Recent Updates
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Immigration courts: record number of cases, many problems
Law Firm News 03/06/2017Everyone was in place for the hearing in Atlanta immigration court: the Guinean man hoping to stay in the U.S., his attorney, a prosecutor, a translator and the judge. But because of some missing paperwork, it was all for nothing. When the government...
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NC governor, legislature head to court in power showdown
Recent Cases 03/05/2017North Carolina's new Democratic governor and majority Republican legislature are charging at each other in a constitutional game of chicken over their powers, a confrontation that could shape the recent conservative direction of state policies and sp...
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Court officer investigated for photographing lawyer's notes
Recent Cases 03/03/2017A court security officer in Maine has been placed on leave while under investigation for sending a cellphone photo of a defense attorney's notes to a prosecutor. The Kennebec Journal reports that court officials are calling the incident a serious eth...
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California court expands endangered-species removal powers
Notable Attorneys 03/02/2017The California Supreme Court on Monday said petitioners seeking to remove a subset of coho salmon from the state's endangered species list could present new evidence to argue the listing was wrong. In a unanimous ruling, the court overturned a lower ...
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Ohio court considers privacy rights in backpack search
Headline Legal News 03/02/2017The state Supreme Court will hear arguments over the constitutionality of an Ohio student's backpack search that authorities say led first to the discovery of bullets and later a gun. At issue before the high court is whether a second search of the b...
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Joseph Wapner, star of 'The People's Court,' dead at 97
Notable Attorneys 03/01/2017Joseph Wapner, the retired Los Angeles judge who presided over "The People's Court" with steady force during the heyday of the reality courtroom show, died Sunday at age 97. Son David Wapner told The Associated Press that his father died at home in h...
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High court ruling could reshape Virginia political map
Bar Associations 03/01/2017A U.S. Supreme Court decision reviving a challenge to several Virginia legislative districts could send lawmakers back to the drawing board, but Republicans say they are confident the state's current electoral map will withstand further scrutiny. The...
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Florida Legislature at "Open War" with State Supreme Court
Legal Solutions 03/01/2017The Republican-dominated Legislature's tense relationship with the state Supreme Court is hanging over this year's legislative session as lawmakers take up two bills to deal with the aftermath of court rulings that Republicans don't like. One of them...
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US Supreme Court refuses appeals from 3 on Texas death row
Litigation Reports 02/28/2017The U.S. Supreme Court refused Monday to review appeals in three Texas death row cases, including one where a man pleaded guilty to a triple slaying in South Texas. The high court's rulings moved two inmates closer to execution: LeJames Norman, 31, c...
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Lawmakers want Supreme Court review of voting law continued
National News 02/26/2017North Carolina Republican legislative leaders want the U.S. Supreme Court to reject the new Democratic state attorney general's bid to dismiss their appeal of a lower court ruling that struck down a voting law based on racial bias. Lawyers the Genera...
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US appeals court upholds Maryland assault weapons ban
National News 02/24/2017Maryland's ban on 45 kinds of assault weapons and its 10-round limit on gun magazines were upheld Tuesday by a federal appeals court in a decision that met with a strongly worded dissent. In a 10-4 ruling, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Ric...
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High court ruling limits international reach of patent laws
Legal Events 02/24/2017The Supreme Court on Wednesday sided with California-based Life Technologies Corp. in a patent infringement case that limits the international reach of U.S. patent laws. The justices ruled unanimously that the company's shipment of a single part of a...