All Law & Courts
Suspected Kansas City highway sniper charged; no motive givenMohammed Pedro Whitaker, a medical supply company employee, was charged in 9 highway shootings so far out of 12 in the Kansas City area in which three people were wounded.
In N.C., how do spouses of gay soldiers fit in? Legal brief presses the issue.The friend-of-the-court brief, filed Friday, sets up a new battle space for gay rights activists in one of America鈥檚 most conservative, 海角大神 corners.- When is a tool a weapon? Chicago court throws out teacher discipline case.A veteran Chicago elementary school teacher was suspended for four days after bringing in tools, among them a pocket knife and box cutter, to show his second-graders how they're used.
Bid to end Detroit bankruptcy by October gains momentumA new Detroit bankruptcy deal would call for much lighter cuts to the city's two major public pension funds. It appears to be gaining traction and is going before a federal judge today.
Should 'new GM' be liable for pre-bankruptcy ignition accidents?GM will ask a bankruptcy judge to protect it from many of the lawsuits related to the faulty ignition switch behind a massive recall. And it wants all lawsuits delayed until the ruling is made.
With disbanding of NYPD spy unit, mayor makes good on big promiseNew York Mayor Bill de Blasio sprang to the top of the polls as a candidate last year in large part because of his outspoken criticism of NYPD tactics. Now, he's taken a first, big step toward reform.
Murder charges in Kansas City shooting: what's needed to call it a hate crimeDespite a lengthy history of publicly espousing anti-Semitic views, F. Glenn Miller has not yet been charged with a federal hate crime, although prosecutors say those charges are pending.
Why federal judge ruled Ohio must recognize gay marriagesA federal judge did not overturn Ohio's constitutional ban on gay marriage, but he said the state has to treat same-sex couples married legally in other states the same way it treats heterosexual couples.
Boston Marathon bombings: What Russia told FBI, or didn't, still at issueThose familiar with the Marathon bombing investigation say the FBI might have benefited from details it requested but never received from Russia, yet missed the significance of at least one key detail it had in hand.
Do same-sex couples have right to wed? Appeals court hears first post-DOMA case.A potential landmark case from Utah testing whether same-sex couples enjoy a constitutional right to marry arrives Thursday before a federal appeals court panel in Denver.
Do states have to disclose lethal injection drugs? Supreme Court refuses case.The rejected appeal to the Supreme Court involved a Louisiana inmate. Some states have developed alternative lethal injection protocols amid difficulties in obtaining the drug pentobarbital.
Supreme Court declines case of photographer snubbing gay ceremonyThe Supreme Court refusal lets stand a series of court rulings in New Mexico finding that the photographer violated a state law that bars discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Texas man executed, though secrets about drug concoction remainLawyers for Tommy Lynn Sells had sought to force Texas to disclose information about the lethal drugs they used in the execution. The state was allowed to proceed without revealing the source or quality of the drugs.
San Bruno explosion case against PG&E could be hard to proveA federal grand jury indicted energy company PG&E in connection with a 2010 natural gas explosion in San Bruno, Calif., that killed eight. The move is unusual.
Supreme Court view on corruption key in lifting a campaign finance limitFour years after Citizens United, the Supreme Court further restricted the scope of campaign finance laws by striking down aggregate limits on individuals鈥� contributions to federal candidates.
Court rules Florida voter purge illegal, but will it stop GOP voting tweaks?In 2012, Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) attempted to purge the state鈥檚 voter rolls of noncitizens and other ineligible voters. On Tuesday, a panel for the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the effort 2 to 1.
Conviction overturned, could death row inmate Michelle Byrom walk free?Mississippi's Supreme Court on Monday overturned the conviction of Michelle Byrom, sentenced to die in 2000 for arranging her husband's murder. The same court had previously upheld her conviction. What changed?
Feds probe Albuquerque camper shooting as police rethink use of forcePolice in Albuquerque killed a homeless man in a shooting critics say was unjustified. The US Justice Department is investigating as police departments rethink armed response policies.
Defense lawyers: Did FBI pressure push Boston bomber over the edge?Lawyers for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the surviving suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings, say contact with the FBI may have been a 'precipitating event' to the bombings last April.
Why is public support for the death penalty declining?Fifty-five percent of US adults support the death penalty, according to a Pew Research Center analysis released Friday 鈥� down from a peak of 78 percent in 1996.
