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Jury convicts mom of lesser charges in online hoax
Headline Legal News |
2008/11/26 18:47
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| A jury on Wednesday was unable to reach a verdict on the main conspiracy charge and instead convicted a Missouri woman of three minor offenses for her role in an Internet hoax that apparently drove a 13-year-old girl to suicide.pThe Los Angeles federal court jury rejected felony charges of accessing a computer without authorization to inflict emotional distress on young Megan Meier./ppHowever, the jury found defendant Lori Drew guilty of three counts of the lesser offense of accessing a computer without authorization. Each count is punishable by up to one year in prison and a $100,000 fine./ppThe jurors could not reach a verdict on a conspiracy count, and U.S. District Court Judge George Wu declared a mistrial on the charge. It was not known if she would be retried./ppShe could have been sentenced to a total of 20 years in prison if convicted of the four original counts./ppProsecutors said Drew violated the MySpace terms of service by conspiring with her young daughter and a business assistant to create a fictitious profile of a teen boy on the MySpace social networking site to harass Megan./ppMegan, who had been treated for depression, hanged herself with a belt in her bedroom closet in 2006 after receiving a message saying the world would be better without her. /p |
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Benjamin K. Ahlstrom has joined Hodgson Russ
Law Firm News/New York |
2008/11/26 10:40
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Mr. Ahlstrom represents clients in complex litigation in both federal and state courts. Prior to joining Hodgson Russ, Mr. Ahlstrom was an associate at a large law firm in Washington, D.C. His experiences include working for national and regional firms in the areas of securities fraud and accounting malpractice, as well as a variety of employment matters involving discrimination, retaliation, and whistleblowers. Mr. Ahlstrom also served as a law clerk to the Hon. Frederick J. Scullin, Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York.
Hodgson Russ attorneys facilitate the U.S. legal aspects of transactions around the world. We practice in virtually every substantive area of law and generally use multidisciplinary work teams to serve the specific, often complex, needs of our clients, which include public and privately held businesses, governmental entities, nonprofit institutions, and individuals. Hodgson Russ has offices in New York City, Albany, Buffalo, and Johnstown, New York; Boca Raton and Palm Beach, Florida; and Toronto, Ontario. |
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Singapore rules Journal in contempt of court
Topics in Legal News |
2008/11/23 18:48
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| Singapore's High Court ruled the Wall Street Journal Asia in contempt of court for publishing two editorials and a letter to the editor that the government says damaged the reputation of the country's judicial system.pThe court also fined the newspaper 25,000 Singapore dollars ($16,400)./ppJustice Tay Yong Kwang ruled Tuesday against the newspaper and two of its editors, three weeks after Attorney General Walter Woon argued the editorials published in June and July questioned the judiciary's independence from Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and the ruling People's Action Party. Not meting out punishment in this case would undermine the country's rule of law, the court said./ppThe letter to the editor was written by Chee Soon Juan, head of the opposition Singapore Democratic Party./ppThe editorials and the letter contained insinuations of bias, lack of impartiality and lack of independence and implied that the judiciary is subservient to Mr. Lee and/or the PAP and is a tool for silencing political dissent, Tay wrote in the ruling./ppThere can be no doubt that allegations of the nature mentioned above would immediately cast doubts on the judiciary in Singapore and undermine public confidence./ppThe newspaper's lawyer, Philip Jeyaretnam, was not immediately available for comment. The Wall Street Journal is published by Dow Jones amp; Co., a part of News Corp./ppSingapore's leaders have sued journalists and political opponents several times in past years for alleged defamation. They have won lawsuits and damages against Bloomberg, the Economist and the International Herald Tribune./ppHuman Rights Watch called on Singapore last month to stop using defamation lawsuits to stifle criticism and bankrupt opposition politicians, citing the High Court's decision in October to order Chee and his party to pay $416,000 to Lee and his father, Lee Kuan Yew, in damages stemming from a 2006 defamation case./ppGovernment leaders justify suing political opponents, saying it is necessary to defend their personal and professional reputations since it bears on their ability to govern properly and command respect from Singaporeans. /p |
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Protesters rally near Texas court in dragging case
Politics |
2008/11/18 18:51
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| Protesters galvanized by a dragging death that has stirred memories of the notorious James Byrd case rallied twice outside an eastern Texas courthouse to speak out against a judicial system they consider racist.pAbout 60 people, led by a contingent from the New Black Panther Party and the Nation of Islam, met at the Lamar County Courthouse on Monday to bring attention to the death of Brandon McClelland. The groups later returned with about 200 protesters. Afterward, dozens of people chanting No justice, no peace! marched to a nearby church for a meeting./ppAuthorities say two white suspects purposely ran over McClelland, who is black, following an argument on the way home from a late-night beer run in September. McClelland's body was torn apart as it was dragged some 70 feet beneath a pickup truck near Paris, a city about 95 miles northeast of Dallas with a history of tense relations between blacks and whites./ppThe death came 10 years after James Byrd was killed in Jasper, another eastern Texas town. Byrd was chained to the back of a pickup by three white men and dragged for three miles./ppHow do we get justice for Brandon McClelland? cried Anthony Bond, founder of the Irving chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People./p |
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Paralyzed Calif. man loses high court appeal
Legal News |
2008/11/17 18:50
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| A paralyzed man who has sued hundreds of businesses over accommodations for the disabled lost his Supreme Court appeal Monday to get out from under a court order requiring special permission to file new lawsuits.pJarek Molski has been labeled a vexatious litigant by federal courts in California because he has filed roughly 400 lawsuits alleging that restaurants and other businesses are in violation of the federal Americans with Disabilities Act. Molski is paralyzed from the chest down and uses a wheelchair./ppThe justices rejected his case without comment./ppMolski frequently complains about the lack of handicapped van parking, counters that are too high, narrow doorways and grab-bars installed too high or low in bathrooms. In addition, he often says he was injured in the course of his visit. Targeted business owners often have settled out of court rather than pay attorneys and take the time to fight the lawsuits./ppA federal judge in Los Angeles described the lawsuits as extortion. The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the ruling that Molski was an abusive litigant, although it noted that many of the establishments he sued probably were violating federal law./ppOn the other hand, the district court had ample basis to conclude that Molski trumped up his claims of injury, the appeals court said./ppThe case is Molski v. Evergreen Dynasty Corp., 08-38. /p |
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Herrick K. Lidstone to teach at the University of Colorado Law School
Law Firm News/Colorado |
2008/11/17 13:48
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| During the spring of 2009, Herrick K. Lidstone, Jr., will be teaching a course at his alma mater, the University of Colorado Law School, Boulder, Colorado as an adjunct professor. This course is intended for third year law students and is concerned with the various federal statutes regulating the issuance of securities and the cases and regulations that have arisen out of those statutes, with an emphasis on statutory interpretation. Mr. Lidstone will be using his book, Securities Law Deskbook with additional course materials. The 2009 supplement for the Securities Law Deskbook is in production. |
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