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Smith & Wesson revolver to mark legal win
Legal Career News |
2008/07/22 16:07
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Smith & Wesson thinks the Supreme Court’s recent Second Amendment ruling is a legal victory worth notching on a gun. The Springfield firearms manufacturer said yesterday it will make an engraved version of its Model 442 revolver to commemorate the historic June 26 high court decision striking down the District of Columbia’s strict handgun ban. Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. said it will give a gun to each of the six plaintiffs in the case, including lead plaintiff Dick Heller, an armed security guard and hero to gun-rights advocates across the country. Heller couldn’t be reached yesterday. Gun dealers will start selling the revolver this fall, with some profits going to the Second Amendment Foundation, a pro-gun legal-action group that is teaming with Smith & Wesson on the project. “I think it’s a phenomenal idea. It’s going to be a collector’s item for sure,” said Jim Wallace, executive director of the Northboro-based Gun Owners’ Action League of Massachusetts. “I wouldn’t mind having it in my collection.” Some see the special pistol as a shrewd move by Smith & Wesson to target gun enthusiasts, especially those who may still be sore about the company’s 2000 adoption of gun-safety measures to settle a federal lawsuit. That controversial capitulation sparked a National Rifle Association boycott. “This commemorative gun, although seemingly tasteful, is clearly playing to the extreme gun-rights audience,” said John Rosenthal, the founder of Stop Handgun Violence Inc., a nonprofit group known for its gun-control billboard on the Massachusetts Turnpike near Fenway Park. “It’s less than an honorable move.” The Model 442 revolver has a suggested retail price of $561 but the commemorative version would presumably cost more. Tom Taylor, Smith & Wesson’s vice president of marketing, did not return calls for comment. Last month’s 5-4 ruling was the Supreme Court’s first conclusive interpretation of the Second Amendment since it was ratified in 1791, according to constitutional scholars. The decision affirmed the right to keep guns in self-defense in the home but at the same time was not expected to affect existing federal gun restrictions. |
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Man convicted of hate crime for accosting Wiesel
Court Feed News |
2008/07/22 15:05
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A New Jersey man who once claimed insanity was convicted Monday of a hate crime for accosting Nazi death camp survivor and scholar Elie Wiesel in a hotel elevator. Eric Hunt, 24, was convicted in San Francisco Superior Court of one felony charge of false imprisonment with a hate crime allegation. Hunt was also convicted of two misdemeanor counts — one for battery and one for elder abuse. The jury dismissed charges of attempted kidnapping, stalking and a second false imprisonment charge. He had withdrawn his original not guilty by reason of insanity plea, eliminating the need for a second trial to determine his sanity at the time of the crime. Hunt shook in his seat after the verdict was read. He could face as long as three years in prison. "We are pleased with the verdict," said his attorney, John Runfola. "I'm just saddened it took this long to get justice for this young guy who is mentally ill." During the nine-day trial, Wiesel, 79, testified that he thought Hunt was trying to kidnap him when he was forcefully pulled off an elevator at San Francisco's Argent Hotel on Feb. 1, 2007. On the witness stand, Wiesel read comments allegedly written on a Web site by Hunt calling Wiesel's accounts of the Holocaust "fictitious." Wiesel's parents and younger sister died in Nazi death camps during World War II. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986 and has written more than 40 books, many of them about the Holocaust and Judaism. |
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Louisiana asks court to reopen child rape case
Criminal Law Updates |
2008/07/22 12:01
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Louisiana prosecutors asked the Supreme Court on Monday to revisit its recent decision outlawing the death penalty for people convicted of raping children. The unusual request is based on the failure of anyone involved in the case — lawyers on both sides as well as the justices — to take account of a change in federal law in 2006 that authorizes the death penalty for members of the military who are convicted of child rape. The court almost never grants such requests, but lawyers for Louisiana said their situation was different because the 5-4 decision written by Justice Anthony Kennedy relied in part on what Kennedy called a "national consensus" against executing convicted rapists. The ruling on June 25 drew harsh criticism from politicians in Louisiana and other states where executing those who rape children was authorized or under consideration. Presidential contenders John McCain and Barack Obama also said they disagreed with the outcome of the case. But only in the days following the decision did anyone point out that Congress changed the law and that President Bush signed an executive order in September 2007 that implemented the change. It was first discussed on a military law blog. |
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ACLU challenges Ala. voter law barring felons
Lawyer Blog News |
2008/07/22 11:01
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After serving eight months behind bars for a conviction of receiving stolen property, Annette McWashington Pruitt was excited about the prospect of being able to vote again. One of her first stops after being released from prison was the Jefferson County Voter Registrar's Office. But she was told she was a convicted felon and couldn't vote. "I couldn't believe it," Pruitt said. "They continued to give me numbers to call. It was very much demeaning." Now she has gone to court to try to get her right to vote restored. On Monday, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit in Montgomery Circuit Court on behalf of Pruitt and two other ex-felons seeking restoration of their voting rights. The lawsuit claims Alabama law is unclear on the subject, citing a bill passed by the Legislature in 2003 that says felons can vote unless convicted on "crimes of moral turpitude," but never defines those crimes. The Legislature adopted a list of 15 crimes, including murder, treason and some sex crimes, that would exempt a person from having their voting rights restored. But the lawsuit says it's up to the state's voter registrars and the attorney general to decide in other cases if a person's rights can be restored. |
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Munck Carter Adds Two Attorneys to Litigation Section
Law Firm News |
2008/07/22 10:04
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The Dallas-based technology law firm of Munck Carter, P.C., is strengthening its litigation section with the addition of attorneys James B. Hamilton and Laura A. Russell.
"We are excited to welcome James and Laura to the firm," says Jamil N. Alibhai, Chairman of the firm's Litigation Section.
"They bring outstanding real world experience and top notch legal skills, which will be great assets for our clients."
Mr. Hamilton will focus on commercial litigation and large-loss subrogation. In addition to the firm's primary focus on intellectual property litigation, Munck Carter has developed a national reputation for pursuing large subrogation cases where the firm helps insurers recover money from responsible parties when claims are paid.
Before earning his law degree from St. Mary's University School of Law, Mr. Hamilton worked for Fortune 500(TM) and Fortune 100(TM) companies in the transportation and logistics sectors.
A lieutenant in the U.S. Navy Reserve, he earned his undergraduate degree in Maritime Operations and Technology from the United States Merchant Marine Academy, and has served as a licensed cargo and navigation officer aboard supertankers and other vessels in domestic and international waters. |
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S. Korean gets jail term for faking degree
Legal World News |
2008/07/22 10:02
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A South Korean court on Tuesday upheld an earlier ruling sentencing a former university professor to 18 months in jail for faking a Yale doctorate and embezzling museum funds. The Seoul Western District Court said its appellate court affirmed its sentence against Shin Jeong-ah for using the fake degree to become an art history professor at a Seoul university and win financial sponsorship for a museum where she worked. The court handed down the first ruling in March. Shin has seven days to appeal, according to court spokesman Kim Myung-su. Seoul's Dongguk University also filed a suit against Yale in March seeking at least $50 million in damages, saying the American university wrongly confirmed that Shin earned a degree. Yale has called the matter an administrative error and apologized to Dongguk. Shin made headlines last year when the fake degree scandal led to revelations that she had a romantic relationship with former presidential aide Byeon Yang-kyoon, who allegedly used his influence to help her get hired at Dongguk. Byeon resigned as an aide to former President Roh Moo-hyun before being convicted of exercising his influence to provide state tax benefits to a Buddhist temple founded by a former Dongguk official who helped hire Shin as a professor. In March, the district court handed Byeon a suspended one-year jail term and ordered him to conduct 160 hours of community service. |
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