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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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Court turns down appeal in murder plot case
Court Feed News |
2011/04/18 13:16
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The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal in a murder-for-hire plot after the star prosecution witness forged documents used at trial and lied about his military background.
The court said Monday it will not review a divided appeals court ruling that, by a 6-5 vote, upheld the conviction of Idaho businessman David Hinkson for plotting to kill a federal judge, prosecutor and tax agent. Hinkson is serving a 43-year prison term.
Earlier, a three-judge panel on the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had decided that Hinkson deserved a new trial because the witness, Elven Joe Swisher, lied about his war record, including presenting forged documents.
Swisher later was convicted of defrauding the government of nearly $100,000 in veterans' benefits and wearing unauthorized military medals. |
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Conn. doctor accused of hedge fund insider trading
Court Feed News |
2011/04/13 16:10
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A Harvard-trained physician who became a health care investment analyst has been charged in New York with evading $30 million in losses for a hedge fund by obtaining inside information from a fellow doctor. Charges against Joseph Skowron III were announced Wednesday in a criminal complaint unsealed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. The Greenwich, Conn., resident is accused of gaining an advantage in his work as a hedge fund analyst through his meetings and conversations with a French doctor who knew inside information about clinical drug trials. Defense attorney James Benjamin said he had no immediate comment on the charges against his client.
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Media get jurors' names in Mass. mom's trial
Court Feed News |
2011/04/12 10:20
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News organizations have argued successfully for the release of jurors names in the case of a Massachusetts woman who was convicted of attempted murder for withholding cancer medication from her autistic son.
Lawrence Superior Court Judge Richard Welch did not immediately release the names Tuesday, in order to give anyone who wanted to fight against it the opportunity for a hearing. He instructed the AP, The Boston Globe and The Salem News to make arguments with attorneys. During the hearing, Welch agreed there was no compelling reason not to make the list public, and no one argued against the release of the names. Jurors convicted Kristen LaBrie of Salem of attempted murder and three other charges for failing to give chemotherapy to her son, Jeremy. The boy later died.
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