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Washington high court to hear charter school case
Headline Legal News |
2014/08/18 14:24
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The Washington Supreme Court has agreed to consider whether the state's voter-approved charter school law violates the state constitution.
Oral arguments concerning the lawsuit brought by charter school opponents have been scheduled for the afternoon of Oct. 28.
A King County Superior Court judge found in December that parts of the new law are unconstitutional. Judge Jean Rietschel's decision focused on whether certain taxpayer dollars can be used to pay for the operation of charter schools.
Both sides asked the Supreme Court to skip the appeals court process and directly review the case.
Attorney Paul Lawrence says the briefs to the court and the oral arguments will focus on that part of the lawsuit.
The state's charter school system was approved by voters in 2012. |
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Egypt court dissolves Muslim Brotherhood party
Headline Legal News |
2014/08/11 11:06
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Egypt's highest administrative court dissolved Saturday the political party of the banned Muslim Brotherhood and ordered its assets liquidated, in the latest move against the 86-year old Islamist group.
The decision against the Freedom and Justice Party comes ahead of parliamentary elections expected this year and prevents the group from trying to rejoin politics a year after leading member, President Mohammed Morsi, was overthrown by the military.
The party was founded in 2011 by the Brotherhood, Egypt's historic Islamist movement created in 1928, after President Hosni Mubarak was deposed in a popular uprising and it went on to dominate subsequent legislative elections.
The Middle East News Agency said the decision by the Supreme Administrative Court is final and can't be appealed.
In a statement, the Freedom and Justice Party said the dissolution won't succeed in uprooting the group's ideals.
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Detroit bankruptcy judge opens court to critics
Headline Legal News |
2014/07/15 13:39
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A judge overseeing Detroit's bankruptcy is getting an earful from retirees who are opposed to the city's plan to get back on its feet.
Judge Steven Rhodes is giving dozens of people five minutes each to air their objections Tuesday. He held a similar hearing last fall on Detroit's eligibility to file for bankruptcy.
The critics include retired police officers, a librarian and other former workers. One woman says she doesn't believe Detroit is broke.
Rhodes will hold a trial on Detroit's bankruptcy strategy, starting Aug. 14. He must find that the exit plan is fair and feasible, among other things, in order for the city to shed billions of dollars in debt.
Voting by creditors ended last Friday. Those results will be released next Monday. |
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California high court to decide defibrillator case
Headline Legal News |
2014/06/23 12:53
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The California Supreme Court will decide whether large retailers in the state are required to have defibrillators on hand to help treat customers and workers who suffer sudden cardiac arrest.
The high court said it will issue an opinion Monday morning. The devices deliver a jolt of electricity to a stalled heart and help victims recover.
For two decades, an increasing number of public places in the U.S. have been required to have automated external defibrillators on hand, including government buildings, airports and many other public places. A Los Angeles-area family who lost a relative to sudden cardiac arrest while shopping in Target filed a lawsuit to require large retailers to join the list.
During oral arguments in May, a majority of the seven-judge court appeared cool to the idea. |
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Iowa high court reinstates major pollution lawsuit
Headline Legal News |
2014/06/16 15:15
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| In a major environmental case, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled Friday that residents can bring a nuisance lawsuit against a Muscatine manufacturer accused of routinely blanketing their properties with soot and chemicals. The court reinstated the class-action lawsuit against Grain Processing Corp., which operates a plant that turns corn kernels into products ranging from corn syrup to ethyl alcohol. The plaintiffs' claims of nuisance, negligence and trespass are not barred by the federal Clean Air Act or state rules governing air emissions, Justice Brent Appel wrote in a 6-0 decision that was applauded by environmentalists but criticized by business interests. A regional economic force, the company buys $400 million in corn from farmers annually and is one of the area's largest employers. But Muscatine residents have complained for years that it spews harmful chemicals into the environment that get blown onto their homes, yards and cars. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of up to 17,000 residents who live within a 3-mile radius of the plant, contends the pollution undermines their ability to enjoy their property and causes metals in everything from swing sets to air conditioning systems to corrode. |
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High Court Refuses to Block Oregon Gay Marriage
Headline Legal News |
2014/06/06 14:37
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The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to halt same-sex weddings in Oregon while a federal appeals court considers whether a group opposed to gay marriage can intervene in the case.
The order follows an emergency appeal by the National Organization for Marriage, which seeks to overturn U.S. District Judge Michael McShane's May 19 ruling that declared Oregon's same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional. The group had unsuccessfully tried to intervene in the lower court proceeding after Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum declined to defend the same-sex ban.
The group filed its request with Justice Anthony Kennedy and he referred it to the full court. The justices denied it without comment.
Hundreds of same-sex couples have obtained marriage licenses since McShane's order, including 245 in Multnomah County, the state's largest.
The Oregon case differs from others where the Supreme Court or federal appeals judges have temporarily blocked lower-court rulings, halting same-sex unions while appeals proceed.
In Oregon, the appeal is focused on whether an outside group can intervene in the case, not on the constitutionality of the same-sex marriage ban, so it raises a different set of legal questions.
Lawyers for the attorney general's office have said they won't appeal McShane's ruling and are fighting the National Organization for Marriage's appeal in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Rosenblum, the attorney general, said there were no legal arguments she could offer in defense of the marriage ban that would be consistent with decisions last year by the U.S. Supreme Court and with state laws.
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