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High court weighs Mich. ban on affirmative action
Headline News |
2013/10/14 20:53
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After the Supreme Court ruled a decade ago that race could be a factor in college admissions in a Michigan case, affirmative action opponents persuaded the state's voters to outlaw any consideration of race.
Now, the high court is weighing whether that change to Michigan's constitution is itself discriminatory.
It is a proposition that even the lawyer for civil rights groups in favor of affirmative action acknowledges a tough sell, at first glance.
"How can a provision that is designed to end discrimination in fact discriminate?" said Mark Rosenbaum of the American Civil Liberties Union. Yet that is the difficult argument Rosenbaum will make on Tuesday to a court that has grown more skeptical about taking race into account in education since its Michigan decision in 2003.
A victory for Rosenbaum's side would imperil similar voter-approved initiatives that banned affirmative action in education in California and Washington state. A few other states have adopted laws or issued executive orders to bar race-conscious admissions policies.
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PG&E starts pipeline shutdown under court order
Headline News |
2013/10/07 17:41
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Pacific Gas & Electric Co. says it will comply with a judge's order and shut down a natural gas pipeline after safety issues were raised.
The utility said Sunday it believes the pipeline is safe despite an engineer's email questioning the safety of the 83-year-old line's welds. PG&E said it could take until Tuesday to safely shut down the line and seamlessly switch its customers to another line.
A judge ordered the line shut down after San Carlos city officials discovered the email and declared a "state of emergency."
The email said PG&E's records incorrectly show the line containing a newer, more reliable weld than it actually has.
PG&E said state-of-the-art tests show the line is safe and that it was shutting the line only because of the court order.
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Appeals court affirms AWOL soldier's life sentence
Headline News |
2013/08/21 19:52
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A federal appeals court has affirmed two life terms against an AWOL soldier who planned to detonate a bomb inside a Texas restaurant frequented by Fort Hood soldiers.
Naser Jason Abdo appealed that his arrest was unlawful, that he had been denied access to an expert witness and that he was unfairly charged twice for the same offense. But the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans on Monday threw out all Abdo's claims, saying the August 2012 sentence stands.
Stan Schwieger, Abdo's lawyer, said the aim of the appeal was to get a trial and now he will most likely request an "en banc" review of the appeal, meaning that all the judges of the 5th Circuit would have to review the three-judge panel's opinion. Such a review is discretionary and, according to Schwieger, only 1 percent of cases that go before the Circuit Court of Appeals get it.
Abdo was AWOL from Fort Campbell, Ky., when he was arrested with bomb-making materials in 2011. A federal jury convicted him in May 2012 on six charges including attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction. Abdo also was found guilty of attempted murder of U.S. officers or employees and four counts of possessing a weapon in furtherance of a federal crime of violence. |
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NY man pleads guilty in Paula Deen extortion case
Headline News |
2013/08/19 22:41
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A New York man pleaded guilty in federal court Friday to trying to extort $200,000 from Paula Deen by threatening to reveal damaging information about the embattled celebrity cook if she didn't pay him to stay quiet.
"I had, I guess, some bad judgment," 62-year-old Thomas George Paculis told a U.S. District Court judge in Savannah.
"I do take responsibility for what I have done."Paculis, of Newfield, acknowledged sending emails to Deen's attorney offering to trade his silence for cash in June. It came a few days after documents became public that revealed the former Food Network star had said under oath that she used racial slurs in the past.
As Deen's culinary empire began to crumble, Paculis claimed he could reveal things that would bring her "financial hardship and even ruin," according to one email that invited Deen's lawyer to "make me an offer I can't refuse."
Neither Paculis nor federal authorities have revealed what sort of dirt the defendant claimed he could dish up regarding Deen or if he truly had any at all. He owned a restaurant in Savannah in the 1990s, but Deen told the FBI she didn't recognize his name or his face. |
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Colo. senators go to court to halt recall efforts
Headline News |
2013/07/18 06:25
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Two Colorado Democratic state senators facing recalls over their support for new gun restrictions argued Wednesday to stop the proceedings, telling a judge the petitions against them are invalid and that no election should be set until judicial review is complete.
State Senate President John Morse of Colorado Springs and Pueblo Sen. Angela Giron argue the recall petitions against them were improperly worded and didn't ask for an election to appoint a successor.
Denver District Court Judge Robert Hyatt heard arguments Wednesday and will rule Thursday afternoon whether to grant a preliminary injunction.
Supporters of the recall maintain their petitions are valid. The Secretary of State's office has agreed and is seeking a court order to force Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper to set an election date. |
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Court reverses verdict in Calif. baby-selling case
Headline News |
2013/06/20 22:19
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A midlevel California appeals court has overturned the conviction of a Salinas man who allegedly tried to sell his 8-month-old baby in a Walmart parking lot.
The state's 6th District Court of Appeal ruled Friday that the judge who originally heard the case gave incomplete instructions to the jury that ultimately convicted 41-year-old Patrick Fousek of child endangerment, The Monterey Herald reports.
Both Fousek and his girlfriend, Samantha Tomasini, were arrested two years ago when two women reported that Fousek had approached them and asked if they wanted to buy his infant daughter for $25. Fousek's lawyers argued during his 2011 trial that the offer had not been serious, but the appeals court said Monterey County prosecutors had presented enough evidence to support a guilty verdict.
But the court, in its unpublished opinion, said Superior Court Judge Pamela Butler should have been told they needed to agree unanimously on the specific act or acts on which they based their verdict. In Fousek's case, that could have been the proposed sale of the baby, the squalid home in which she was being raised, or the fact that Tomasini allegedly breastfed the little girl while high on methamphetamine. |
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