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US court weighs school discipline for Web posts
Court News |
2010/06/03 21:25
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| A U.S. appeals court in Philadelphia has heard arguments on whether schools can discipline students for lewd, harassing or simply juvenile Internet speech posted off-campus. Two students in two different Pennsylvania school districts are fighting suspensions they received for posting derisive profiles of their principals on MySpace from home computers.pThe American Civil Liberties Union says school officials cannot reach beyond school grounds to impose discipline. The two school districts argue the postings could be disruptive at school, and say they have the right to maintain order./ppIn a rare move, all 14 eligible judges on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments Thursday./ppLegal experts hope the Supreme Court will clarify the rules in these types of cases./p |
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Kagan's writings suggest her view on judge's role
Law Firm News |
2010/05/24 09:04
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| Elena Kagan, a Supreme Court nominee without judicial experience, has suggested in writings and speeches over a quarter-century that when judges make decisions, they must take account of their values and experience and consider politics and policy, rather than act as robotic umpires.pNot since 1972 has a president picked someone for the high court who hasn't been a judge. So what the 50-year-old Kagan has said about judging might be the best indicator of the kind of justice she would be./ppRepublicans have said that because Kagan hasn't left a trail of judicial opinions, they will pore over her records as a Clinton White House aide and academic for any clues. Her speeches and papers from her time as dean of the Harvard Law School and, before that as a law professor and graduate student, are certain to get close attention at her confirmation hearing in late June./ppHer words stand in contrast to the more technical view of judging voiced by Chief Justice John Roberts at his confirmation hearing five years ago. Roberts said he considered himself an umpire merely calling balls and strikes./ppKagan apparently has never directly addressed Roberts' comments. Republicans have held his description of the job as a model of judicial restraint and used it to criticize President Barack Obama for what they call his support of judicial activism — judges imposing their own views on the law./p |
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Jury convicts man in NJ schoolyard triple slayings
Law Firm News |
2010/05/24 05:03
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pThe first defendant to be tried for a triple murder in a schoolyard that shocked New Jersey's largest city into action has been convicted on all counts./ppA jury returned the verdict Monday in state Superior Court in Newark against Rodolfo Godinez (goh-DEE'-nez). He was among six men and boys charged with the August 2007 slayings. The jury deliberated for nearly four hours and found him guilty on all 17 counts./ppThe victims' family members, including several parents, wept quietly as the verdict was read./ppThe three victims each suffered a gunshot wound to the back of the head. A fourth victim survived and testified against Godinez./ppGodinez's attorney had argued his client was at the scene but didn't take part in the attacks. Godinez could face life in prison at sentencing.
/p |
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Appeals court rules against Bagram detainees
Legal News |
2010/05/24 03:04
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| Detainees at Bagram Air Field in Afghanistan cannot use U.S. courts to challenge their imprisonment the way detainees in Guantanamo Bay have, a federal appeals court ruled Friday in a victory for the Obama administration.pThree appeals court judges said in an unanimous decision that because Afghanistan is a war zone and that the United States in effect has sovereignty over Guantanamo Bay swing the balance against the detainees./ppUnlike Guantanamo Bay, it is undisputed that Bagram, indeed the entire nation of Afghanistan, remains a theater of war, the judges said in turning aside the requests of a Tunisian and two Yemeni prisoners./ppIn the case of Guantanamo Bay detainees, who do have the right to challenge their confinement in U.S. courts, the United States has maintained its total control of the Guantanamo Bay facility for over a century, even in the face of a hostile government, the court noted./p |
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