Recent Updates
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Ecuador court upholds ruling against Chevron
U.S. Court News 01/04/2012An appeals court in Ecuador upheld an $18 billion ruling against Chevron Corp. on Tuesday for oil pollution in the Amazon rain forest more than two decades ago. The ruling confirmed a February judgment in the case. The Ecuadorean plaintiffs said in a...
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Court delays border-crossing pollution rule
Recent Cases 01/03/2012A federal court Friday put on hold a controversial Obama administration regulation aimed at reducing power plant pollution in 27 states that contributes to unhealthy air downwind. More than a dozen electric power companies, municipal power plant oper...
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Chief justice defends court's impartiality
Recent Cases 01/02/2012Chief Justice John Roberts said Saturday that he has "complete confidence" in his colleagues' ability to step away from cases where their personal interests are at stake, and noted that judges should not be swayed by "partisan demands." The comment, ...
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MT court restores corporate campaign spending ban
U.S. Court News 01/02/2012The Montana Supreme Court restored the state's century-old ban on direct spending by corporations on political candidates or committees in a ruling Friday that interest groups say bucks a high profile U.S. Supreme Court decision granting political sp...
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Court delays border-crossing pollution rule
Recent Cases 01/01/2012A federal court Friday put on hold a controversial Obama administration regulation aimed at reducing power plant pollution in 27 states that contributes to unhealthy air downwind. More than a dozen electric power companies, municipal power plant oper...
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Court OKs immunity for telecoms in wiretap case
Recent Cases 12/31/2011A federal appeals court has ruled as constitutional a law giving telecommunications companies legal immunity for helping the government with its email and telephone eavesdropping program. Thursday's unanimous ruling by a three-judge panel of the 9th ...
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Calif officials seek redevelopment compromise
U.S. Court News 12/30/2011The California Supreme Court on Thursday gave Gov. Jerry Brown and state lawmakers the right to eliminate community redevelopment agencies in a crucial victory on the state budget. But the fate of the more than 400 redevelopment agencies remains uncl...
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Supreme Court gay privacy case victor dead at 68
Recent Cases 12/28/2011The Texas man whose case led to a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling that granted privacy rights to gay men and lesbians has died at age 68. John G. Lawrence died in Houston on Nov. 20, according to Sarah Wilson of R.S. Farmer Funeral Home in Silsbee...
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Supreme Court rejects Hessler appeal
Recent Cases 12/26/2011The Nebraska Supreme Court on Friday rejected a death-row inmate’s claim that his lawyer failed to properly represent the convicted kidnapper, rapist and murderer at his sentencing. Jeffrey Hessler had argued that his trial-court lawyer should have d...
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France ponders removing risky breast implants
Recent Cases 12/22/2011Emmanuelle Maria's breasts were burning and globules of silicone gel were protruding into her armpits. Her implants had exploded inside her. Yet her doctors, she says, told her nothing was wrong. Now, she wants the French government to tell 30,000 wo...
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Poker company co-founder pleads guilty in NYC
Recent Cases 12/20/2011The co-founder of an Internet poker company pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiracy charges, admitting that he knew he was breaking the law when he arranged for U.S. banks to process gambling proceeds. Brent Buckley, 31, entered the plea in U.S. Distric...
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Ind. appeals court upholds man's 60-year sentence
Recent Cases 12/19/2011The Indiana Court of Appeals has upheld a southern Indiana man's 60-year prison sentence for beating his girlfriend to death with a crowbar. The Princeton Daily Clarion reports the court ruled Thursday that 68-year-old Robert P. Spangler's sentence w...