All Law & Courts
University of Texas can use race as factor in admission, court rulesA federal appeals court has ruled in a case that made it all the way to the US Supreme Court. The University of Texas' method for partially using race in admissions is essential to creating a diverse student body, the court said.
Indiana marriage law is discriminatory, US court says in ruling for humanistsIn a significant victory for nonreligious Americans, the appeals court ordered Indiana to allow secular humanists to officiate at weddings despite a state law barring them from performing nuptials.
Illinois pioneers crackdown on scams targeting student loan debtThere is no 'Obama Forgiveness Program,' and some of the services that debt settlement companies sell are available for free. Illinois is taking to court two firms that target people struggling under student debt.
Texas family killed: In domestic violence cases, more focus on red flagsIncreasingly, advocates and law enforcement officials are teaming up to show that some of the worst domestic violence situations can be prevented. However, in a Texas tragedy, Ronald Lee Haskell is accused of killing six members of his ex-wife鈥檚 family.- Judge orders Florida districts redrawn. Will it affect US Congress?Judge Terry Lewis ruled that two of Florida's 27 congressional districts had been drawn to benefit the Republican Party, putting the GOP-controlled Legislature under a judicial microscope.
In Colorado, same-sex marriage battle waged in county clerk's officeA Boulder County clerk, citing a US appeals court ruling against Utah's ban, has issued more than 100 marriage licenses to same-sex couples, saying聽she believed she had a moral and legal obligation to do so.
Marijuana: Brooklyn DA and New York police at odds on minor crimesBrooklyn's new DA says his office will dismiss low-level marijuana crimes, which 'weigh down the criminal justice system.' But NYPD Commissioner Bratton says policing procedures will not change.
Ray Nagin sentence surprises some experts. Why it was only 10 years.Former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin was sentenced to 10 years in prison Wednesday for corruption. The trial highlighted the city's tumultuous post-Katrina era.
Why care about the Donald Sterling case? Let us count the ways.The case unfolding in a Los Angeles courtroom is more than a legal tussle between a feuding couple over the sale of an NBA team. Who gets to decide a person's mental incompetence is one key issue.
On heels of Hobby Lobby, Supreme Court grants stay for religious collegeDays after addressing one facet of Obamacare's contraception mandate in the Hobby Lobby ruling, the Supreme Court dealt with another Thursday, issuing a stay that protects a nonprofit 海角大神 college from federal penalties for noncompliance.
Citing 'reckless disregard,' judge denies bond in hot car toddler deathPolice say Justin Harris, charged with murder in the death of his young son left in a hot car, was attracted to a 'childless' life and had studied such deaths on the Internet.
Supreme Court 101: Top takeaways from big rulings of the termNot since the 1950s has the US Supreme Court handed down so many unanimous decisions 鈥� 65 percent of its 2013-14 cases. There are two explanations for the rise in 9-to-0 rulings.
Women call Goldman Sachs 'hostile' workplace, seek to expand bias suitTwo women suing investment bank Goldman Sachs now want their case to have broader class-action status. They allege a boys' club office culture. The Wall Street titan says the complaint lacks merit.聽
Kentucky gay marriage ban is 'unenforceable,' US judge rulesKentucky's gay marriage ban was struck down Tuesday by a US district judge, the 11th to reject a state law outlawing same-sex unions. His ruling, unlike some others, did not lay out a fundamental right for gay couples to marry.
Towns can ban fracking, New York's top court rulesBy one count, more than 100 US municipalities have passed bans or moratoriums on fracking that are similar to the ones upheld in Middlefield and Dryden, N.Y.
Public confidence in Supreme Court at historic low, poll suggestsOnly 30 percent of Americans have a 'great deal' or 'quite a lot' of confidence in the Supreme Court, according to Gallup. But another poll offers a more nuanced view.
Supreme Court: Quasi-public workers can't be forced to pay union dues'Partial public employees' cannot be compelled to pay dues to a labor organization, the US Supreme Court ruled Monday. The decision, concerning homecare workers in Illinois, undercuts the power of public-sector unions.
Supreme Court rules against contraceptive mandate in Hobby Lobby caseA divided Supreme Court ruled that the government could not force the owners of a company to violate their religious beliefs to comply with Obamacare's contraceptive mandate.
Supreme Court turns away 9/11 suit against alleged Al Qaeda supportersLawyers for 9/11 victims sought to pursue what they said were the 鈥榩rincipal financial and operational supporters of al Qaeda.鈥� But lower courts dismissed much of their lawsuit, and the US Supreme Court declined to get involved.
Yarnell Hill fire: Families of 'Hotshots' sue Arizona agenciesA year ago, 19 members of a 'hotshot' crew were lost fighting a deadly wildfire in Yarnell, Ariz. Now, a dozen families are suing Arizona public agencies, seeking damages and more information about the tragedy.
