|
|
|
Courts nationwide hold hearings with video
Legal Career News |
2011/05/09 15:51
|
George Villanueva, charged with first-degree murder in the death of an NYPD officer, will not leave jail for months of pretrial hearings.
Instead, he'll be beamed into the courtroom via video as lawyers discuss his case in front of the judge.
Villanueva's case is part of a surge in court appearances done by video in New York and around the country, as cash-strapped communities look for ways to boost efficiency and cut costs. The tools are used in courts large and small, and the savings for some are staggering: $30 million in Pennsylvania so far, $600,000 in Georgia, and $50,000 per year in transportation costs in Ohio.
"We've had to trim our spending wherever we can and still provide what we think is effective constitutional justice, and we're doing that with the help of modern technology," said Pennsylvania State Supreme Court Justice Ronald D. Castille.
Advocates say the virtual hearing is easier on defendants, who don't have to get up at 4 a.m. to be shuttled with other criminal suspects to court, only to wait hours standing and handcuffed for an appearance. Judges say their cases are moving faster. And civil liberties groups say the practice raises no red flags. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Calif Supreme Court lifts tobacco suit deadlines
Legal Career News |
2011/05/06 15:25
|
The California Supreme Court has lifted legal deadlines for smokers who later develop diseases like lung cancer.
Lawyers who filed the lawsuit say Thursday's unanimous ruling in San Francisco will likely allow new smoker suits to be filed against the tobacco industry and keep alive lawsuits that may have been thrown out because of expired legal deadlines.
The case before the court involved former smoker Nikki Pooshs, who was diagnosed in 1989 with smoking-related chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in 1989 and a couple of years later with periodontal disease.
But Pooshs didn't sue the tobacco industry until she was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2003.
Cigarette makers argued the suit should be dismissed because California law gives people two years to file suit after discovery of an injury. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
NH Senate rejects changes to anti-bullying law
Legal Career News |
2011/05/06 10:26
|
New Hampshire's Senate has voted unanimously to reject changes to the state's anti-bullying law, such as limiting school responsibility in dealing with off-campus incidents.
Senators said Wednesday that the current law is only months old and needs further study before any changes are made.
The current law was amended last year for the electronic age. It defines bullying and cyberbullying and allows schools to step in if the conduct happens outside of school and interferes with a student's education or substantially disrupts school operations.
Many states have been moving in this direction, but some New Hampshire lawmakers wanted to restrict the boundaries to school grounds.
The House passed a bill in March that would remove that provision and make other changes. The Senate's rejection leaves the measure's future in doubt. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Suit against PC renter raises privacy questions
Legal Career News |
2011/05/04 11:54
|
You didn't pay your bill. We need our computer back. And here's a picture of you typing away on it, the computer rental company told a client as it tried to repossess the machine. Those allegations appear in a federal lawsuit alleging that the firm, Atlanta-based Aaron's Inc., loaded computers with spyware to track renters' keystrokes, make screenshots and even take webcam images of them using the devices at home. The suit filed by a Wyoming couple Tuesday raises anew questions of how invasive custodians of technology should be in protecting their equipment. Computer privacy experts said Aaron's, a major furniture rental chain, has the right to equip its computers with software it can use to shut off the devices remotely if customers stop paying their bills, but they must be told if they're being monitored. "If I'm renting a computer ... then I have a right to know what the limitations are and I have a right to know if they're going to be collecting data from my computer," said Annie Anton, a professor and computer privacy expert with North Carolina State University. But the couple who sued Aaron's said they had no clue the computer they rented last year was equipped with a device that could spy on them. Brian Byrd, 26, and his wife, Crystal, 24, said they didn't even realize that was possible until a store manager in Casper came to their home Dec. 22. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Polygamous church dispute may head to Utah court
Legal Career News |
2011/05/02 15:43
|
An internal tug-of-war over control of jailed polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs' southern Utah-based church may force Utah courts to walk a constitutional tightrope that experts say could tread a little too close to separation of church and state.
The presidency of the 10,000-member Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has been in question since March 28, when church bishop William E. Jessop filed papers with the Utah Department of Commerce seeking to unseat Jeffs as president of the church corporation. Under state law, the move automatically put Jessop in power.
That set into motion a flurry of filings from Jeffs loyalists removing Jessop and claiming that some 4,000 church members have pledged their loyalty to their incarcerated leader.
Monday marks the deadline set by commerce officials for both parties to resolve the dispute or a legal showdown might be set in motion since, if no agreement is reached, the state says power will revert back to Jeffs. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Iowa court reverses child endangerment conviction
Legal Career News |
2011/04/28 10:35
|
The Iowa Court of Appeals on Wednesday overturned the conviction of a mother who has been imprisoned for nearly four years after being found guilty of injuring her young son, basing its decision on the boy's newfound ability to speak and claim he was hurt after sticking his arm into a washing machine.
Tammy Smith was found guilty of hurting her then-4-year-old son in 2006, after his arm was broken in four places and his shoulder dislocated. Prosecutors could not prove how the injury happened, but doctors testified it could only have been caused by a lot of force or leverage being applied to the child's arm. Smith was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
The boy was described as "developmentally delayed" and could only make grunting sounds and other noises at the time of Smith's trial. He has since been in school and met with counselors and has been able to talk about what happened, telling people he hurt his arm when he put it in a front-load washing machine that was on spin cycle. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Recent Lawyer News Updates |
|
|
Lawyer News RSS
