Recent Updates
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Bosnian Serbs vote in referendum banned by top court
U.S. Court News 09/21/2016Bosnian Serbs on Sunday voted in a referendum banned by the country's constitutional court, risking Western sanctions against their autonomous region and criminal charges against their leaders. The vote was whether to keep Jan. 9 as a holiday in Repu...
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DC gun law gets hearing before Washington appeals court
Litigation Reports 09/20/2016An appeals court will hear challenges to a District of Columbia law that places tough requirements for gun owners to get concealed carry permits. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit is hearing arguments Tuesday in tw...
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Court halts construction of another section of pipeline
Legal Events 09/19/2016A federal appeals court has ordered a halt to construction of another section of the Dakota Access oil pipeline in North Dakota. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said in a ruling late Friday that i...
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Court rules man treated for mental illness can have a gun
Legal Networks 09/17/2016A Michigan man who can't buy a gun because he was briefly treated for mental health problems in the 1980s has won a key decision from a federal appeals court, which says the burden is on the government to justify a lifetime ban against him. The Secon...
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LA Supreme Court considers teen robber’s 99-year sentence
Legal Networks 09/14/2016Louisiana’s Supreme Court is considering whether recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings about juveniles convicted of murder mean a juvenile robber’s 99-year sentence is unconstitutional. Alden Morgan is now 35. He was 17 years old when he held up a couple...
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Court rejects challenge to Michigan's emergency manager law
Litigation Reports 09/13/2016An appeals court on Monday rejected a challenge to Michigan's emergency manager law, saying Gov. Rick Snyder's remedy for distressed communities doesn't violate the constitutional rights of residents. Emergency managers have exceptional power to run ...
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Sotomayor calls job on high court blessing and curse
U.S. Court News 09/13/2016Serving on the U.S. Supreme Court has been both a blessing and a curse and reaching decisions is harder than she ever expected, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said Thursday during a visit to the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The court's first Hispanic ju...
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Appeals court sympathetic to voting rules challenge
Litigation Reports 09/12/2016A federal appeals court seems likely to side with voting rights groups trying to stop Kansas, Georgia and Alabama from making residents prove they are U.S. citizens when registering to vote using a national form. Judges heard arguments in the case Th...
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Biden, Supreme Court nominee on Hill to pressure GOP
Bar Associations 09/11/2016Judge Merrick Garland found himself back on Capitol Hill on Thursday in a familiar place ? meeting with a Democratic senator who used the visit to complain about Republicans' inaction on President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee. Vermont Sen. Pa...
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High court temporarily blocks subpoena over sex ads
Notable Attorneys 09/09/2016Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts on Tuesday temporarily blocked a congressional subpoena that seeks information on how the classified advertising website Backpage.com screens ads for possible sex trafficking. The order came hours after Backpa...
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Mexico's Supreme Court overturns state anti-corruption laws
Financial 09/07/2016Mexico's Supreme Court has ruled unconstitutional two state anti-corruption laws that outgoing governors passed in apparent attempts to shield themselves from investigation. Many Mexicans were outraged when the governors of the states of Veracruz and...
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Stepmom of scalded boy who died pleads guilty to murder
Legal Issues 09/06/2016A woman accused of holding her 4-year-old stepson in a scalding bath, covering his burns and not getting him medical care before he died was sentenced to at least 18 years in prison after pleading guilty to murder and other charges on Thursday. A War...