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Japan court gives go-ahead for restart of 2 nuke reactors
Business Law Info |
2015/12/25 18:34
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A Japanese court gave the go-ahead for the restart of two nuclear reactors Thursday after its operator said in an appeal they were safe.
The Fukui District Court in western Japan lifted an April injunction that was filed by a group of residents who said that a massive earthquake exceeding the facility's quake resistance could cause a disaster similar to the Fukushima crisis following the March 2011 quake and tsunami.
The order paves the way for a resumption of the Takahama No. 3 and No. 4 reactors, operated by the Kansai Electric Power Co.
The operator had already obtained approval of the safety regulators, and town and prefectural leaders expressed their support for a restart this month, just in time for the ruling. Two of Japan's 43 reactors are currently back online.
Thursday's decision minimizes the delay for the Takahama reactors, which had been set for restart late this year.
The utility plans to go ahead with loading fuel rods into the No. 3 reactor within days, and go through final safety checks before putting the reactor back online late January.
Takahama reactors could be a third and fourth to restart, while prospects for a fifth one, the Ikata reactor in Shikoku, southwestern Japan, are uncertain due to strong local opposition over evacuation plans in case of an emergency.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's pro-business government wants to restart as many reactors as possible. The government says nuclear energy should remain key for resource-poor Japan. Abe is also pushing to export Japan's nuclear technology and recently signed a nuclear agreement with India.
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Florida Supreme Court denies stay of execution
Business Law Info |
2015/12/24 18:50
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The Florida Supreme Court has denied a stay of execution for a 53-year-old convicted killer from the Tampa Bay area. The court's late Wednesday decision regarding the case of Oscar Ray Bolin was posted on its website Thursday morning. The court did not offer any explanation or discussion for its ruling.
Oscar Ray Bolin is scheduled for execution on Jan. 7. He and his lawyers filed a motion Tuesday with the state's highest court, saying that he plans to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
On Dec. 17, the state court denied Bolin's appeal based on alleged new evidence. The court ruled Bolin should be put to death for the December 1986 murder of Teri Lynn Matthews. Matthews was abducted in Pasco County, raped and then beaten and fatally stabbed.
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Court won’t hear case over grant to Planned Parenthood
Business Law Info |
2015/11/15 03:01
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The Supreme Court has rejected an anti-abortion group’s bid to force disclosure of confidential Planned Parenthood and federal government records about a contract for family planning services in New Hampshire.
The justices on Monday let stand a ruling that allowed the U.S. Health and Human Services Department to withhold some documents in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by New Hampshire Right to Life.
Abortion opponents objected to a $1 million contract HHS awarded Planned Parenthood in 2011 for family planning services in New Hampshire. The move followed action by the state’s Executive Council to stop a long-standing practice of funneling federal money to the clinics. Councilors who opposed funding Planned Parenthood said they didn’t want grant money given to the organization because it provides abortions using private funds. |
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German Court Begins Hearing Afghan Airstrike Case
Business Law Info |
2013/11/03 22:40
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A court in Germany has begun hearing a civil case brought by relatives of some of the 91 Afghans killed in a NATO airstrike four years ago.
Bonn regional court spokesman Philipp Prietze said Wednesday that the court reviewed video recorded by two U.S. fighter jets involved in the airstrike in the Afghan province of Kunduz on Sept. 4, 2009.
The strike was ordered by a German colonel fearful that insurgents would use two stolen fuel tankers to attack his troops.
Germany paid $5,000 each to victims' families, but some are seeking additional compensation. Most of the dead were civilians.
Separately, Germany said it would offer refuge to 182 Afghan translators and drivers who could face persecution after Western troops leave Afghanistan because they worked for the German military. |
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Oil leasing dispute heads to federal court
Business Law Info |
2013/06/01 18:21
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Attorneys for the government and the oil industry will square off against environmental groups Friday in federal court in Montana in a dispute over greenhouse-gas emissions from oil and gas drilling.
The Montana Environmental Information Center and two other groups want U.S. District Judge Sam Haddon to cancel Bureau of Land Management oil and gas leases covering almost 80,000 acres in Montana.
They argue the agency did not fairly consider that greenhouse gas emissions from drilling activities could make climate change worse.
The BLM counters that the emissions from machinery and the venting of excess natural gas are insignificant.
Several industry groups have intervened in the case. They say the environmentalists behind the 2011 lawsuit cannot prove they suffered any specific harm from the lease sales. |
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Former Fla. GOP chief pleads guilty before trial
Business Law Info |
2013/02/15 22:55
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Former Republican Party of Florida chairman Jim Greer pleaded guilty to theft and money laundering charges Monday just before jury selection in his criminal trial was to begin.
Greer pleaded guilty to four counts of theft and a single count of money laundering for funneling money from the Republican Party of Florida to a company he set up with his right-hand man. He could be sentenced to a minimum of 3 ½ years and a maximum of 35 years in prison at his March 27 sentencing.
The plea deal avoids would could have been an embarrassing trial for the state GOP. Some of Florida's most powerful politicians were scheduled as witnesses, including former Gov. Charlie Crist, former U.S. Sen. George LeMieux, former Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum and several state House and state Senate leaders.
"There were a number of people who did not want this trial to go forward and the trial isn't going forward," said Damon Chase, Greer's attorney. "Once again, Jim Greer is falling on his sword for a lot of other folks."
Topics that were covered in pretrial depositions included allegations of prostitutes at a state GOP fundraiser in the Bahamas, lavish spending on fancy restaurants and luxury hotels by state GOP leaders, the drinking habits of Crist and party leaders stabbing each other in the back.
"He has acknowledged he is guilty. That is what the party has wanted since the case started," said Stephen Dobson, an attorney for the Republican Party of Florida. |
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