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Court further limits reach of gas drilling law
Class Action |
2014/07/21 15:29
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A Pennsylvania court has further limited the reach of a major 2012 law that modernized drilling regulations, ruling Thursday that state public utility regulators cannot review how local zoning restrictions affect the natural gas industry.
The Commonwealth Court decision threw out the Public Utility Commission's newly authorized power to withhold drilling fee revenue from municipalities whose zoning it deems to illegally restrict drilling activity.
The decision is another blow to an effort by Gov. Tom Corbett and the Republican-controlled Legislature to respond to the drilling industry's complaints about municipal zoning. It follows a state Supreme Court ruling in December that said the law could not strip local zoning authority over drilling activity, such as the placement of rigs, pipelines, waste pits and compressor stations.
John M. Smith, a Pittsburgh-area lawyer who helped represent the seven municipalities that sued, said they were pleased that the court "once again protected the rights of local governments and Pennsylvania citizens."
The Commonwealth Court ruling rejected three other challenges in the lawsuit to elements of the sprawling law.
Those three victories led Corbett's office to say the opinion "speaks volumes to the constitutionality of state regulation of oil and gas activities." A spokesman would only say that the office is evaluating the impact of the ruling on the intended role of the utility commission. |
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Suspect in bodies-in-suitcases case due in court
Class Action |
2014/07/17 11:17
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A former police officer charged with dumping two bodies in suitcases along a rural Wisconsin road is due to enter a plea.
Fifty-two-year-old Steven Zelich is scheduled to attend a plea hearing in Walworth County Circuit Court Thursday on two counts of hiding a corpse.
Zelich's attorney, Travis Schwantes, says the charges might not stand up because prosecutors need to show the former West Allis officer tried to conceal a crime. Schwantes says Zelich claims he killed the two women in the suitcases accidentally during sexual encounters.
Authorities say homicide charges are expected to be filed in the counties where the women died. The bodies of 19-year-old Jenny Gamez, of Cottage Grove, Oregon, and 37-year-old Laura Simonson, of Farmington, Minnesota, were found in the suitcases by highway workers June 5. |
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Court OKs suit over San Francisco jail guard rule
Class Action |
2014/07/07 13:35
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A federal appeals court has reinstated a lawsuit challenging the San Francisco Sheriff's Department's policy of forbidding male guards to work in the women's jail.
The San Francisco Chronicle says a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that the policy constituted sex discrimination which the city had failed to demonstrate was absolutely necessary.
The 9th Circuit decision overruled the finding of a federal judge who dismissed the lawsuit after finding that excluding male guards made sense as a way to protect the safety and privacy of female inmates.
The policy was adopted in 2006. The Chronicle says the 35 guards who sued the next year included women who alleged it had increased their work loads and men who said it cost them overtime and possible promotions.
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Court gives OJ lawyers a week to resubmit appeal
Class Action |
2014/06/03 11:42
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O.J. Simpson's lawyers were given another week Friday to reformat and resubmit an appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court seeking a new trial in the kidnapping and armed robbery case of the former football star.
In the order, Chief Justice Mark Gibbons agreed to accept a supersized 20,000-word document that Simpson's lawyers had submitted before a May 21 deadline if it complies with court formatting rules.
"Basically they want it to be double-spaced," court spokesman Michael Sommermeyer said.
The document hasn't been made public, and the seven justices haven't decided whether to rehear oral arguments in case. The court rejected an initial appeal by Simpson in September 2010.
Simpson attorney Patricia Palm said she was glad the justices agreed to accept the 19,933 words she submitted nine days ago. The new deadline is June 6.
Palm noted the court frequently accepts briefs longer than its 14,000-word limit in complex cases.
Palm and Simpson appeal lawyers Ozzie Fumo and Tom Pitaro want the court to reconsider the contention that Simpson got bad legal advice, that his trial lawyer had a conflict of interest, and that Simpson's 2008 Las Vegas trial was tainted by his notoriety. |
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3 men guilty on all counts in teens' slaying
Class Action |
2014/05/02 09:57
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Three gang members have been found guilty of killing two Southern California teens and injuring two others during a 2011 shooting near an apartment complex playground.
The San Bernardino County district attorney's office says a jury convicted the men of two counts each of murder and three each of attempted murder. The verdict was read Tuesday.
The defendants were accused of killing 18-year-old Andrew Jackson and 17-year-old Quinn McCaleb as they walked with a group of teenagers in Redlands. Two other teens were shot but survived their injuries.
Authorities say one of the gunmen was seeking revenge after he was jumped by several men, and attacked the victims in a case of mistaken identity. The victims had no gang ties or prior contact with the defendants' gang.
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SC Supreme Court hears appeal in fatal dog attack
Class Action |
2014/04/17 13:31
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Prosecutors want South Carolina's highest court to reinstate the conviction of a Dillon County man whose dogs attacked and killed a 10-year-old boy in 2006.
The state Supreme Court on Tuesday hears an appeal in the case of Bentley Collins. In 2012, the state Court of Appeals overturned Collins' involuntary manslaughter conviction and prison sentence, ruling a judge shouldn't have allowed prosecutors to show pictures of the boy taken before his autopsy.
The photographs showed the extent of the boy's injuries, including how the dogs mauled him so badly his bones were exposed and his ears and nose were eaten.
The judges said the pathologist testified to the injuries, so the photographs did nothing more than rile the jury's emotions.
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EU court nixes government bulk data collection
Class Action |
2014/04/08 08:34
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The European Union's top court says key legislation allowing governments to collect data on citizens' communications for law-enforcement purposes is invalid.
The European Court of Justice in Luxembourg on Tuesday ruled the so-called data retention directive is too far-reaching and offers too few safeguards to protect people's right to privacy, creating an impression that "private lives are the subject of constant surveillance."
The legislation allows the storage of phone calls or online communication records for at least six months to help prevent serious crimes such as terrorism. The data typically reveal who was involved in the communication, when and how often, but not its content.
The court says the 2006 legislation represents a "particularly serious interference with fundamental rights." |
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Class action or a representative action is a form of lawsuit in which a large group of people collectively bring a claim to court and/or in which a class of defendants is being sued. This form of collective lawsuit originated in the United States and is still predominantly a U.S. phenomenon, at least the U.S. variant of it. In the United States federal courts, class actions are governed by Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule. Since 1938, many states have adopted rules similar to the FRCP. However, some states like California have civil procedure systems which deviate significantly from the federal rules; the California Codes provide for four separate types of class actions. As a result, there are two separate treatises devoted solely to the complex topic of California class actions. Some states, such as Virginia, do not provide for any class actions, while others, such as New York, limit the types of claims that may be brought as class actions. They can construct your law firm a brand new website, lawyer website templates and help you redesign your existing law firm site to secure your place in the internet. |
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