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Pa. high court revisits juvenile life sentences
Court Line News |
2012/09/12 10:49
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Pennsylvania's highest court is weighing how to resentence prisoners who were given automatic life sentences as juveniles.
A recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling outlaws mandatory life-without-parole sentences for juveniles.
There are nearly 500 juvenile lifers in Pennsylvania, half from Philadelphia.
The state Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Wednesday morning in a pair of representative cases.
The defendants are Ian Cunningham, serving life for a second-degree murder conviction in Philadelphia, and Qu'Eed Batts, convicted of first-degree murder in Northampton County.
Cunningham's case concerns lifers who have exhausted direct appeals but want to invoke the Supreme Court decision in new filings.
In the Batts case, lawyers will debate what term is appropriate for those sentenced to life without parole. |
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NY court protects French shoemaker's red soles
Legal News |
2012/09/07 15:26
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A federal appeals court in Manhattan says the distinctive red soles of Christian Louboutin shoes are entitled to trademark protection.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday ruled in favor of the French maker of luxury shoes worn by stars such as Sarah Jessica Parker, Scarlett Johansson and Halle Berry.
The court says Louboutin is entitled to protect its brand against red-soled shoes made by competitor Yves Saint Laurent S.A.S., which is also based in Paris.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in 2008 had granted the trademark protection to Louboutin.
Louboutin has applied glossy vivid red to the outsoles of women's shoes since 1992. The shoes sell for up to $1,000 a pair.
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Ga. county must $4 million to billboard firm
Attorney Opinions |
2012/09/05 15:26
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A Georgia county has been ordered to pay more than more than $4 million in damages and attorney fees to a billboard company as part of its ongoing fight to keep billboards out of Atlanta's northern suburbs.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that the verdict is the latest blow to Fulton County in its long-running legal battle against billboard companies.
A U.S. District Court in Atlanta jury last month awarded the $3.97 million in damages to KH Outdoor, which sued the county in 2003. Last week, a federal judge ordered the county to pay $477,156 in attorneys' fees and expenses to the company's lawyers.
Adam Webb, a lawyer for the billboard company, declined to comment. Fulton County Attorney David Ware said an appeal by the county "remains a viable option." |
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Ohio man pleads guilty to scamming storm victims
Topics in Legal News |
2012/08/31 11:08
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A man accused of ripping off storm victims in Ohio and Kentucky has pleaded guilty to nine counts of theft.
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said Joshua Salyers entered the guilty pleas in Hamilton County court in southern Ohio Tuesday. He admitted stealing more than $43,000 from the victims.
DeWine spokesman Mark Moretti said the 39-year-old Salyers ran a storm damage restoration business and took money from homeowners in Butler, Hamilton and Stark counties in Ohio and in Campbell County, Ky., to repair their homes after storms in 2010 and in 2011.
But Moretti said Salyers never began the work and refused to refund the money. |
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Federal court rejects GOP-drawn Texas voting maps
Court Line News |
2012/08/29 11:08
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Stadiums and hospitals removed from the districts of black congressional members and country clubs newly drawn into those of white incumbents. A lawyer emailing "No bueno" to a Republican staffer about plans that risked leaving a paper trail and jeopardizing the legality of a voting map.
Those were among the evidence a Washington federal court used to determine that Texas Republican lawmakers discriminated against minorities while drawing new political boundaries, throwing out the maps as violations of the Voting Rights Act but likely not in time to affect the November elections.
The decision Tuesday by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia is instead likely to reverberate in 2014, when some Texans could find their congressional and statehouse districts changed for the third time in five years.
The long-awaited ruling was hailed as a sweeping victory by minority rights groups that sued the state after the Republican-controlled Legislature pushed through new redistricting maps last year. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott called the decision "flawed" and vowed to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
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Court upholds summary for St. Louis police measure
Legal News |
2012/08/24 13:15
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A Missouri appellate court has upheld the proposed ballot summary for an initiative that would end state control of the St.
Louis Police Department.
The Missouri Court of Appeals' Western District ruled Tuesday that the summary is fair and sufficient. The American Civil
Liberties Union of Eastern Missouri had filed a lawsuit challenging the summary.
The ballot measure calls for St. Louis to oversee the city's police department instead of a state commission. Election
officials reported earlier this month that supporters had submitted enough valid signatures for the measure to appear on
the November statewide ballot.
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