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Court nixes faith-based birth control mandate challenge
Headline Legal News |
2015/02/16 12:26
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An appeals court has ruled that the birth control coverage required by federal health care reforms does not violate the rights of several religious groups because they can seek reasonable accommodations.
Two western Pennsylvania Catholic dioceses and a private Christian college had challenged the birth control coverage mandates and won lower-court decisions. However, the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court ruling Wednesday said the reforms place "no substantial burden" on the religious groups and therefore don't violate their First Amendment rights.
All three groups — the college and the Pittsburgh and Erie dioceses — are mulling whether to appeal to the entire 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals or the U.S. Supreme Court.
"Such a ruling should cause deep concern for anyone who cares about any First Amendment rights, especially the right to teach and practice a religious faith," Pittsburgh Bishop David Zubik said in a statement. "This decision says that the church is no longer free to practice what we preach."
At issue is an "accommodation" written into the Affordable Care Act that says religious organizations can opt out of directly providing and paying to cover medical services such groups would consider morally objectionable. In this case, that refers to all contraceptive and abortion services for the Catholic plaintiffs, and contraceptive services like the "week-after" pill and other medical coverage that Geneva College contends violate its anti-abortion teachings. The school in Beaver Falls is affiliated with the Reformed Presbyterian Church.
Justice Department lawyers have argued the accommodation solves the problem because it allows religious groups to opt out of directly providing such coverage. But the plaintiffs contend that merely filing the one-page form, which puts a religious group's objections on record with the government, violates their rights because it still "facilitates" or "triggers" a process that then enables third-party insurers to provide the kind of coverage to which they object. |
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Hernandez fiancee due in court for perjury charge
Headline Legal News |
2015/01/08 14:18
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Aaron Hernandez’s fiancee is due back in court Wednesday, one day after a judge made an important ruling about her presence during his murder trials. Shayanna Jenkins is charged with perjury related to the murder investigation of Hernandez.
The hearing is set for two petitions by prosecutors to grant immunity to Jenkins and one other witness.
On Tuesday, the judge ruled that five people on the witness list, that included Jenkins, Hernandez’s mother and Odin Lloyd’s mother, would be allowed to sit through the trial. That, even though Jenkins is a potential witness.
Jenkins’ lawyer, Janice Bassil, did not return an email sent Monday seeking more information about the hearing. Jenkins and Hernandez have a child together.
The judge indicated there may be another hearing Thursday before jury selection begins.
Jury selection is set to begin Friday for Hernandez, who has pleaded not guilty to killing Lloyd, a semiprofessional football player. Hernandez was a tight end for the Patriots with a $40 million contract when prosecutors say he killed Lloyd in an industrial park near his North Attleboro home in June 2013. Lloyd, 27, was dating the sister of Jenkins.
The trial is expected to last six to 10 weeks, and dozens of witnesses could be called, including Patriots coach Bill Belichick and team owner Robert Kraft.
Hernandez also has pleaded not guilty in the fatal shootings of two men in 2012 after an encounter at a Boston nightclub. That case has not yet gone to trial.
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Idaho gay marriage fight appealed to Supreme Court
Headline Legal News |
2015/01/05 15:26
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Idaho's governor and attorney general have filed separate petitions to the U.S. Supreme Court, fighting against gay marriage and arguing that the state's case has national consequences.
Same-sex marriage has been legal in Idaho since an October ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which has struck down bans across the West.
Attorney General Lawrence Wasden's filing Friday states that the issue is a matter of a state's right to define marriage without the federal government's involvement.
"This case presents the Court with the opportunity to resolve a divisive split on a question of nationwide importance: Whether the United States Constitution now prohibits states from maintaining the traditional definition of civil marriage, i.e., between one man and one woman," Wasden said in the petition.
Gov. Butch Otter's petition, filed Tuesday, states that the high court should review Idaho's case alone or in addition to a pending case involving the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that upheld the right of Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee to decide whether to allow gay marriage. |
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Post reporter charged in Iran after day in court
Headline Legal News |
2014/12/08 14:06
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A Washington Post reporter detained in Iran for more than four months was formally charged Saturday after a day-long proceeding in a Tehran courtroom, the newspaper reported.
Jason Rezaian, the newspaper's bureau chief in Tehran since 2012, appeared in court almost five months after he was arrested July 22. The charges were the first against him since the arrest, the Post said. He is an Iranian-American who holds dual citizenship.
The newspaper, quoting a source familiar with the case, said the nature of the charges against him were not immediately clear to those not present in the courtroom. The State Department has repeatedly raised the subject of Rezaian and other Americans jailed in Iran during talks with the government about a deal to curb Iran's nuclear capacity and ease international sanctions.
The State Department tweeted early Sunday that Secretary of State John Kerry was "disappointed and concerned" with the latest developments and called on the Iranian government to drop any charges against Rezaian "and release him so he can be reunited with his family."
His detention has been extended to mid-January in recent days because the investigation is continuing, the Post said. |
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Nags Head homeowners get federal court victory
Headline Legal News |
2014/11/13 16:05
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Nags Head homeowners banned from repairing their beachfront property for five years because the town declared them a public nuisance are back at work, getting those homes renovated.
The Virginian-Pilot reported a U.S. District Court judge ruled last week for the homeowners on part of their claims, allowing them to start repairing their houses.
The dispute started with a winter storm in November 2009 that damaged parts of the town.
Nags Head wanted nine houses removed after the storm to protect the public and to maintain use of the beach, Town Manager Cliff Ogburn said. The homes take up most of the beach and block passage of rescue vehicles, he said.
"You can't walk north and south because of these houses," Ogburn said.
The town sent notices to homeowners saying the damaged houses sat on public trust property and would have to be removed or razed. Also, the town wouldn't issue building permits for repairs.
U.S. District Court Judge James Dever ruled the town is responsible for the homes becoming nuisances.
"But even assuming the damage from the November storm caused the cottages to become nuisances, no evidence suggests the cottages would have continued to be nuisances had the town allowed the owners to repair them, as North Carolina law obligated the town to do," Dever wrote in his decision, dated Nov. 6.
The decision involves a lawsuit brought by Roc Sansotta, owner of Cove Realty. He manages the nine cottages for the owners and has a partial ownership in five of them, the decision says. |
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Spanish court clears way for trial of princess
Headline Legal News |
2014/11/07 11:13
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A court cleared the way for Princess Cristina, the sister of Spain's king, to be tried on tax fraud charges Friday in a landmark investigation affecting the royal family.
The case's investigative judge, Jose Castro, must now decide over the coming weeks whether to formally indict the princess, but this might not occur given that the state prosecutor and tax authorities say there is no basis for tax fraud charges against her.
Cristina*s lawyers maintained Friday that Spain's Supreme Court has ruled that people can't be tried on tax charges if neither the prosecutor nor tax authorities present charges.
The Palma de Mallorca court paved the way for Cristina's indictment after rejecting appeals against her being listed as a suspect in a corruption and embezzlement investigation centering on her husband, Inaki Urdangarin.
Castro said Cristina, 49, is suspected of two counts of cooperation in tax fraud. The court dropped a possible charge for embezzlement against her.
Urdangarin is suspected of embezzlement and fraud. He too has yet to be formally charged. |
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