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Federal court rules for Ohio festival free speech
Headline Legal News |
2012/02/13 18:08
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A federal appeals court has ruled in favor of two Christians who say their free speech rights were violated at a southwest Ohio corn festival.
A 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals three-judge panel ruled unanimously Monday that a policy against solicitation at the annual Sweet Corn Festival was too broad, and unconstitutional. The panel reversed a federal judge's ruling.
The case stemmed from the summer 2009 festival in the Dayton suburb of Fairborn, Ohio. Plaintiffs Tracy Bays and Kerrigan Skelly planned to convey their religious beliefs among festival-goers, and Bays began walking through the park with a sandwich board sign with Christian messages. After encountering opposition from a festival worker and officials, they left.
They sued in 2010. The Christian legal aid group Alliance Defense Fund argued their appeal. |
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Miss high court hears challenge to Barbour pardons
Headline Legal News |
2012/02/10 17:25
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Feuding attorneys asked the Mississippi Supreme Court on Thursday to determine the validity of pardons that Haley Barbour gave to convicted killers and other convicts during his final days as governor.
Chief Justice Bill Waller Jr. said the court would not rule Thursday, but he didn't say when a decision would come.
"We want them to take enough time to do it right," said Randy Walker, who objects to the pardons. Walker was shot in the head in 1993 by one of the men Barbour set free last month. That former inmate, David Gatlin, also fatally shot his own estranged wife as she held the couple's baby.
At the heart of the dispute is Section 124 of the Mississippi Constitution, which says "no pardon shall be granted" by the governor until the convicted felon applying for the pardon publishes notice of that application for 30 days in a newspaper in or near the county where the crime was committed.
Justices could uphold the pardons, as requested by a private attorney representing Republican Barbour. Or they could declare the pardons invalid, as requested by Democratic Attorney General Jim Hood. If they agree with Hood that the 30-day publication is a must, they could send the pardons back to a lower court, where a circuit judge could hold a trial to determine whether the pardons met those requirements. |
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Utah high court to hear posthumous benefits case
Headline Legal News |
2012/02/07 18:02
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Utah's Supreme Court is deciding whether a sperm donor contract is proof that a man wanted to be a father, even after his death.
The question stems from a dispute between Gayle Burns and the Social Security Administration, which denied survivor benefits to the son Burns conceived after her husband died from cancer.
Oral arguments are set Tuesday in Salt Lake City.
Michael Burns had contracted with medical providers to preserve his sperm before he died of cancer in 2001. Gayle Burns became pregnant in 2003.
Social Security denied a 2005 benefits petition, saying federal law doesn't allow for payments to posthumously-conceived children.
Gayle Burns challenged the ruling in Utah's federal court.
A federal judge asked Utah's Supreme Court to address the issue first. |
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Magnet Toy Class Action Settlement
Headline Legal News |
2012/02/04 17:50
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On December 15, 2011, the Honorable Susan D. Wigenton, U.S.D.J., granted final approval of a class action settlement in the lawsuit Chris Doering, et al. v. MEGA Brands, Inc., et al., Civil Action No. 2:08-CV-1750 (SDW) (MCA). Defendants MEGA Brands, Inc., et al. agreed to settle legal claims surrounding certain Magnet Toy products, many of which were subject to recalls instituted by MEGA Brands in cooperation with the Consumer Products Safety Commission ("C.P.S.C."). Plaintiffs in the lawsuit alleged that certain "Magnet Toys" (as defined in the parties' agreement to settle the action) contained defective magnets, and sought a refund of all monies paid. This lawsuit did not allege any personal injury claims. Defendants have denied any and all liability. However, the parties have agreed to settle the matter to avoid the expense and resources that would be needed for further litigation.
The Settlement covers over 10 million MEGA Brands Magnet Toys, including the Magnetix family of toys, as well as Mag-Warriors, Magnaworld, Magna-Bugs, Magna-Wheels, Magna-Saurs, and Magna-Bones, among others. A complete list of the "Magnet Toys" covered by the proposed Settlement as well as pictures of those toys is available for consumers to at www.megabrandssettlement.com. |
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Miss. high court takes ex-gov pardons case
Headline Legal News |
2012/02/03 17:57
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The Mississippi Supreme Court said Wednesday it will take up the legal challenge to the pardons ex-Gov. Haley Barbour gave out in his last days in office.
State Attorney General Jim Hood, a Democrat, wants to invalidate dozens of the 198 pardons that Barbour, a Republican, handed out before his second four-year term ended Jan. 10. Ten of the people were still incarcerated when they received reprieves.
Only about two dozen of the people pardoned followed the Mississippi Constitution's requirement to publish a notice about their reprieves in their local newspapers for 30 days, said Hood, who wants the others invalidated. Barbour has said the pardons are valid and that he gave them because he's a Christian and believes in second chances.
Most of the people who could lose their pardons already served their sentences and have been out of prison for years. Some of them were convicted of comparatively minor crimes as far back as the 1960s and 1970s and have never been in trouble again.
Five of the pardoned are being held on a temporary restraining order issued by Hinds County Circuit Judge Tomie Green. The Supreme Court extended that order until it can rule on the matter. It set a hearing for Feb. 9 and said it would try to rule quickly. |
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HIV-positive man who sued Atlanta gets new hearing
Headline Legal News |
2012/02/02 21:02
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A federal appeals court on Wednesday granted a new hearing to a 40-year-old man who claimed the Atlanta Police Department rejected his job application because he has HIV.
The ruling was a victory for gay rights advocates and the health groups who had closely watched the case, which was brought in 2010 by a man using the pseudonym Richard Roe.
Among other findings, the three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said in the ruling that the city lulled Roe into believing he didn't need to prove his HIV was "non-serious." It ordered the judge who dismissed the lawsuit to take another look at that issue and others prompted by the lawsuit.
The ruling was no surprise, as the panel expressed skepticism about the city's arguments during oral arguments last week, and one judge suggested the court had little choice but to send the case back to the federal judge. |
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Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP Files Class Action
Headline Legal News |
2012/01/30 21:05
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Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP today announced that a class action has been commenced in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama on behalf of purchasers of the common stock of Walter Energy, Inc. between April 20, 2011 and September 21, 2011, inclusive.
If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than 60 days from today. If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights or interests, please contact plaintiff’s counsel, Samuel H. Rudman or David A. Rosenfeld of Robbins Geller at 800/449-4900 or 619/231-1058, or via e-mail at djr@rgrdlaw.com. If you are a member of this class, you can view a copy of the complaint as filed or join this class action online at http://www.rgrdlaw.com/cases/walterenergy/. Any member of the putative class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member.
The complaint charges Walter and certain of its officers and directors with violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Walter, through its consolidated subsidiaries, mines and exports hard coking coal for the global steel industry.
The complaint alleges that, during the Class Period, defendants issued materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company’s business and prospects. Specifically, defendants misrepresented and/or failed to disclose the following adverse facts: (i) that the Company was experiencing so-called “squeeze” events in Alabama and lower coal transportation rates in Canada that significantly reduced Walter’s coal production; (ii) that the Company’s commitment to ship more than 700,000 tons of coal in the second quarter at first quarter sales prices would result in a material adverse effect on Walter’s average sales prices and operating results during the second quarter; (iii) that Walter was experiencing a significant decline in its margins and profitability; and (iv) that, based on the foregoing, defendants lacked a reasonable basis for their positive statements about the Company and its business prospects during the Class Period.
On August 3, 2011, Walter issued a press release announcing its operating results for its 2011 fiscal second quarter, the period ended June 30, 2011. For the quarter, the Company announced net income of $107.4 million, or $1.71 per diluted common share, significantly less than Wall Street estimates. Then, On September 21, 2011, Walter issued a press release announcing its attempt to “enhance” its historical statistical disclosure and its revisions to its 2011 second half sales expectations. In response to this announcement, the price of Walter common stock declined from $75.00 per share on September 20, 2011 to $66.25 on September 21, 2011, on extremely heavy trading volume.
Plaintiff seeks to recover damages on behalf of all purchasers of Walter common stock during the Class Period (the “Class”). The plaintiff is represented by Robbins Geller, which has expertise in prosecuting investor class actions and extensive experience in actions involving financial fraud.
Robbins Geller, a 180-lawyer firm with offices in San Diego, San Francisco, New York, Boca Raton, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and Atlanta, is active in major litigations pending in federal and state courts throughout the United States and has taken a leading role in many important actions on behalf of defrauded investors, consumers, and companies, as well as victims of human rights violations.
http://www.rgrdlaw.com |
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