|
|
|
Court spurns religious claim to name change
Topics in Legal News |
2012/08/03 19:29
|
An appeals court has rejected a Kansas man's claim that the federal justice system's refusal to recognize his new Muslim name violates his constitutional religious rights.
The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that Michael White failed to show it was unreasonable to deny his request to amend all records in his criminal case.
A lower court held that replacing the name Michael White with Abdul Hakeem Kareem Mujahid in all federal court records would create confusion.
Mujahid is serving 10 years at a prison in Colorado for killing another inmate at the U.S. Penitentiary in Leavenworth. A Kansas court granted his petition to change his name in December 2010. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Wis. town barred from beefing up farm water rules
Topics in Legal News |
2012/07/11 15:33
|
The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that a rural town lacksthe authority to impose tougher water-quality standards on a livestockfarm than the state requires.Magnolia, a community about 30 miles south of Madison, granted LarsonAcres Inc. a permit in 2007 when it wanted to expand, but included anumber of conditions because residents blamed it for polluting theirwater supply. The farm initially had 1,000 cows and now has about2,900.Among the conditions, the farm had to allow the town to conductmonthly water quality tests on its land, and it had to follow certaincrop-rotation strategies to reduce nitrate buildup.The farm sued, arguing that pollution-control measures are laid out bythe state and can't be modified by individual towns.The state Supreme Court agreed, ruling that the town exceeded itsauthority by imposing additional measures.The case has been watched by rural Midwest communities struggling todeal with the expansion of so-called factory farms. States throughoutthe farm belt have seen big farms get bigger as the agricultureindustry continues to consolidate.Similar cases have been filed in six other Midwestern states, butWisconsin's is believed to be the first to reach a state supremecourt. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
UK top court rejects Assange bid to reopen case
Topics in Legal News |
2012/06/14 10:01
|
Britain's Supreme Court rejected WikiLeaks chief Julian Assange's bid to reopen his extradition case on Thursday, meaning the controversial anti-secrecy campaigner could be sent to Sweden by the end of the month.
Assange is wanted for questioning in Sweden after two women accused him of sexual misconduct during a visit to the country in mid-2010. The women's lawyer, Claes Borgstrom, told The Associated Press the ruling Thursday was "an obvious and expected decision that has been delayed for too long."
In a brief, five-point judgment, the court rejected arguments that Assange's legal team hadn't been given the chance to properly cross-examine the evidence that justices relied on to deny the Australian's appeal against extradition.
The development effectively exhausts Assange's legal options in Britain, where he has been fighting the extradition demand since late 2010. Assange could still apply to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, but legal experts say the 40-year-old stands little chance there. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Wash. lawyers challenge secret court proceedings
Topics in Legal News |
2012/05/26 15:52
|
A defense lawyer in Eastern Washington was reading a detective's statement in his client's drug case when he came across a curious line. In asking to search the man's house and cars, the detective revealed that he had already seen the defendant's bank records.
That's odd, thought the lawyer, Robert Thompson of Pasco. There's no search warrant for the bank records. How'd he get them?
The answer — with a subpoena secretly issued by a judge — provides a window into the little-known use of "special inquiry judge proceedings" in Benton County and across the state. Prosecutors who use them say the proceedings are authorized by state law, make for more efficient investigations and have plenty of judicial oversight, but Thompson and other defense attorneys say they raise questions about privacy, accountability and the open administration of justice.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Report: LAPD seeks Manson family member recordings
Topics in Legal News |
2012/05/26 15:52
|
Police want to review audio recordings of conversations between a Manson family member and his attorney as detectives search for information about unsolved killings.
Los Angeles detectives seeking the material are merely practicing due diligence after receiving a tip that the recordings and other items in the estate of now-deceased lawyer Bill Boyd, who once represented Charles "Tex" Watson, were becoming available, LAPD spokesman Andrew Smith said.
"This whole thing has gotten totally blown out of proportion," Smith said, commenting on a report that first appeared on KNBC-TV.
Homicide detective Dan Jenks and Lt. Yana Horvatich, who made the request, have no specific information on what might be in the recordings, but they want to examine them, Smith said.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Md. highest court recognizes same-sex divorce
Topics in Legal News |
2012/05/18 22:14
|
Maryland's highest court ruled Friday that same-sex couples can divorce in the state even though Maryland does not yet permit same-sex marriages.
The Court of Appeals ruled 7-0 that couples who have a valid marriage from another state can divorce in Maryland. The case involved two women who were married in California and denied a divorce in 2010 by a Maryland judge.
The ruling may have limited effect because same-sex weddings, and by extension divorces, are set to start in the state in January. However, opponents of the law passed this year are seeking to overturn it in a potential voter referendum in November.
"A valid out-of-state same-sex marriage should be treated by Maryland courts as worthy of divorce, according to the applicable statues, reported cases, and court rules of this state," the court concluded in a 21-page ruling.
It said Maryland courts should withhold recognition of a valid foreign marriage only if that marriage is "repugnant" to state public policy. The court says the threshold is a high bar that has not been met in the case that it ruled on.
Lawyers for the women told the Court of Appeals that is would be unprecedented for the state not to recognize gay marriages performed elsewhere.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Legal News RSS Feed
