|
|
|
Judge won't halt Pa. voter identification law
Legal Center |
2012/08/17 10:50
|
A Pennsylvania judge isn't stopping a tough new voter identification law from going into effect.
Commonwealth Court Judge Robert Simpson on Wednesday refused to grant an injunction that would have halted the law requiring each voter to show a valid photo ID. Opponents are expected to file a prompt appeal to the state Supreme Court as the Nov. 6 presidential election looms.
The law is the subject of a furious debate over voting rights. People challenging it include some who say they'll be unable to vote.
Democrats say the law will make it harder for the elderly, minorities, poor and young adults to vote, and is designed to help Republican challenger Mitt Romney beat Democratic President Barack Obama.
Republicans who control the Legislature and the governor's office say they think it'll prevent voter fraud. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ga. court ruling could tighten foreclosure rules
Legal Center |
2012/08/10 12:27
|
A court ruling in Georgia could force those foreclosing on homes to disclose who actually owns the loan.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that the July 12 ruling by the Georgia Court of Appeals applies mostly to foreclosures that happened from 2008 to 2011. It could leave banks vulnerable to lawsuits filed by those who lost their homes. It could also have consequences for ongoing foreclosures.
The ruling last month said that the name of the owner of a mortgage must appear in foreclosure filings and notices sent to delinquent borrowers. The notice must also reflect whether it was sent by the secured creditor or someone acting on the creditor's behalf.
Many lenders sell their loans to mortgage services that handle paperwork but don't own the loans.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
New DC drunken driving law to take effect
Legal Center |
2012/08/01 16:50
|
A new law that toughens penalties for drunken driving in the nation's capital takes effect Wednesday, but the city's police department still is not using breath tests on suspected drunken drivers more than a year after the tests were suspended.
The new law, which was approved by the D.C. Council and signed by Mayor Vincent Gray earlier this summer. It doubles mandatory minimum jail terms for people with blood-alcohol concentrations of .20 percent or higher and establishes a blood-alcohol limit of .04 percent for commercial drivers, including taxi drivers.
The law also establishes new oversight for the district's breath-testing program. But there's still no timetable to the resumption of breath tests, which D.C. police stopped using in February 2011 in the wake of revelations that their breath-testing devices had produced inaccurate results. Police have been using urine and blood tests instead.
A year earlier, District of Columbia officials had notified defense lawyers about nearly 400 drunken-driving convictions that relied, at least party, on inaccurately calibrated blood-alcohol tests.
More than two dozen people sued the district over convictions based on those flawed tests, and the district Attorney General's office said Tuesday that all the outstanding lawsuits had been settled. The district paid a total of $136,000 to 17 plaintiffs, with individuals receiving between $2,000 and $42,000, said Jeffrey Rhodes, a lawyer for the plaintiffs.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Minnesota court upholds aiding suicide conviction
Legal Center |
2012/07/20 11:53
|
The Minnesota Court of Appeals on Tuesday upheld the convictions of a former nurse who hunted for suicidal people in online chat rooms and encouraged two to kill themselves, saying his actions were not protected speech.
William Melchert-Dinkel, 49, of Faribault, was convicted in 2011 of two counts of aiding suicide. He acknowledged that what he did was morally wrong but argued that he merely exercised his right to free speech. The appeals court disagreed.
"We are confident that the Constitution does not immunize Melchert-Dinkel's morbid, predatory behavior simply because it appears in the form of written words," the justices' 31-page decision said.
Melchert-Dinkel's attorney, Terry Watkins, said that while his client's actions are unsavory, he still believes they are protected by the First Amendment. He plans to appeal to the state Supreme Court. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Japan whistleblower sidelined despite court ruling
Legal Center |
2012/07/11 15:31
|
An employee at Japanese medical equipment maker Olympus said Wednesdaythat his humiliating treatment has not changed despite a Supreme Courtruling that his demotion for whistleblowing was illegal.Masaharu Hamada said he is still isolated in the office and after lastmonth's court judgment is not given any work. His was the firstwhistleblower case to reach Japan's highest court.His lawyer Koichi Kozen said Hamada may have to file another lawsuit,complaining of human rights violations. Japan remains behind Westerncountries in penalizing companies that fail to abide by court rulings,and some fines are so small companies would rather pay up than abide,Kozen said."We would hope the company would respond quickly, but there has beenno response," Kozen said. "We want Mr. Hamada to get a new assignment,where he can be happy."Hamada, 51, an Olympus salesman with experience in the United States,first sued in 2008, alleging punishment for relaying a supplier'scomplaint.He is considered a whistleblower in Japan because he raised questionsabout colleagues' professional behavior and was subjected to bizarreand humiliating punishment, such as taking rudimentary tests. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Use new drug sentencing law in crack cases
Legal Center |
2012/06/21 11:57
|
The Supreme Court says criminals who were arrested but not yet sentenced for crack cocaine offenses should be able to take advantage of newly reduced sentences.
Corey A. Hill and Edward Dorsey were arrested in 2007 and 2008 for selling crack cocaine and faced mandatory 10-year sentences in Illinois. But they weren't sentenced until after the Fair Sentencing Act went into effect in August 2010. That law reduces the difference between sentences for crimes committed by crack cocaine and powder cocaine users.
Justice Stephen Breyer said in a 5-4 decision Thursday that the courts should have used the new law to sentence the two men.
Chief Justice John Roberts, and Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented. |
|
|
|
|
|
Lawyer News RSS Feed
