Legal Digest -
Law News
Today's Legal News Bookmark This Website
Court: Calif. erred in new lethal injection regs
Legal Business | 2013/05/31 10:59
Executions in California will remain suspended after a state appeals court ruled that corrections officials made several "substantial" procedural errors when they adopted new lethal injection rules.

The 1st District Court of Appeals said the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation failed to explain, as required by state law, why it was switching from a three-drug injection method to a single drug.

The court's opinion, which affirmed a lower court ruling, also said the agency misled the public by not providing the documents and information it used to reach its decision.

Corrections spokeswoman Deborah Hoffman said in an email that the agency was reviewing the ruling.

"In the meantime, at the governor's direction, CDCR is continuing to develop proposed regulations for a single-drug protocol in order to ensure that California's laws on capital punishment are upheld," Hoffman said.

California has not executed an inmate since 2006, when a federal judge halted the practice, finding that the three-drug mixture amounted to cruel and unusual punishment. The state was ordered to redo its capital punishment system.

Since then, California has built a new death chamber at San Quentin State Prison and trained a new team to carry out executions.


WikiLeaks case file fight moves to federal court
Legal News Digest | 2013/05/24 09:15
The WikiLeaks organization and a handful of journalists asked a federal judge Wednesday to order greater transparency in the court-martial of an Army private who has acknowledged sending reams of classified document to the WikiLeaks website.

The Center for Constitutional Rights, representing WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange, filed the petition in U.S. District Court in Baltimore. It seeks an order requiring public access to all documents in the court-martial of Pfc. Bradley Manning.

It also seeks to have the lawyers and military judge "reconstitute" in open court certain conferences they have held out of public view.

Shaunteh Kelly, a spokeswoman for the Military District of Washington, where Manning is being court-martialed, said the Army has a policy of not commenting on pending litigation.

Manning's 3-year-old espionage case is headed for trial next month at Fort Meade, near Baltimore. Many records of the pretrial proceedings remain secret because the military contends the First Amendment doesn't require it to provide prompt public access to court-martial documents.

Unlike civilian courts, where case files are readily available for public inspection in a clerk's office, there is no central repository for court-martial records. The military initially required reporters covering the Manning case to file federal Freedom of Information Act requests for documents, including the military judge's rulings. In February, it began releasing redacted versions of some court-martial records on a public website. In April, the judge, Army Col. Denise Lind, started releasing some of her written rulings to reporters the same day.

Still, the petition says, the public is being denied its First Amendment right to scrutinize the Manning case as it proceeds.


IMF head Lagarde in court in fraud probe
Lawyer Blog Updates | 2013/05/23 22:16
International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde is facing questions at a special Paris court Thursday over her role in the 400 million euro ($520 million) pay-off to a controversial businessman when she was France's finance minister.

The court hearing threatens to sully the reputations of both Lagarde and France. The payment was made to well-connected entrepreneur Bernard Tapie as part of a private arbitration process to settle a dispute with state-owned bank Credit Lyonnais over the botched sale of Adidas in the 1990s. It is seen by many in France as an example of the cozy relationship between big money and big power in France.

Lagarde has earned praise for her negotiating skills as managing director of the IMF through Europe's debt crisis and is seen as a trailblazer for women leaders. Her decision to let the Adidas dispute go to private arbitration rather than be settled in the courts has drawn criticism, and French lawmakers asked magistrates to investigate.

Lagarde, smiling at reporters, left her Paris apartment Thursday morning and appeared at a special court that handles cases involving government ministers. She has denied wrongdoing.

At the time of the payment, Tapie was close to then-French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who was Lagarde's boss. Critics have said the deal was too generous to Tapie at the expense of the French state, and that the case shouldn't have gone to a private arbitration authority because it involved a state-owned bank.


Court strikes down Arizona 20-week abortion ban
Law Firm News | 2013/05/23 22:16
A federal court in San Francisco Tuesday struck down Arizona's ban on abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the law violates a string of U.S. Supreme Court rulings starting with Roe v. Wade that guarantees a woman's right to an abortion before a fetus is able to survive outside the womb. That's generally considered to be about 24 weeks. Normal pregnancies run about 40 weeks

Several states have enacted similar bans starting at 20 weeks. But the 9th Circuit's ruling is binding only in the nine Western states under the court's jurisdiction. Idaho is the only other state in the region covered by the 9th Circuit with a similar ban.

A trial judge had ruled that the ban could take effect. U.S. District Judge James Teilborg ruled it was constitutional, partly because of concerns about the health of women and possible pain for fetuses.

But abortion-rights groups appealed that decision, saying the 20-week ban would not give some women time to carefully decide whether to abort problem pregnancies.


Italy court upholds Berlusconi tax fraud verdict
Legal Career News | 2013/05/14 00:10
Former Premier Silvio Berlusconi's tax fraud conviction and four-year prison sentence were upheld on the first appeal Wednesday in a case that could see him barred from public office for five years.

In Italy, defendants are legally considered innocent until all appeals are exhausted, and Berlusconi's lawyers are expected to appeal the case to the nation's highest Court of Cassation once the reasoning for the decision is published.

Still, the ruling, which comes just days before prosecutors wrap up closing arguments in his sensational sex-for-hire trial, raises the question of whether Berlusconi's days as a political force are numbered.

His center-right forces are allied with the Democratic Party in a grand coalition, and although Berlusconi holds no governmental posts he remains influential. It was his decision to head the center-right coalition, after initially saying he would move aside for younger leaders, that gave a boost to his forces in February's election campaign, finishing a close second to the center-left.


[PREV] [1] ..[325][326][327][328][329][330][331][332][333].. [530] [NEXT]
All
Legal News Digest
Law Firm News
Legal Career News
Headline Legal News
Lawyer Blog Updates
Legal Business
Law News
Court Press News
Legal Interview
Legal World News
Press Release
Legal Opinions
Law Firm Marketing
Legal & Political
Law School News
US completes deportation of 8 men to..
International Criminal Court hit wit..
What’s next for birthright citizens..
Court to hear appeal from Chevron in..
Judge asks if troops in Los Angeles ..
Court blocks Louisiana law requiring..
Judge blocks plan to allow immigrati..
Getty Images and Stability AI clash ..
Supreme Court makes it easier to cla..
Trump formally asks Congress to claw..
World financial markets welcome cour..
Cuban exiles were shielded from depo..
Justice Dept. moves to cancel police..
Arizona prosecutors ordered to send ..
Supreme Court could block Trump’s b..
Trump Seeks Supreme Court Approval t..
Jury begins deliberating in UK trial..
Judge bars deportations of Venezuela..
Judge to weigh Louisiana AG’s chall..
Judge blocks parts of Trump’s overh..


   Lawyer & Law Firm Links
Oregon DUI Law Attorney
Eugene DUI Lawyer. Criminal Defense Law
www.mjmlawoffice.com
San Francisco Trademark Lawyer
San Francisco Copyright Lawyer
www.onulawfirm.com
New York Adoption Lawyers
New York Foster Care Lawyers
Adoption Pre-Certification
www.lawrsm.com
 
 
© Legal News Digest. All rights reserved.

Disclaimer: The content contained on the web site has been prepared by Legal News Media as a service to the internet community and is not intended to constitute legal advice or a substitute for consultation with a licensed legal professional in a particular case or circumstance. Blog postings and hosted comments are available for general educational purposes only and should not be used to assess a specific legal situation. | Criminal Defense Attorney Web Design by Law Promo