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Accused White House shooter to appear in DC court
Court Watch |
2011/11/21 02:27
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A man accused of firing an assault rifle at the White House is expected to appear in court in Washington. Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez is scheduled to appear in federal court Monday at 1:45 p.m.
Ortega was arrested last week in Pennsylvania. The Idaho Falls, Idaho, resident is accused of driving by the White House on the evening of Nov. 11 and firing at the White House from his vehicle. Authorities say one of the rounds he fired cracked a window of the first family's living quarters.
President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama were away, and no one was injured. |
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Federal court issues new political maps for Texas
Court Watch |
2011/11/18 09:02
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A federal court on Thursday issued temporary political maps for the 2012 election in Texas that some say will give Democrats a greater chance of winning seats in the Legislature.
The maps, which still must be given final court approval, will remain in place for state House and Senate districts until there is a resolution to lawsuits filed over the Legislature's proposals — likely through the 2012 elections. The court is expected to also release a proposal for new congressional districts.
Republicans have acknowledged they are not likely to hold on to the 101-49 supermajority they have in the Texas House. Still Democrats argue that the GOP map drawers went too far in trying to preserve their power.
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott's office, which is representing the state, was reviewing the maps and "working to prepare a response as directed by the court," spokeswoman Lauren Bean said.
Democrats and minorities have complained that the maps drawn by the Republican-controlled Legislature prevent minority groups from electing their choice of candidate. |
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Conn. teeth-whitening rules challenged in court
Court Watch |
2011/11/16 09:43
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Connecticut's rules that only a dentist can provide certain teeth-whitening services are being challenged in court.
The Institute for Justice filed the lawsuit in federal court in Hartford on Wednesday. The Arlington, Va.-based law firm says the state Dental Commission's regulations promote a monopoly for dentists by banning certain teeth whitening at salons and shopping malls.
A spokesman for the state Department of Public Health says officials haven't read the lawsuit and won't comment.
Regulations imposed in June cite inherent risks in teeth whitening and say whitening involves the practice of dentistry for diagnosing causes of discoloration, customizing treatment and other work.
The Institute for Justice, which takes on libertarian causes, says the regulations have put several practitioners out of business. |
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Judge rejects appeal by Abramoff's former partner
Court Watch |
2011/11/14 01:17
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Ex-lobbyist Jack Abramoff's former partner in crime shouldn't expect relief on his appeal to reduce a $20 million restitution order.
The chief of the federal appeals court in Washington, Judge David Sentelle, told Michael Scanlon's lawyer at arguments Monday the court cannot change his client's plea agreement. The court will issue its final order in writing.
Scanlon is serving a 20-month sentence for bilking Indian tribes of millions. Abramoff persuaded the tribes that hired him for lobbying to pay inflated fees for Scanlon's public relations services, and they secretly split the profits.
Scanlon pleaded guilty in part to defrauding the tribal clients of their right to "honest services." The Supreme Court weakened the honest services law last year and Scanlon argues the restitution should be lowered to reflect that ruling. |
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Court likely to overturn Calif. law on livestock
Court Watch |
2011/11/11 09:40
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The Supreme Court seemed ready Wednesday to block a California law that would require euthanizing downed livestock at federally inspected slaughterhouses to keep the meat out of the nation's food system.
The court heard an appeal from the National Meat Association, which wants a 2009 state law blocked from going into effect. California barred the purchase, sale and butchering of animals that can't walk and required slaughterhouses under the threat of fines and jail time to immediately kill nonambulatory animals.
But justices said that encroached on federal laws that don't require immediate euthanizing.
"The federal law does not require me immediately to go over and euthanize the cow. Your law does require me to go over and immediately euthanize the cow. And therefore, your law seems an additional requirement in respect to the operations of a federally inspected meatpacking facility," Justice Stephen Breyer told a California lawyer.
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First U.S. class-action overdraft fee case settles
Court Watch |
2011/11/10 09:39
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Union Bank, part of Japan's Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc , agreed to pay $35 million to settle the first class-action lawsuit arising from nationwide litigation accusing lenders of charging excessive overdraft fees.
The litigation consolidates lawsuits filed against more than two dozen U.S., Canadian and European lenders such as JPMorgan Chase & Co , Citigroup Inc and Wells Fargo & Co .
It accuses lenders of routinely processing transactions from largest to smallest rather than in chronological order. This can cause account balances to fall more quickly, and overdraft fees, typically $25 or $35, to pile up faster.
A notice of the Union Bank settlement was filed on Wednesday with the U.S. District Court in Miami. The settlement requires approval by U.S. District Judge James Lawrence King, who oversees the litigation.
King granted class certification in the Union Bank case in July. That meant that customers, estimated in the tens of thousands, could sue the San Francisco-based bank as a group. |
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Court: Fla. must weigh arbitration in Madoff case
Court Watch |
2011/11/05 12:21
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The Supreme Court says the Florida courts should reconsider whether arbitration is required for claims against an auditing firm that worked on a fund that invested with Bernie Madoff.
The high court on Monday reversed a decision by a Florida appeals court. KPMG was sued by investors in the Rye Funds, which lost millions of dollars to Madoff's Ponzi scheme. KPMG was the auditor for the Rye Funds, and the investors said the company did not use proper auditing standards.
KPMG says its contract requires arbitration but the state courts would not allow it.
The Supreme Court ruled that the Florida courts only looked at part of the claims being brought against KPMG. The high court ordered the lower courts to investigate all of the claims before making a decision.
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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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