Recent Updates
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Cosby’s sex assault conviction goes before high-level court
Criminal Law 12/01/2020Pennsylvania’s highest court questioned Tuesday whether Bill Cosby’s alleged history of intoxicating and sexually assaulting young women amounted to a signature crime pattern, given studies that show as many as half of all sexual assaults...
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Judge halts further vote certification; Gov. Wolf appeals
Criminal Law 11/25/2020A Pennsylvania appeals court judge ordered state officials on Wednesday to halt any further steps toward certifying election results, a day after Gov. Tom Wolf said he had certified Democrat Joe Biden as the winner of the presidential election in Pen...
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Biden win over Trump in Nevada made official by court
Criminal Law 11/24/2020The Nevada Supreme Court made Joe Biden’s win in the state official on Tuesday, approving the state's final canvass of the Nov. 3 election. The unanimous action by the seven nonpartisan justices sends to Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak results th...
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High court nominee served as ‘handmaid’ in religious group
Criminal Law 10/07/2020Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett served as a “handmaid,” the term then used for high-ranking female leaders in the People of Praise religious community, an old directory for the group’s members shows.Barrett has thus far refu...
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California justices toss death penalty for Scott Peterson
Criminal Law 08/23/2020Scott Peterson’s conviction for killing his pregnant wife will stand, but the California Supreme Court on Monday overturned his 2005 death sentence in a case that attracted worldwide attention. The justices cited “significant errors&rdquo...
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Simple math suggests complex back story at Supreme Court
Criminal Law 06/17/2020Organizers of a Michigan ballot drive to prohibit discrimination against gay, lesbian and transgender people said Monday they were evaluating whether to continue following a major victory in the U.S. Supreme Court.Fair and Equal Michigan launched the...
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Court ‘deeply troubled’ by woman’s jailing over unpaid fines
Criminal Law 02/15/2020Federal appeals court judges said they were “deeply troubled” that a Georgia municipal court jailed a woman when she couldn’t pay a fine for driving without insurance.A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals uph...
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Supreme Court to take up dispute over subpoenas
Criminal Law 12/14/2019The Supreme Court says it will hear President Donald Trump’s pleas to keep his tax, bank and financial records private. The high court is likely to issue final rulings in June, amid Trump's campaign for re-election.The justice...
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Justices weigh dismissal of case over New York City gun law
Criminal Law 12/01/2019The Supreme Court considered Monday whether to dismiss the first gun rights case it has heard in nearly 10 years, an outcome that would come as a huge relief to gun-control advocates.The justices heard arguments in a dispute over New York City restri...
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Lawmakers asked to boost spending on New Mexico court system
Criminal Law 11/25/2019New Mexico Supreme Court Justice Barbara Vigil is asking legislators to boost spending on the state court system.The Albuquerque Journal reports Vigil joined other court officials Friday in Santa Fe to request an 8.9% increase in appropriations from ...
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Wisconsin court says gun site not liable in spa shooting
Criminal Law 04/30/2019The state Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit Tuesday alleging a firearms website that enabled a man to illegally purchase the pistol he used in a mass shooting at a suburban Milwaukee spa six years ago is liable in the killings, ruling that federal la...
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Indian court lifts ban on Chinese social media app TikTok
Criminal Law 04/24/2019An Indian court on Wednesday lifted its ban on Chinese social media video-sharing app TikTok on the condition that the platform popular with teenagers would not be used to host obscene videos.Justices N. Kirubakaran and S.S. Sundar warned TikTok that...