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California Court Closures Set, Despite Grumbling
Legal Topics |
2009/07/31 16:09
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According to The Recorder, the Judicial Council on Wednesday ordered all California courthouses closed once a month starting Sept. 16, despite ongoing complaints from labor groups, sheriffs and some judges that the closures are unnecessary and potentially dangerous.
"I hate it," said council member Richard Huffman, a justice on the 4th District Court of Appeal. But, he added, "We believe it is the only rational mechanism available to us to minimize the impact to the public."
The third-Wednesday-each-month closures will save an estimated $85.3 million and are a key part of the judicial branch's overall plan to cut spending, raise fees and siphon savings to close a $393 million deficit. The Legislature authorized the closures as part of the $26 billion budget revision signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Tuesday. |
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Judicial Appointment Challenge In TN Fails
Legal Topics |
2009/07/29 18:10
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According to Courthouse News, the 6th Circuit dismissed an appeal challenging the constitutionality of the way Tennessee appoints its Supreme Court justices.
The method drew criticism from Drew Johnson, president of the conservative Tennessee Center for Policy Research, and former Democratic gubernatorial nominee John Jay Hooker.
Johnson and Hooker claimed the appointment process deprived them of their right to vote on the Supreme Court candidates in a popular election.
Under the state's plan, the governor selects a justice from a panel of three candidates presented by a judicial selection committee. The governor's pick is then put before voters in the next election. Every eight years, voters decide whether to keep sitting justices for another term.
The magistrate judge dismissed the challenge for lack of jurisdiction, and the Cincinnati-based federal appeals court affirmed. |
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Tasered Woman Wins Trial In Suit Against Cops
Legal Topics |
2009/07/27 16:12
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According to Courthouse News, Minnesota police illegally Tasered a woman for refusing to hang up her 911 call after officers handcuffed her husband during a traffic stop, the 8th Circuit ruled.
Sandra Brown and her husband, Richard, were driving home from dinner in downtown Minneapolis when they were pulled over by a Golden Valley squad car. One of the officers asked Richard if he knew why he'd been stopped, and Richard replied that he did not.
What happened after involved what Sandra, the passenger, thought to be excessive aggression, so she called 911.
Backup officer Rob Zarrett ordered Sandra to "Get off the phone." When she refused, he Tasered her. He claimed the action was necessary, because Sandra had disobeyed his orders to unfasten her seatbelt. He also spotted two empty cocktail glasses on the floors, in violation of the state's open-container law.
Sandra sued Zarrett and the city of Golden Valley for use of excessive force, claiming she was physically and psychologically injured by the Tasering.
"Given the circumstances surrounding the Tasering and arrest, we are not convinced that Zarrett's use of force was objectively reasonable as a matter of law," the St. Louis-based appeals court ruled.
Judge Wollman pointed out that Sandra had not been trying to flee or resist arrest when she was Tasered. |
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Prop 8 To be Decided on Soon
Legal Topics |
2009/06/17 16:10
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Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says a federal lawsuit challenging California's gay marriage ban poses a valid legal question that should be decided by the courts.
Schwarzenegger's position came in a court filing Tuesday in response to the lawsuit filed on behalf of two unmarried same-sex couples who want to overturn Proposition 8.
Heading the legal team for the couples are famed attorneys David Boies and Theodore Olson, who opposed each other in the 2000 presidential election challenge.
Last week, California Attorney General Jerry Brown, also named as a defendant, said in a court filing that he agrees Proposition 8 violates the U.S. Constitution's promise of equal protection and due process.
Schwarzenegger didn't elaborate on the merits of the lawsuit, only saying that it "presents important constitutional questions." |
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Some possible nominees had easy Senate path before
Legal Topics |
2009/05/24 16:09
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Some of the people President Barack Obama is considering for the Supreme Court got significant support from Republicans when they were last before the Senate seeking jobs in the judiciary or executive branches of government.
But a yes vote then doesn't necessarily mean a yes vote now.
"I'd say the stakes are higher for the Supreme Court," said Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, senior Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Obama will soon nominate a successor to Justice David Souter, who has announced he will retire next month. The people Obama is considering include Solicitor General Elena Kagan, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, U.S. Appeals Court Judges Diane Wood and Sonia Sotomayor and Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, according to officials familiar with the president's thinking. Of that list, all but Granholm have been voted on before by the Senate and all have been confirmed with Republican votes. Wood and Napolitano got votes from every Republican in the chamber when they came before the Senate. Wood sailed through the Senate Judiciary Committee on an unanimous vote, and her nomination for the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago cleared the Senate without an objection as part of a package of nominees the Senate confirmed in 1995 before heading out for the Fourth of July holiday. |
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Calif. wants US Supreme Court OK of video game ban
Legal Topics |
2009/05/22 16:09
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California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Jerry Brown petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday to reinstate a state law banning the sale or rental of violent video games to minors.
In February, the 9th U.S. Court of Appeals struck down the law as a free speech violation that could limit minors' access to other material under the guise of protecting children. The court said there are less restrictive ways, such as parental control, to prevent children from accessing violent video games.
The court also dismissed as unpersuasive the scientific studies linking violent video games to aggressive and anti-social behavior. The state Legislature passed the law in 2005, but it never took effect because the video game industry sued soon after Schwarzenegger signed the measure that would have barred sales and rentals to anyone under the age of 18. The governor and attorney general argued Wednesday that the same legal justifications for banning minors from accessing pornography can be applied to violent video games. |
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Key player in sports-bribery case appears in court
Legal Topics |
2009/05/15 16:28
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Two former University of Toledo football players charged in a point-shaving scheme were arraigned in federal court Wednesday, including an ex-running back from Canada who is described as a key contact for Detroit-area gamblers.
Not guilty pleas were entered on behalf of Adam Cuomo of Hagersville, Ontario, and Quinton Broussard of Carrollton, Texas.
The FBI says Cuomo, 31, incriminated himself during an interview in December 2006. Authorities also have recordings of phone calls between him and Ghazi "Gary" Manni of Sterling Heights. In December 2005, the talk turned to how a reluctant basketball player had agreed to shave points. "Cuomo responded by saying that money will overcome all," FBI agent Stephen Ferrari said in a court document unsealed last month. Cuomo is charged with conspiring with Manni, Mitchell "Ed" Karam and others to fix the results of Toledo football and basketball games, from late 2004 through 2006. He met Manni through the owner of a phone shop in Toledo, Ohio, the FBI says. |
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