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Wis. court recount will cost hundreds of thousands
Court Feed News |
2011/04/26 16:16
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County clerks say the Wisconsin Supreme Court recount will cost them at least a half-a-million dollars.
The Associated Press asked clerks in all 72 counties for their anticipated costs. Twenty-two provided cost estimates ranging from $120 in Price County to $500,000 in Milwaukee County. The total cost for the 22 counties was about $570,000.
Final county tallies released earlier this month show challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg down by 7,316 votes to incumbent Justice David Prosser. Kloppenburg demanded a recount last week. The counties must perform it free of charge to Kloppenburg because the margin between the candidates is less than one-half of 1 percent of all votes cast. |
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Md. court considering same-sex spousal privilege
Court Feed News |
2011/04/25 16:06
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A court in Hagerstown is poised to consider whether a woman who legally married her lesbian partner in another jurisdiction can assert the spousal privilege of refusing to testify against her in Maryland, where same-sex marriage isn't allowed.
Lawyers are set to argue their positions Monday during a hearing in a 2010 assault case
Washington County prosecutors want the judge to compel Sharron Saleem to testify about her statement to police that Deborah Snowden pushed her and threatened her with a knife.
A brief filed by Snowden's public defender cites a 2010 opinion by Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler that out-of-state, same-sex marriages may be recognized under Maryland law. But Gansler's opinion didn't directly address the question of spousal privilege. |
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Court denies Va. inmate's lawsuit over beard
Court Feed News |
2011/04/25 14:04
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A federal court has denied a Muslim inmate's lawsuit claiming the Virginia prison system violated his religious rights by refusing to allow him to grow a 1/8-inch beard.
William Couch challenged the Department of Corrections' grooming policy that bans long hair or beards.
A federal court in Harrisonburg sided with the department Thursday.
Couch's attorney, Jeffrey Fogel, filed an appeal Monday. He argues the beard is too short to allow Couch to easily change his appearance or hide weapons, which is the department's reason for the policy.
A federal appellate court ruled against a group of inmates who sued the department after the grooming policy was instituted in 1999. Several lived in segregation for more than a decade until the department developed a separate living space for them last year. |
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Court limits inmate lawsuits over religious rights
Court Feed News |
2011/04/20 15:32
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The Supreme Court has ruled that a federal law intended to protect the religious rights of prison inmates bars most lawsuits that seek money from states that violate the law. The court said in a 6-2 decision Wednesday that inmates may file suit to force states to change their policies, but without the threat of monetary damages that might cause states to speed those changes. The Obama administration and Christian groups warned that a ruling against the inmates would undermine the effectiveness of the 11-year-old law, the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. The court ruled in a suit filed by Texas prison inmate Harvey Sossamon, who complained that he was denied the chance to participate in Christian worship services. |
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Court denies appeal over inmate's long sentence
Court Feed News |
2011/04/18 15:23
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The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from a convicted insurance swindler who is protesting his 835-year prison term.
The court did not comment Monday in turning away a plea from Sholam Weiss for his release from prison and return to Austria, where he was arrested after he fled the United States during his criminal trial in Orlando, Fla. Weiss is in prison for his role in the collapse of a life insurance company in the 1990s that cost thousands of people their life savings.
He still may be able to appeal his conviction and sentence, even though an appeals court had earlier ruled that he forfeited his appeal rights when he became a fugitive.
A judge cut 10 years from Weiss' sentence when Austria returned him to the U.S. |
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US court turns away new appeal from Uighurs
Court Feed News |
2011/04/18 13:22
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The five remaining Chinese Muslims who are being held at Guantanamo Bay lost their latest bid Monday to get the Supreme Court to hear their case.
The justices turned away a plea from the five detainees, who have been held at the U.S. naval base in Cuba for nearly nine years.
The detainees had previously declined an offer to be resettled in the tiny Pacific nation of Palau, where six other Chinese Muslims, or Uighurs, have gone to live. It is not clear why the five refused to go to Palau, or to a second, unidentified country that the Obama administration has said was willing to take them.
Justice Stephen Breyer, writing for three of his colleagues, said he agreed with the court's decision not to hear the case because of the two countries' offers and "the government's uncontested commitment to continue to work to resettle" the Uighurs. Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Anthony Kennedy and Sonia Sotomayor joined Breyer's opinion.
Justice Elena Kagan, who worked on the case while serving in the Justice Department, did not take part in the court's action Monday.
The detainees wanted the court to consider the question of whether a judge can order detainees released into the United States. |
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