law – News Stories About law - Page 4

Jul 18, 2007 1:04 PM CDT

Democrats Lose Withdrawal Vote

Republicans hold out against Iraq exit measure

(Newser) - Senate Democrats failed to collect enough votes this morning to pass a bill that would force President Bush to begin pulling troops out of Iraq within 120 days. After a spirited all-night debate, 52 voted in favor of the measure and 47 against, but rules require 60 "yes" votes...

New Court Overturns O'Connor

Jul 10, 2007 6:51 AM CDT

New Court Overturns O'Connor

Dahlia Lithwick writes on the jurist's fast- dismantled legacy

(Newser) - Justice Sandra Day O'Connor legal legacy is one of the first casualties of the new Supreme Court under Chief Justice John Roberts, Slate's Dahlia Lithwick writes. After being hailed as the most powerful women in America, the former justice has seen her judgments "explicitly minimized" or "stepped distastefully...

Bush Bucks His
Own Trend with Commutation

Jul 4, 2007 10:13 AM CDT

Bush Bucks His Own Trend with Commutation

White House beef with Libby case contradicts Justice policies

(Newser) - President Bush's rationale for commuting Scooter Libby's sentence was the kind of complaint routinely overruled by Bush's own conservative Justice Department, the Times observes. The contradiction between Bush's stern stance and his action on Libby is so stark that Joe Biden accused him of "flip-flopping" yesterday.

Uninsured Ignore New Health-Care Law

Jul 2, 2007 5:36 AM CDT

Uninsured Ignore New Health-Care Law

Massachusetts takes its time enforcing universal requirement

(Newser) - A law requiring Massachusetts residents to have health insurance kicked in yesterday, but two-thirds of the 372,000 residents who need coverage haven't signed up, the Christian Science Monitor reports. Massachusetts is a pioneer in universal health care, and most people eligible for subsidized care have insurance, but some 6%...

Scalia Joins Majority, but
Not Happily

Jun 28, 2007 8:24 AM CDT

Scalia Joins Majority, but Not Happily

Cranky justice rips Roberts in separate opinions

(Newser) - The high court may have a new conservative majority, but it's not exactly a lovey-dovey one, judging from Antonin Scalia's withering concurring opinions on two recent decisions, the New York Times reports. Although he voted with the majority, Scalia blasted Chief Justice John Roberts for downplaying the impact of...

States
Crack Down
on Illegals

Jun 25, 2007 4:40 AM CDT

States Crack Down on Illegals

As Congress dithers, a flurry of locals bills targets immigrants

(Newser) - States frustrated by Washington's inaction on illegal immigration are taking matters into their own hands with a record number of proposals that prevent immigrants from getting jobs, finding housing and benefiting from social services, the Washington Post reports. At least 1,100 state immigration bills have been proposed, more than...

Nifong Disbarred

Jun 17, 2007 6:41 AM CDT

Nifong Disbarred

(Newser) - North Carolina's Disciplinary Hearing Commission found that Durham County prosecutor Mike Nifong intentionally and repeatedly lied in prosecuting three Duke University lacrosse players for rape. Nifong gave up his law license minutes later. Nifong now likley faces civil law suits by the men he wrongly prosecuted.

Duke DA Faces Ethics Charges

Jun 12, 2007 9:04 PM CDT

Duke DA Faces Ethics Charges

Nifong withheld evidence that could have exonerated three lacrosse players

(Newser) - North Carolina DA Mike Nifong, who spearheaded the rape and kidnapping case against three Duke lacrosse players, now faces his own set of charges for withholding evidence, making inappropriate public comments about the case, and lying to a judge and state bar investigators. His trial in front of a disciplinary...

Egypt Suffers From a Fatwa Free-for-All

Jun 12, 2007 3:08 PM CDT

Egypt Suffers From a Fatwa Free-for-All

Urine-drinking, breastfeeding edicts jeopardize religious authority

(Newser) - The credibility of fatwas, the religious rulings that guide daily life for Muslims, is being strained in Egypt, the New York Times reports. A flap ensued recently when one authority ruled in favor of drinking the Prophet Mohammed’s urine and another approved co-ed workplaces if the women breast-fed...

Gonzales Aide Probed for Political Hiring

May 3, 2007 6:58 AM CDT

Gonzales Aide Probed for Political Hiring

Goodling accused of screening prosecutors for party affiliation

(Newser) - The Justice Department is investigating whether Monoica Goodling, the former aide to Alberto Gonzales recently given immunitiy to testify before Congress, illegally used party loyalty as a criteria in hiring federal prosecutors. Goodling's position involved reviewing applications for prosecutors; it's a violation of federal law to consider political affiliation in...

Court Relaxes Patent Test

May 1, 2007 7:36 AM CDT

Court Relaxes Patent Test

Tech companies applaud broader guidelines for "obviousness"

(Newser) - Tech companies are thrilled with a Supreme Court ruling yesterday that relaxed the "obviousness" test for patents—the standard for deciding when a combination of existing elements deserves patent protection. No longer will Silicon Valley giants have to wrangle with patent "trolls"—people who anticipate minute improvements...

Virginia Closes Lethal Gun Loophole

Apr 30, 2007 2:19 PM CDT

Virginia Closes Lethal Gun Loophole

Executive order would have barred V.T. shooter from buying weapon

(Newser) - Virginia governor Tim Kaine has issued an executive order closing the loophole that allowed Virginia Tech shooter Cho Seung-Hui to purchase a gun, the AP reports. Effective immediately, Virginians diagnosed as dangerously mentally ill will be added to a national database that gun-store owners use for background checks. The order...

US Attorneys
Fired for Being Soft on Porn

Apr 19, 2007 11:40 AM CDT

US Attorneys Fired for Being Soft on Porn

Gonzales demanded hard line on hardcore

(Newser) - Several of the U.S. attorneys axed by Alberto Gonzales may have been forced out because they failed to crack down on pornography, Salon reveals. Gonzales and his staff pressured attorneys to pursue adult obscenity cases, even if it meant yanking prosecutors away from, say, terrorism. Some who resisted got...

Doctors Are Sorry, Not Sued

Apr 12, 2007 9:33 AM CDT

Doctors Are Sorry, Not Sued

New laws allow doctors to apologize

(Newser) - Lawmakers in nine states want doctors to be able to say they're sorry. So-called "I'm-sorry" laws, already on the books in 27 states, allow doctors to apologize to patients when they make mistakes, or as expressions of sympathy, without fear of litigation.

Mexican Drug Wars Fought
in Cyberspace

Apr 9, 2007 4:41 PM CDT

Mexican Drug Wars Fought in Cyberspace

Gangs use Web to recruit, plan, and intimidate rivals; cops are clueless

(Newser) - Mexican drug cartels are making themselves at home on YouTube, posting music videos that show off the bloodied bodies of their tortured and executed competitors. The gangs have turned to the Internet to recruit members, plan attacks, and intimidate and threaten rival gangs. The result is an al-Qaeda–like virtual...

Judges Gone Wild!

Apr 7, 2007 11:06 AM CDT

Judges Gone Wild!

Girls Gone Wild founder lashes out at judge

(Newser) - "This is a case of a judge gone wild," declaimed Joe Francis, the sleazemeister behind the Girls Gone Wild videos, after being held in contempt of court yesterday. Francis is facing suits from seven underage girls who are not so wild about his cameras probing into their partying....

Pelosi Is a Felon

Apr 6, 2007 9:00 PM CDT

Pelosi Is a Felon

And We Mean It

(Newser) - Mr. Turner, a lawyer and forme assistant secretary of state in the Reagan administration says Speaker Pelosi is a felon under a 1799 law known as the Logan Act. Citing Marbury v Madison, perhaps the most cited legal case in American legal history, he says that Pelosi breached the...

States Rewrite Organ-Donation Laws

Apr 4, 2007 11:26 AM CDT

States Rewrite Organ-Donation Laws

New revision would make it easier to obtain organs

(Newser) - Doctors will be able to take organs from potential donors in more sticky situations, under revisions to state laws on the boards in more than 24 states. Model legislation that's already passed in four states clarifies how to handle ethically complex decisions, helping to alleviate the chronic shortage of kidneys...

Novelist Gives
Away Movie Rights

Mar 26, 2007 11:07 AM CDT

Novelist Gives Away Movie Rights

Jonathan Lethem wants to shake up thinking about intellectual property

(Newser) - Jonathan Lethem is giving away the film option and, eventually, all ancillary rights to his new novel, "You Don't Love Me Yet," publicly grappling with issues of intellectual property and copyright law. "What I'm seeking to explore is that incredibly fertile middle ground where people control some...