Recent Updates
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Court Weighing Whether Judge Can Unseal Lynching Records
Legal Issues 10/20/2019A historian’s effort to unseal grand jury records from the brazen 1946 lynching of two black couples on a Georgia riverbank prompted tough questions in a federal appeals court, but the judges also suggested there might be another way to win rel...
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In or out? Court case on job bias casts pall on LGBT fests
Legal Events 10/13/2019National Coming Out Day festivities were tempered this year by anxiety that some LGBT folk may have to go back into the closet so they can make a living, depending on what the Supreme Court decides about workplace discrimination law.But the mere fact...
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Divided Supreme Court weighs LGBT people’s rights
National News 10/10/2019A seemingly divided Supreme Court struggled Tuesday over whether a landmark civil rights law protects LGBT people from discrimination in employment, with one conservative justice wondering if the court should take heed of “massive social upheav...
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US Supreme Court to review Kansas’ lack of insanity defense
Legal Events 10/03/2019The U.S. Supreme Court is preparing to consider how far states can go toward eliminating the insanity defense in criminal trials as it reviews the case of a Kansas man sentenced to die for killing four relatives.The high court planned to hear argumen...
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High Court overturns city mandate on construction projects
National News 09/23/2019A divided Ohio Supreme Court has upheld a state law invalidating a Cleveland requirement that public construction contractors hire city residents for a portion of work on projects.A 2003 Cleveland ordinance mandates that residents must perform 20% of...
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Supreme Court rebuffs Alabama officer charged with murder
Legal Issues 08/08/2019The Alabama Supreme Court refused Friday to intervene on behalf of a Huntsville police officer charged with murder in a 2018 shooting, sending the case back to circuit court for a potential trial.The justices turned away an appeal by officer William ...
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Appeal in John Steinbeck lawsuit heard in court
Legal Events 08/05/2019Both sides had another day in court Tuesday in a family battle that has been waged for decades over who controls the works of iconic author John Steinbeck.A three-judge panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments to an appeal by ...
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Democratic governor getting to shape Kansas' top court
Legal Events 07/29/2019The Kansas Supreme Court's chief justice plans to retire before the end of the year, allowing first-year Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly to leave a bigger mark on the state's highest court than her conservative Republican predecessors.Chief Justice Lawto...
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Cyprus police frees 5 Israelis, 7 held in hotel rape probe
Legal Events 07/26/2019A Cyprus court on Friday extended the detention of seven of the 12 Israeli teenagers initially arrested as suspects in the rape of a 19-year-old British woman.The court ordered the suspects to remain in police custody for another six days to give inv...
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Supreme Court: Trump can use Pentagon funds for border wall
Legal Issues 07/21/2019The Supreme Court cleared the way for the Trump administration to tap billions of dollars in Pentagon funds to build sections of a border wall with Mexico.The court’s five conservative justices gave the administration the green light on Friday ...
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Meek Mill’s conviction thrown out, granted new trial
Legal Issues 07/17/2019A Pennsylvania appeals court on Wednesday overturned rapper Meek Mill’s conviction in a drug and gun case that has kept the rapper on probation for a decade and made him a celebrity crusader for criminal justice reform.The unanimous three-judge...
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Court to Trump: Blocking Twitter critics is unconstitutional
Legal Events 07/10/2019President Donald Trump lost a major Twitter fight Tuesday when a federal appeals court said that his daily musings and pronouncements were overwhelmingly official in nature and that he violated the First Amendment whenever he blocked a critic to sile...