Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
| Subscribe to Newser's RSS feeds RSS | Follow Newser on Twitter Twitter

NEWS ABOUT: law

law stories: 56 news summaries

1 - 20 of 56 Stories | 1 2 3 Next >>

Switch to grid view »

Old Paris Law Still Stands:
No Pants for Women 

1800s rule prohibits ladies from 'dressing like men'

Nov 17, 09 11:06 AM CST
(Newser) - Turns out fashion-forward Paris has some rather retro regulations. Namely, a ban on women wearing pants. It's the type of law associated with the Sudan, not the Champs-Elysées, but more than 200 years after it was enacted by the city's police chief, the law stands. But today's cops may... More »

MORE ABOUT:
gender • fashion • law • France • sexism • Paris • pants • French

 Calif. Holds Hearings on 
 Legalizing Pot 

Hopes high as 3 measures head for ballot next year

Oct 28, 09 3:21 AM CDT
(Newser) - The push to legalize—and, especially appealing at the moment, tax—marijuana is picking up momentum in California, with legislators holding hearings today on what would be the first such law in the nation. Organizers are currently collecting signatures to put three separate pot legalization initiatives on the ballot next... More »

MORE ABOUT:
California • law • Arnold Schwarzenegger • medical marijuana • legislation • marijuana • marijuana legalization • pot

(Newser) - A Japanese law prevents 11-year-old Hiroki Ando from receiving the heart he so desperately needs, CNN reports. Ando suffers from cardiomyopathy and will likely die—as his sister did 5 years ago—without a heart transplant. But the minimum age for organ donations in Japan is 15. "This stipulation... More »

MORE ABOUT:
law • Japan • organ transplants • heart • heart transplants • organ donation • cardiomyopathy

(Newser) - Supreme Court Justice David Souter thinks the worth of a jurist is “not in the great moments, but in being part of the great stream,” he said in an emotional farewell today to appeals-court judges. Souter said he didn’t intend that news of his retirement be leaked... More »

MORE ABOUT:
law • New Hampshire • retirement • US Supreme Court • David Souter • Obama administration • jurisprudence

(AP) - A group of some 1000 Afghans today swarmed a demonstration of 300 women in Kabul protesting a new conservative marriage law. The women were pelted with small stones as police struggled to keep the two groups apart. The law, passed last month, says a husband can demand sex from his... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Afghanistan • Shiite • law • women's rights • stoning • protesters • marital rape

New York to Roll Back
Strict '70s Drug Laws

Gov., legislative leaders make deal to repel mandatory sentences

Mar 26, 09 5:40 AM CDT
(Newser) - New York's governor and legislative leaders have agreed to repeal some of the nation's most draconian drug laws, the New York Times reports. The move to dismantle strict mandatory sentencing guidelines set down in 1973 means judges will have the option of sending many first-time nonviolent drug offenders to treatment... More »

MORE ABOUT:
drugs • law • New York • mandatory minimums • sentencing guidelines • David Paterson • New York state • Howard Stern Grid

 NH Weighs 'Communism,' 
 aka Seat-Belt Law 

New Hampshire battles over finally passing a seat-belt law

Mar 18, 09 11:03 AM CDT
(Newser) - The accusations of creating a "nanny state" are ringing out, which must mean it's time for New Hampshire to debate legislating the use of seatbelts. The only state without a law requiring adults to buckle up, the "Live Free or Die" state is embroiled in a battle over... More »

MORE ABOUT:
law • New Hampshire • seat belt

(Newser) - Madrid’s regional government hopes to relax EU laws that call for rotting livestock to be removed from fields—a precaution against mad cow disease—because the removal denies carrion-munching vultures a meal, the AP reports. “When a sheep or cow dies in the countryside,” said one ornithologist,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Spain • law • European Union • Madrid • mad cow disease • vulture • carrion

With Legal Gray Areas, Art Heists Go Digital

Point-and-click age makes for murky copyright arguments

Jan 30, 09 3:56 PM CST
(Newser) - A disconnect between the artistic and legal communities is reigniting the debate over copyright infringement, the Wall Street Journal reports. The law says an artist can adapt an existing work only if the resulting piece is “transformative,” or provides a new spin. “It’s meant to be... More »

MORE ABOUT:
law • art • Jeff Koons • copyright infringement

 Mayor Embraces 
 Kissing in Public, 
 Denies Ban 

Mexican official starts ad campaign to prove that Guanajuato welcomes PDA, despite what people say

Jan 21, 09 2:56 PM CST
(Newser) - Planning a trip to Guanajuato, Mexico? You’d better bust out the lip balm, AP reports. Mayor Eduardo Romero has proclaimed his city “the kissing capital” to counter claims he’s against public displays of affection. Apparently, the wording of a local anti-obscenity law caused some people to believe... More »

MORE ABOUT:
law • Mexico • kissing • kiss • public displays of affection • municipal government

Stalkers Terrorize 3M Americans a Year: Study

Statistics prompt new calls for updated laws

Jan 14, 09 4:36 PM CST
(Newser) - More than 3 million Americans, mostly women aged 18-24, are stalked each year, but it’s an abuse rarely prosecuted, the Chicago Tribune reports. The staggering figure from a first-ever Justice Department study highlights the need to strengthen laws and enforcement, especially with technology now making it easier for stalkers... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Department of Justice • law • crime • stalker • domestic violence • Illinois • cybercrime • intimate partner violence • stalking

 Bell, Carter's AG, Dead at 90 

Bell defanged Jim Crow as appellate court judge

Jan 5, 09 5:24 PM CST
(Newser) - Griffin Bell, a Southerner who opposed racial segregation and led the Justice Department under President Carter, died today at age 90, the New York Times reports. Bell handled damage control as a post-Nixon attorney general, de-politicizing the Justice Department and the FBI. His earlier rulings as an appeals court judge,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Department of Justice • law • Attorney General • Jimmy Carter • obituary • racism • segregation • US Circuit Court of Appeals

US Moves to Boost Cases Against Key Iraqi Detainees

Accord will shift jurisdiction to Baghdad, and officials want evidence to stand up in trial

Dec 3, 08 10:18 AM CST
(Newser) - The US military has begun assembling evidence against 5,000 Iraqi detainees it deems most dangerous, USA Today reports, hoping to file charges that will stand up in court once Baghdad gains legal jurisdiction. Some 15,800 detainees remain in military custody, but when the Status of Forces Agreement kicks... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Iraq • law • Iraqi prisons • Iraqi government • detainees • Status of Forces Agreement

EU Repeals Straight Banana, Curvy Cucumber Laws

Rules set tight standards for produce size, shape, color

Dec 2, 08 11:31 AM CST
(Newser) - The EU took a U-turn on curved cucumbers and bent bananas and voted to repeal strict laws that ban the sale of imperfect produce, the Washington Post reports. Shops are barred from selling cauliflower less than 4.33 inches in diameter and not-green-enough asparagus until July, when such laws—long... More »

MORE ABOUT:
food • law • European Union • produce • fruits and vegetables • regulations

(Newser) - 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,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
California • gay marriage • law • court • marriage rights • California Supreme Court • Proposition 8

Iraq Passes Election Law,
But Skirts Key Issues

No deal on control over northern oil hub, representation of minority groups

Sep 24, 08 1:29 PM CDT
(Newser) - The Iraqi parliament today passed a long-delayed law establishing provincial elections, a step the government hopes will protect recent security gains by opening the political process. The first elections are expected in January, the New York Times reports, but questions remain about how to ensure representation for Iraq’s religious... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Iraq • law • political reform • Iraq parliament • Kirkuk • Iraq security • provincial elections

Feds Mandate Nation-of-Origin Labels for Meat, Produce

But new law covers as little as possible: critics

Sep 14, 08 2:19 PM CDT
(Newser) - Grocery shoppers will soon be able to tell their Argentine steak from their Midwest chicken at a glance, as a new federal law mandating nation-of-origin labels kicks in Sept. 30. Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) will cover everything from fruit and nuts to beef, lamb, and chicken, reports the Chicago ... More »

MORE ABOUT:
food • law • meat • produce • label • beef recall • imported food • country of origin

 Monster Bans, 
 Other Crazy Illinois Laws 

Bowling bans, anti-monster ordinances still on books in land of Lincoln

Sep 7, 08 9:21 AM CDT
(Newser) - Sure, every state has some bizarre laws on the books, but Illinois might take the cake for the oddest. Some highlights from WBBM-TV's compilation of the most perplexing:
  • In Chicago, it is illegal to eat in a burning building.
  • In Eureka, a man with a mustache is prohibited
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Chicago • law • weird • CBS2 Chicago • Illinois

Fla. Law Changes Terms to Make Divorce Less Toxic

Change removes contentious terms from books

Sep 1, 08 7:18 AM CDT
(Newser) - Divorcing parents won't be making deals on "custody" and "visitation" in Florida in the future; a new law scrubs the terms from its legal code in a bid to reduce acrimony and give kids a better shot at continuing relationships with both parents. Starting next month, custody will... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Florida • divorce • parenting • law • children • courts

Calif. Therapists Rake in Millions Under Sex Offender Law 

Billed $24M for 2007 Jessica's Law services

Aug 10, 08 12:17 PM CDT
(Newser) - Psychologists and psychiatrists are cashing in on a California law requiring mental health screening for sex offenders, the LA Times reports. Last year, private contractors billed the state for millions of dollars in prisoner evaluations, with one psychologist bringing home $1.5 million. State officials defend the expense as... More »

MORE ABOUT:
California • law • mental health • sex offenders • psychiatrist • psychologist

1 - 20 of 56 Stories | 1 2 3 Next >>


from our news partners