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House Burglar Nabbed After Trip to Court
Court Feed News | 2007/11/07 12:25
A house burglar was arrested at a court on Wednesday when he showed up for another case, police said. The man kicked in the back door of a home on Aug. 8 and entered but ran off when a teenage girl who was lying on a couch saw him and started screaming, Nassau County police said.

The girl identified the 49-year-old man, who had multiple prior arrests for burglary, in a photo lineup, they said.

The man, from Bayville, was arrested by an officer when he went to First District Court for an unrelated issue, police said. He was charged with second-degree burglary.



Calif. Court to Hear Marijuana Case
Legal Career News | 2007/11/06 17:10
When Gary Ross was ordered to take a drug test at his new job, the recently hired computer tech had no doubt the results would come back positive for marijuana. But along with his urine sample, Ross submitted a doctor's recommendation that he smoke pot to alleviate back pain _ a document he figured would save him from being fired.

It didn't: Ross was let go eight days into his tenure because his employer, Ragingwire Inc., said federal law makes marijuana illegal no matter the use.

On Tuesday, the California Supreme Court is due to hear Ross' case, the latest example of the intensifying clash between federal and local authorities over marijuana use.

Ross, 45, contends that Ragingwire discriminated against him because of a back injury and violated the state's fair-employment law by punishing him for legally smoking marijuana at home.

He says he and others using medical marijuana should receive the same workplace protection from discipline that employees with valid painkiller prescriptions do. California voters legalized medicinal marijuana in 1996.

Eleven other states, including Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington state have adopted similar laws and many are now grappling with the same sticky workplace issue of employee use of medicinal marijuana.

The nonprofit marijuana advocacy group Americans for Safe Access, which is representing Ross, estimates that 300,000 Americans use medical marijuana. The Oakland-based group said it has received hundreds of employee discrimination complaints in California since it first began tracking the issue in 2005.

"It's an extremely widespread problem," said Joe Elford, the group's chief lawyer.

Several national medical organizations and disability rights advocates have filed friend-of-the-court papers urging the Supreme Court to rule in Ross' favor.

Ross, who lives in Sacramento, said he permanently injured his back in 1983 while serving as a U.S. Air Force mechanic. He said it wasn't until 1999 that he found true pain relief with marijuana.

The American Medical Association advocates keeping marijuana classified as a tightly controlled and dangerous drug that should not be legalized until more research is conducted.

"I think I'm standing up for everybody else," Ross said. "My motivation is that I don't like to lose and that medical marijuana is effective."

So far, though, Ross has been losing.

Two lower courts have sided with Ragingwire's decision to fire Ross because federal law holds that marijuana is illegal in all guises and a 2005 U.S. Supreme Court decision declared that state medicinal marijuana laws don't protect users from criminal prosecution.

Ragingwire marketing chief Doug Adams declined to comment on the case.

Ragingwire, a small telecommunications company in Sacramento, has been joined in the Supreme Court by powerful corporate interests such as the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority and the Western Electrical Contractors Association Inc., who said companies could lose federal contracts and grants if they allowed employees to smoke pot.

The conservative nonprofit Pacific Legal Foundation said in a friend-of-the court filing that employers could also be liable for damage done by high workers.

"History abounds with cases of employers found liable," the Sacramento-based foundation wrote, "because their employees were driving vehicles, operating heavy equipment or otherwise performing tasks made more dangerous by their being under the influence of alcohol or drugs."



Yahoo CEO Defends Company in China Case
Lawyer Blog News | 2007/11/06 14:53
Yahoo Inc. Chief Executive Jerry Yang testified to lawmakers on Tuesday that the company has been "open and forthcoming" about its role in a Chinese government investigation that led in 2005 to a journalist's imprisonment.

"We have answered every question, provided every requested piece of information and worked with you in good faith," he said in prepared testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Lawmakers have accused the company of holding back information in its role regarding the arrest of Chinese journalist Shi Tao. The Chinese government accused Shi of leaking state secrets and sentenced him to 10 years in prison.

Yang, who became CEO this summer of the company he co-founded, also said Yahoo is committed to doing the right thing and protecting human rights globally.

"We are a company founded on openness, the exchange of information and user trust, and we believe deeply in free expression and privacy," he said.

Michael Callahan, the Internet company's general counsel, is expected to repeat a public apology he made last week regarding his failure to turn over new information to Congress in October 2006, months after he initially testified to two House subcommittees about Yahoo's role in the case.

The foreign affairs committee's chairman, California Democrat Tom Lantos, doesn't buy Yahoo's explanation of why it previously provided incomplete information to Congress.

"Yahoo claims that this is just one big misunderstanding. Let me be clear — this was no misunderstanding," Lantos said in a statement prepared for the hearing.

"This was inexcusably negligent behavior at best, and deliberately deceptive behavior at worst," Lantos said.



Pitt loses appeal in lawsuit against IRS
Lawyer News | 2007/11/06 13:08
A federal appeals court has overturned a lower court ruling that granted a tax refund of more than $2 million to the University of Pittsburgh and about 200 faculty members who took early retirement.

Pitt sued the federal government on behalf of its former employees in 2004, arguing early retirement payments between 1996 and 2001 were not taxable wages because faculty members surrendered tenure as a condition of receiving the money.

A federal district court judge agreed, in part. But the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overruled that decision.

The 2-1 court majority says the faculty received the money for past service - making it wages. Pitt says it's not clear whether it will appeal.



Appeals court rejects "Roe vs. Wade for Men" case
Lawyer Blog News | 2007/11/06 13:02

A federal appeals court has upheld a lower court's decision to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a men's rights group on behalf of a man who said he shouldn't have to pay child support for his ex-girlfriend's daughter. The 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, in a decision released Tuesday, agreed with U.S. District Judge David Lawson in Bay City that Matthew Dubay's suit was frivolous and ordered him to pay attorney fees to the state. However, the three-member appeals court panel declined to award the state attorney fees for the appeal.

Dubay, a 25-year-old from Saginaw Township, had said his ex-girlfriend, Lauren Wells, knew he didn't want to have a child and she assured him repeatedly she couldn't get pregnant because of a medical condition.

He argued that if a pregnant woman can choose among abortion, adoption or raising a child, a man involved in an unintended pregnancy should have the choice of declining the financial responsibilities of fatherhood.

But Lawson disagreed and rejected Dubay's argument that Michigan's paternity law violates the U.S. Constitution's equal protection clause.

The National Center for Men in Old Bethpage, N.Y. -- which prepared the suit -- nicknamed it "Roe v. Wade for Men" because it involves the issue of male reproductive rights. The nickname drew objections from women's rights organizations.

Dubay sued the Saginaw County prosecutor and Wells in March, contesting an order to pay $500 a month in child support for a girl born to Wells in 2005. Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox later intervened in the case and argued for its dismissal.
Dubay previously had acknowledged the suit was a long shot.



Expeditors International Hires Law Firm
Lawyer Blog News | 2007/11/06 12:11
The head of Expeditors International of Washington Inc. said Tuesday the freight forwarding company has hired a "noted law firm" to help it deal with an ongoing probe of the air cargo business, but no proof of wrongdoing has been found. In a brief statement included with the company's third-quarter earnings, Chairman and Chief Executive Peter J. Rose also said the company is "taking this whole issue very seriously" and continues to cooperate with Department of Justice investigators. The law firm is helping the company conduct "a very rigorous self-review," he said.

"As part of this process, we have met with and continue to cooperate with the DOJ. There has been no determination made at this stage that any anticompetitive behavior occurred," Rose said. "We are doing our utmost to conduct 'business as usual.' It is our intention not to disrupt our employees' routine or their ability to meet the needs of our customers."

Last month, Expeditors International said it received a subpoena from the Justice Department to hand over information and documents related to the investigation. It did not comment further at the time.

Bear Stearns analyst Edward Wolfe said then that the department's antitrust division is working with the European Union and other foreign officials to investigate "possible anticompetitive practices in the international freight industry."



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