Recent Updates
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High court weighs whether to spare Texas man from execution
Political and Legal News 03/22/2016The U.S. Supreme Court was considering whether a Texas man who killed a city worker in 2005 should be spared from a lethal injection, as his lawyers argue that a ban on executing mentally impaired prisoners should be extended to him.Adam Ward's attor...
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Supreme Court puts Obama's climate change plan on hold
Political and Legal News 02/11/2016A divided Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to halt enforcement of President Barack Obama's sweeping plan to address climate change until after legal challenges are resolved.The surprising move is a blow to the administration and a victory for the coaliti...
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Rick Perry indictment goes before Texas' top criminal court
Political and Legal News 11/18/2015Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry wants the state's highest criminal court to dismiss felony charges against him that the Republican has partly blamed for his failed 2016 presidential bid. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals will hear arguments Wedn...
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Supreme Court considers if Pistorius guilty of murder
Political and Legal News 11/04/2015South Africa's Supreme Court of Appeal grilled Oscar Pistorius' attorney and a prosecutor on Tuesday as it weighed whether to convict him of murder for killing his girlfriend, uphold a lower court's manslaughter conviction or order a retrial. P...
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'Whitey' Bulger's lover heads to court on contempt charge
Political and Legal News 10/19/2015The longtime girlfriend and fugitive companion of James "Whitey" Bulger is expected in federal court to face a contempt charge for refusing to tell whether other people helped the Boston mobster during his 16 years on the run. Catherine Greig i...
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Connecticut court stands by decision eliminating execution
Political and Legal News 10/12/2015The Connecticut Supreme Court on Thursday stood by its decision to eliminate the state's death penalty, but the fate of capital punishment in the Constitution State technically remains unsettled. The state's highest court rejected a request by p...
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Georgia man accused in hot car death to appear in court
Political and Legal News 10/12/2015A Georgia man accused of killing his toddler son by leaving him in a vehicle on a hot day is set to appear in court for a hearing.Cobb County Superior Court Judge Mary Staley is set to hear arguments on pretrial motions Monday in the case of Justin R...
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US court upholds Oklahoma death row inmate's sentence
Political and Legal News 09/17/2015A divided federal appeals court panel upheld the murder convictions and death sentence Tuesday of a 54-year-old man who went on a multistate crime spree in 2003.The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals voted 2-1 to affirm the death sentence of Scott Ei...
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Appeals court overturns county's longest-ever drug sentence
Political and Legal News 09/04/2015Pennsylvania Superior Court has overturned the longest drug sentence ever imposed in a central Pennsylvania county as "manifestly unreasonable and excessive."Blair County Senior Judge Thomas Peoples imposed the 104½- to 216-year sentence four years a...
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Court rules against St. Louis police in ticket scandal
Political and Legal News 08/20/2015The St. Louis police department will have to turn over records from its probe into a scandal over 2006 World Series tickets now that the Missouri Supreme Court has thrown out a final appeal that sought to block the documents' release.The state high c...
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Court fines Washington state over education funding
Political and Legal News 08/14/2015Washington officials are considering a special legislative session after the state Supreme Court issued daily fines a of $100,000 until lawmakers comply with a court order to improve the way the state pays for its basic education system. Thursd...
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Man charged with killing Memphis officer to appear in court
Political and Legal News 08/14/2015An ex-convict charged with fatally shooting a Memphis police officer during a struggle is scheduled to appear in county court Wednesday.Twenty-nine-year-old Tremaine Wilbourn is being held on $10 million bond on a first-degree murder charge in the Au...