All Law & Courts
- Texas judge pressured to give 'affluenza' teen drunk driver jail time
For killing four people while driving drunk, a wealthy Texas teenager was sentenced to probation and treatment at an exclusive facility. Prosecutors and victims' families are urging the judge to add jail time.
Amnesty for Edward Snowden? Might depend on what secrets he's got left.Edward Snowden needs a place to go. If it's true that he still has as many as 1.5 million unreleased top-secret NSA documents, that could be a big bargaining chip.
US judge rules NSA data sweep an 'indiscriminate and arbitrary invasion'The judge, ruling in an ongoing civil lawsuit, ordered the NSA to stop collecting the plaintiffs' telephone metadata, saying the intelligence gathering likely violates Fourth Amendment privacy guarantees.
Tea party and political buttons: Supreme Court declines Minnesota caseConservative groups, including the Minnesota North Star Tea Party Patriots, said a state election law violated voters' free speech rights. The action by the Supreme Court lets stand a federal appeals court decision upholding the statute.
Judge orders Mt. Soledad cross removed, but saga probably isn't overA US judge on Thursday ordered that the landmark Mt. Soledad cross, part of a federal war memorial, be dismantled in 90 days – unless there is an appeal. His apparent aim is to pave the way for the US Supreme Court to consider the case.
Rich kid gets probation for drunk-driving deaths. His defense? 'Affluenza.'A wealthy Texas teen with blood alcohol levels three times the legal limit killed four people helping a stranded motorist. His defense said he suffered from 'affluenza,' the failure of his parents to set limits.
Chicago torture saga grows, victim released from prison after 31 yearsStanley Wrice says he was forced to confess to sexual assault after Chicago police allegedly beat him with a flashlight and a 20-inch piece of rubber. Many others claim similar treatment.
Supreme Court examines rule on cross-border pollution: Did EPA overreach?The Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday about an EPA rule that aims to curb cross-border air pollution. A lower court struck down the rule, saying the EPA exceeded its authority.
How much can one state pollute another's skies? Supreme Court to hear case.In a landmark case, the Supreme Court will hear arguments Tuesday from downwind Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states who want Southern and Midwestern power plants to cut coal-plant emissions.
Could Satanists get a monument at Oklahoma State Capitol?Oklahoma approved the erection of a Ten Commandments monument on the State Capitol grounds in 2009. Satanists now say they have an equal right to put up one of their own.
Colo. judge orders Christian baker to bake gay wedding cake. Will he say no?A baker in Denver refuses to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple. Is that within his religious rights, or does it amount to illegal discrimination.
Detroit bankruptcy: Creditors eye city’s art, but museum vows a fightIn his ruling Tuesday that Detroit is eligible for bankruptcy protection, the federal judge was cautious in suggesting that the collection at the Detroit Institute of Arts would be enough to ultimately solve the city’s debt problems.
Sandy Hook 911 calls being released, ending legal battle to shield familiesThe Connecticut judge who dismissed the legal arguments to block the release of the Sandy Hook 911 calls acknowledges the tapes' capacity to bring back the 'horror and pain of that awful day.'
Supreme Court rejects challenge to Obamacare by Christian universityThe challenge by Liberty University focused on congressional power under the commerce clause and broader claims that Obamacare violates religious rights. On Monday, the Supreme Court turned the appeal aside.
Montana rape case: Was 31-day sentence for teacher illegal?Montana prosecutors are trying to increase the sentence for a teacher who pleaded guilty to raping a 14-year-old but served only 31 days in jail. The case points to the complexities of mandatory minimums.
Another tragic test for 'stand your ground' laws, this time in GeorgiaA Georgia man admits to shooting a elderly man with Alzheimer's who knocked on his door at 4 a.m. Wednesday, mistaking him for an intruder. Interpretations of Georgia's stand your ground law could be pivotal.
O.J. Simpson denied new trial: why such appeals almost never workO.J. Simpson request for a new trial was even more dubious than most such appeals, some legal experts say. The former football player was convicted in 2008 of kidnapping and armed robbery in connection with an incident at a Las Vegas hotel.
Supreme Court contraception mandate case sparks fierce debateWomen's rights advocates worry that the Supreme Court will lift the mandate on employers to provide workers with a government-set level of health insurance. Religious rights activists want that mandate gone.
Supreme Court to weigh if 'Obamacare' birth-control mandate can standThe Obamacare law requires for-profit companies to offer 20 birth-control options to employees under corporate health plans. Four of those 20 violate the religious beliefs of two company owners whose cases the US Supreme Court has now agreed to hear.
Sandy Hook report answers some questions, but many still a mysterySandy Hook report, released Monday, concludes that shooter Adam Lanza 'had a fascination with mass shootings and firearms,' but displayed no 'aggressive or threatening tendencies.'
