government take raisins away from farmers to help reduce supply and boost market prices is unconstitutional. In an 8-1 ruling, the justices said forcing raisin growers to give up...
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Texas turns away from criminal truancy courts for students
Headline Legal News 06/21/2015A long-standing Texas law that has sent about 100,000 students a year to criminal court — and some to jail — for missing school is off the books, though a Justice Department investigation into one county's truancy courts continues. Gov. Greg Abbott h...