Recent Updates
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Calif. high court asked to hear gay marriage cases
US Legal News 11/17/2008The state attorney general and sponsors of the ballot initiative that banned same-sex marriage in California urged its Supreme Court to hear a series of lawsuits seeking to overturn the ban, saying the matter is too urgent to be unsettled."The petiti...
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US appeals court hears arguments in ND hemp case
US Legal News 11/13/2008An attorney for two North Dakota farmers argued they should be able to grow industrial hemp under state regulations without fear of federal criminal prosecution.Attorney Joe Sandler told a panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday t...
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Payday lending law violated constitution
US Legal News 11/06/2008A 1999 state law allowing so-called payday lenders to charge high fees for short-term loans violates the state constitution, the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled Thursday.In a 6-0 decision, the court said the fees permitted under the 1999 Check Cashers A...
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Hall & Oates sue in NY over `Maneater' recording
US Legal News 11/05/2008Daryl Hall and John Oates have filed a lawsuit saying their music publisher failed to protect their rights to their 1982 hit "Maneater."The pop duo's lawsuit says they learned in April 2007 that an unidentified singer-songwriter had used "Maneater" i...
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Court to decide on convict's right to test DNA
US Legal News 11/03/2008The Supreme Court will decide whether, years after his conviction, a defendant has a constitutional right to test genetic evidence found at the crime scene.The justices, in an order Monday, accepted the appeal of prosecutors in Alaska. They asked the...
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Navy Refuses to Release McCain Car Crash Records
US Legal News 10/20/2008Journalists say the U.S. Navy refuses to release documents about a 1964auto accident in which then-Lt. John McCain was involved, and injured,along with another man, outside the main gate of the Norfolk Navy Base.The Navy allegedly located the documen...
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Court Stays Guantanamo Prisoner Release
US Legal News 10/09/2008The Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on Wednesday stayed a federaljudge's order that the Bush administration free 17 prisoners fromGuantanamo. U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina ordered the governmentto bring the prisoners to his court Friday, s...
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Tokyo Broadcasting Sues ABC for Ripping off Shows
US Legal News 10/07/2008ABC's "reality" show "Wipeout" is a ripoff of Tokyo BroadcastingSystem's shows, the Japanese network claims in Federal Court. TBS saysABC's show might "more aptly be titled 'Swipe-Out, given that it isnothing more than a blatant copycat combination o...
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State Farm Won't Back Mean Mom
US Legal News 10/06/2008State Farm says a policyholder, a mother, suggested her daughter taunta girl the daughter doesn't like by writing insults, including "bitch,""whore," "slut" and "you have no friends," on disposable diapers andstrewing them about the girl's yard. The ...
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Judge Rejects Challenge to College Religious Displays
US Legal News 09/30/2008Religious displays in the bursar's office at Hunter College do not constitute a government endorsement of religion, a federal judge ruled. U.S. District Judge Richard Holwell dismissed a challenge brought by Herman Menes, a college accountant who sai...
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New class action filed over US warrantless surveillance program
US Legal News 09/22/2008The Electronic Frontier Foundation on Thursday filed a class action lawsuit seeking injunctive, declaratory and equitable relief from the National Security Agency warrantless surveillance program, which gave government agencies access to over 300 ter...
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Bush to sign disabilities bill passed by US House
US Legal News 09/19/2008A bill overwriting judicial interpretations which have narrowed protections under the Americans With Disabilities Act awaits President Bush's signature following passage by the US House of Representatives on Wednesday. The ADA Amendments Act of 2008,...