Recent Updates

  • US Supreme Court to review Kansas’ lack of insanity defense

    US Supreme Court to review Kansas’ lack of insanity defense

    Criminal Law 10/04/2019

    The U.S. Supreme Court is preparing to consider how far states can go toward eliminating the insanity defense in criminal trials as it reviews the case of a Kansas man sentenced to die for killing four relatives.The high court planned to hear argumen...

  • Supreme Court to hear abortion regulation case

    Supreme Court to hear abortion regulation case

    Court Watch 10/02/2019

    The Supreme Court agreed Friday to plunge into the abortion debate in the midst of the 2020 presidential campaign, taking on a Louisiana case that could reveal how willing the more conservative court is to chip away at abortion rights.The justices wi...

  • High Court overturns city mandate on construction projects

    High Court overturns city mandate on construction projects

    Criminal Law 09/30/2019

    A divided Ohio Supreme Court has upheld a state law invalidating a Cleveland requirement that public construction contractors hire city residents for a portion of work on projects.A 2003 Cleveland ordinance mandates that residents must perform 20% of...

  • Supreme Court rebuffs Alabama officer charged with murder

    Supreme Court rebuffs Alabama officer charged with murder

    Criminal Law 08/08/2019

    The Alabama Supreme Court refused Friday to intervene on behalf of a Huntsville police officer charged with murder in a 2018 shooting, sending the case back to circuit court for a potential trial.The justices turned away an appeal by officer William ...

  • Appeal in John Steinbeck lawsuit heard in court

    Appeal in John Steinbeck lawsuit heard in court

    Family Law 08/05/2019

    Both sides had another day in court Tuesday in a family battle that has been waged for decades over who controls the works of iconic author John Steinbeck.A three-judge panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments to an appeal by ...

  • Democratic governor getting to shape Kansas' top court

    Democratic governor getting to shape Kansas' top court

    Court Watch 07/29/2019

    The Kansas Supreme Court's chief justice plans to retire before the end of the year, allowing first-year Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly to leave a bigger mark on the state's highest court than her conservative Republican predecessors.Chief Justice Lawto...

  • Cyprus police frees 5 Israelis, 7 held in hotel rape probe

    Cyprus police frees 5 Israelis, 7 held in hotel rape probe

    Criminal Law 07/26/2019

    A Cyprus court on Friday extended the detention of seven of the 12 Israeli teenagers initially arrested as suspects in the rape of a 19-year-old British woman.The court ordered the suspects to remain in police custody for another six days to give inv...

  • Kosovo prime minister who resigned heads to war crimes court

    Kosovo prime minister who resigned heads to war crimes court

    Business Law 07/23/2019

    The former prime minister of Kosovo left Tuesday for The Hague to be questioned by a special court investigating alleged war crimes by members of the separatist Kosovo Liberation Army two decades ago.Ramush Haradinaj resigned as prime minister a week...

  •  Supreme Court: Trump can use Pentagon funds for border wall

    Supreme Court: Trump can use Pentagon funds for border wall

    Bankruptcy Law 07/21/2019

    The Supreme Court cleared the way for the Trump administration to tap billions of dollars in Pentagon funds to build sections of a border wall with Mexico.The court’s five conservative justices gave the administration the green light on Friday ...

  • Meek Mill’s conviction thrown out, granted new trial

    Meek Mill’s conviction thrown out, granted new trial

    Business Law 07/17/2019

    A Pennsylvania appeals court on Wednesday overturned rapper Meek Mill’s conviction in a drug and gun case that has kept the rapper on probation for a decade and made him a celebrity crusader for criminal justice reform.The unanimous three-judge...

  •  Fines, jail, probation, debt: Court policies punish the poor

    Fines, jail, probation, debt: Court policies punish the poor

    Bankruptcy Law 07/16/2019

    Johnny Gibbs has been trying to get a valid driver’s license for 20 years, but he just can’t afford it.To punish him for high school truancy in 1999, Tennessee officials told him he would not be able to legally drive until he turned 21. H...

  • Validity of Obama health care law at issue in appeal hearing

    Validity of Obama health care law at issue in appeal hearing

    Corporate Governance 07/14/2019

    An appeals court will hear arguments Tuesday on whether Congress effectively invalidated former President Barack Obama’s entire signature health care law when it zeroed out the tax imposed on those who chose not to buy insurance.It’s uncl...