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Supreme Court to hear another arbitration argument
U.S. Legal News |
2011/05/02 10:41
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The Supreme Court will consider a plea from companies that cater to people with bad credit to keep disputes with their customers out of court and in the more business-friendly forum of arbitration.
Days after handing businesses a huge victory by limiting class action claims against them, the court said Monday it will take up a new arbitration dispute in the fall.
The new case involves consumer complaints about companies that issue low-rate credit cards to people with bad credit ratings. The consumers said they were promised an initial $300 in available credit, but were charged $257 in fees in the first year they had the credit card.
The consumers sued in federal court, but the companies say the dispute must be handled by an arbitrator, under an agreement the customers signed to receive the card.
The federal Credit Repair Organizations Act, signed by President Bill Clinton in 1996, says consumers have a right to sue, which the federal appeals court in San Francisco interpreted as a right to go into court, rather than be forced to submit to arbitration. Appeals courts in Atlanta and Philadelphia have ruled otherwise in evaluating the same language in the law. |
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Bachmann uses Holocaust to illustrate tax point
U.S. Legal News |
2011/05/01 15:40
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Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann on Saturday described the loss of "economic liberty" that young Americans face today as a "flash point of history" in which the younger generation will ask what their elders did to stop it.
In a speech to New Hampshire Republicans, Bachmann recounted learning about a horrific time in history as a child — the Holocaust — and wondering if her mother did anything to stop it. She said she was shocked to hear that many Americans weren't aware that millions of Jews had died until after World War II ended.
Bachmann said the next generation will ask similar questions about what their elders did to prevent them from facing a huge tax burden.
"I tell you this story because I think in our day and time, there is no analogy to that horrific action," she said, referring to the Holocaust. "But only to say, we are seeing eclipsed in front of our eyes a similar death and a similar taking away. It is this disenfranchisement that I think we have to answer to." |
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Court sides with Wyoming in dispute with Montana
Court Feed News |
2011/05/01 09:31
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The Supreme Court says Wyoming is not taking too much water from a river system it shares with Montana.
The high court on Monday turned away Montana's complaint that Wyoming is taking too much water from the Tongue and Powder rivers in violation of a 1950 agreement between the states.
Montana claimed that more efficient irrigation in Wyoming is preventing runoff from rejoining the river and flowing downstream.
Justice Clarence Thomas wrote the 7-1 decision, which says more efficient irrigation is permissible to the detriment of downstream users. Justice Antonin Scalia was the only dissenting vote.
Justice Elena Kagan did not participate in the case because she worked on it while in the solicitor general's office. |
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Pierre contract dispute goes before high court
Court Feed News |
2011/04/29 11:17
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The South Dakota Supreme Court has heard arguments in a dispute between Pierre and the union representing a majority of city workers.
The city a year ago imposed its final salary offer of a 1 percent raise for all employees and another 1 percent for eligible workers. A circuit court judge last fall ruled that the city was within its rights to do so. The International Union of Operating Engineers Local 49 appealed.
KCCR radio reports that union attorney Todd Love told Supreme Court justices Thursday that the city didn't follow proper procedure. The attorney for Pierre argued that the city dealt with the union in good faith and had no other alternative.
Justices will rule later. Meanwhile, the city and union will continue under terms of the 2009 contract. |
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Investigators suspect Utah doctor killed wife
Criminal Law Updates |
2011/04/29 10:17
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A search warrant shows authorities suspect a Utah doctor and lawyer killed his wife by giving her a lethal combination of drugs days after she underwent surgery. The Deseret News reports that the search warrant filed in 4th District Court earlier this month shows authorities believe Martin MacNeill, who is serving time for identity fraud, had the motive and opportunity to kill his wife, Michele, in 2007. An investigation is ongoing and he has not been charged in her death. An initial autopsy attributed Michele MacNeill's death to natural causes after she was found dead in a bathtub in her home. The new warrant states recent information led a medical examiner to believe drugs found in her system could have been lethal and question if she took the medications willingly. |
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Ex-Bush lawyer facing trial for attempted murder
Lawyer Blog News |
2011/04/29 09:18
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A former Bush administration official charged with trying to kill his wife at their Connecticut home is headed toward a trial after plea negotiations with prosecutors failed. The Connecticut Post reports the attempted murder case of John Michael Farren was put on the trial list at Stamford Superior Court on Thursday during a brief hearing. A date for jury selection wasn't set. The 58-year-old Farren was deputy White House counsel during President George W. Bush's second term. He also served as undersecretary for international trade under Bush's father, President George H.W. Bush. Farren has pleaded not guilty. He is accused of beating his wife with a flashlight and choking her at their New Canaan home after she served him with divorce papers. He's free on bail but under house arrest. |
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