He'll determine if their public release would jeopardize national security
Los Angeles Times Nov 2, 08 7:16 AM CST
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A federal judge has ordered the Justice Department to turn over legal memos related to the government's policy allowing warrantless wiretapping, reports the Los Angeles Times . The memos must be turned over by Nov. 17 for review by US District Judge Henry Kennedy, who will determine if releasing them would jeopardize national security—as the Justice Department has claimed—or if they should be declassified and subject to public scrutiny.
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Los Angeles Times Oct 30, 08 11:14 AM CDT
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If California’s gay marriage ban passes, “legal chaos” will ensue for those who tied the knot since it became legal to do so in June, lawyers warn. With no court precedents, experts are left guessing whether those marriages would remain valid, the Los Angeles Times reports. Ultimately, the decision would lie with the state’s Supreme Court, which voted 4 to 3 for gay marriage.
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Says she and former in-laws now 'love each other'
Associated Press Sep 19, 08 7:33 PM CDT
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A woman convicted of killing her minister husband 2 years ago was granted permanent custody of their three daughters today and said she has resumed a cordial relationship with the grandparents who fought to take the children away from her, the AP reports. A judge in Huntingdon, Tenn., returned full custody to Mary Winkler following a brief hearing, saying he was pleased she and her ex-in laws were working together.
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Fromong testifies for hours before pointing
to chest and leaving
Las Vegas Review-Journal Sep 15, 08 7:35 PM CDT
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The first witness in OJ Simpson's robbery-kidnapping trial cut proceedings short by complaining of chest pain and leaving the courtroom, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports. Bruce Fromong, 54, who says he has had four heart attacks since the robbery, testified for hours before pointing to his chest and walking out. But he did not go to a hospital and may testify tomorrow, his attorney said.
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Senator skips court hearing, which centers on mail-in document
Minneapolis Star Tribune Sep 10, 08 3:33 PM CDT
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Larry Craig's lawyers asked a state appeals court today to allow him to withdraw his guilty plea to disorderly conduct charges. The prosecutor argued that the senator, who did not appear today, waived his right to a trial by using a mail-in form to enter a plea after being busted in a Minneapolis airport bathroom last summer. But the members of the three-judge panel seemed skeptical, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.
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Admits laundered money used to fund his lavish lifestyle
Reuters Sep 10, 08 1:22 PM CDT
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Wearing prison attire, Raffaelo Follieri pleaded guilty today to 14 federal counts of fraud and money laundering, Reuters reports. "I knew what I was doing was wrong," actress Anne Hathaway's ex said as he admitted misrepresenting his ties to the Vatican and using investors' money to fund his high-rolling lifestyle. He faces 20 years in prison, but the plea deal, which averts a trial, will likely lessen that.
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Judge rules publishing Potter encyclopedia would cause creator 'irreparable harm'
BBC Sep 8, 08 3:03 PM CDT
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A fan-written "Harry Potter lexicon" will not be published, a federal judge in New York ruled today, finding for author JK Rowling that the reference guide was an infringement of copyright. The ruling held that the book would cause Rowling irreparable harm as a writer, the BBC reports. The Potter creator had characterized the unpublished work as “wholesale theft.”
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Masterpiece Theatre host among corpses
Associated Press Sep 2, 08 1:55 PM CDT
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Two brothers who ran a Philadelphia funeral home pleaded guilty today to selling corpses, including that of Masterpiece Theatre host Alistair Cooke, to a company that trafficked in stolen body parts, the AP reports. They may get life sentences for allowing the remains of 244 clients to be dismembered for $1,000 each by a corrupt tissue bank.
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OPINION
Atlantic Monthly Aug 21, 08 7:51 AM CDT
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The California Supreme Court’s landmark decision in May to grant gays the right to marry is based on a simple but inevitable idea, Andrew Sullivan writes in the Atlantic : Gay marriage is just marriage, and gay people are no different than straight people. As homosexuality moved from being considered a disorder to just an involuntary difference, the law had no choice but to follow. California simply acknowledged “an emergent cultural consensus,” Sullivan writes.
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Giesel tight-lipped
at hearing
Associated Press Aug 20, 08 12:19 PM CDT
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A man who authorities said kept an arsenal of weaponry and military gear pleaded not guilty today to threatening to assassinate both President Bush and Barack Obama. Raymond Hunter Geisel, 22, spoke only his name and age as his court-appointed lawyer entered the plea. Geisel had previously been charged with threatening Obama, but the Bush charge, added in a grand jury indictment, only became public today.
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MIT students see bug in electronic fare cards; judge says zip it
Boston Globe Aug 10, 08 7:28 PM CDT
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Boston’s mass transit system has blocked three MIT students from revealing a flaw in its electronic fare system, the Boston Globe reports. Most Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority customers use the CharlieCard, which allows them to store fares. By cracking it, the students vowed to give attendees at a Las Vegas computer conference “free subway rides for life."
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Families wanted cemetery created for mass of rubble
Reuters Jul 7, 08 8:33 PM CDT
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A lawsuit to have rubble from the Sept. 11 attacks given a proper burial was dismissed in a US court today, Reuters reports. Victims' families contend that the estimated 1.5 to 1.8 million tons of debris contain human remains, and must be removed from the Fresh Kills landfill on Staten Island. But a judge ruled that New York City had "acted responsibly" in the "difficult and complicated" task of disposing the rubble.
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Maker of the chip—sorry, snack—wins case, avoids tax
Reuters Jul 4, 08 2:43 PM CDT
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It’s official: Pringles are legally no longer considered potato chips in England—and manufacturer Procter & Gamble couldn’t be happier, Reuters reports. In an effort to avoid the UK's tax on chips, P&G went to court to argue the tube-dwelling snacks were actually more like cakes or biscuits. It turns out Pringles aren’t even made of potatoes.
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Supermodel takes the stand in her celebrity divorce trial
New York Daily News Jul 3, 08 5:50 PM CDT
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Christie Brinkley took the stand today in her increasingly lurid divorce trial, weeping as she recalled how her porn-loving husband cheated on her with a teenager, the New York Daily News reports. When an opposing lawyer reminded all she was an actress during a largely unsuccessful cross-examination, the supermodel shot back, "I'm no Meryl Streep." During a break, hubby Peter Cook sniped, " Shrek was more believable."