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Court: Iowa must recognize both lesbian parents
Headline Topics |
2013/05/08 23:31
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An Iowa agency's refusal to list both spouses in a lesbian marriage as parents on their children's birth certificates is a violation of their constitutional rights and must stop, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled Friday.
The court, which made history by legalizing gay marriage in 2009, ordered the Iowa Department of Public Health to start listing the names of both female spouses on the birth certificates of their children. The ruling was backed by all six justices who participated.
Iowa had been the only state in the nation that allowed marriage or civil unions for same-sex couples, but refused to list both spouses on birth certificates of their children, according to Camilla Taylor, an attorney for Lambda Legal, a gay rights group involved in the case.
Justice David Wiggins said the state government "has been unable to identify a constitutionally adequate justification" for treating lesbian parents differently than parents of opposite sex. He said the only explanation for doing so was "stereotype or prejudice" that violated their rights to be treated equally under the Iowa Constitution. |
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Court shoots down Yakama tobacco company lawsuit
Headline Topics |
2013/04/12 15:25
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A federal judge has ruled that a tobacco manufacturer owned by a Yakama Nation tribal member must pay into an escrow account established under a 1998 settlement with big tobacco companies.
The 1998 settlement required big tobacco companies to pay money to 46 states each year to offset public health costs from their products. Smaller companies are required to pay into an escrow account, but that money could be returned eventually if no health claims are made.
King Mountain Tobacco claims it should be exempt from paying into the escrow accounts under the Yakama Nation's 1855 treaty with the federal government. King Mountain is owned by Yakama tribal member Delbert Wheeler.
U.S District Judge Lonny Suko ruled against the company on Friday. |
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Court to mull Arizona's immigrant harboring ban
Headline Topics |
2013/04/02 10:31
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An appeals court is scheduled to hear arguments Tuesday in Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer's bid to let police enforce a minor section of the state's 2010 immigration law that prohibits the harboring of illegal immigrants.
The harboring ban was in effect from late July 2010 until U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton ruled in September that it was trumped by federal law and barred police from enforcing it. Brewer has asked the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn Bolton's ruling.
Brewer's lawyers argue the ban doesn't conflict with federal policies, is aimed at confronting crime and that the law's opponents haven't shown they have legal standing to challenge the prohibition. The governor's attorneys also say there's no evidence that the ban has been enforced against any people or organizations represented by a coalition of civil rights groups that have challenged the law in court.
The coalition has asked the appeals court to uphold Bolton's ruling, saying the state law is trumped by a federal harboring law that leaves no room for state regulation. The coalition also argues that Bolton has repeatedly confirmed that it has standing to challenge the harboring ban.
Another federal appeals court has barred authorities from enforcing similar harboring bans in Alabama and Georgia. |
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High court overturns Seattle drug arrest
Court Watch News |
2013/03/25 15:05
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The state Supreme Court on Thursday overturned the conviction of a man who was arrested on drug charges because the officer who saw the alleged crime was not the arresting officer.
Under state law, unless a specific statutory exception applies, only an officer who is present during the offense may arrest a suspect for a misdemeanor or a gross misdemeanor. Exemptions include traffic infractions where an officer can ask another to arrest the driver.
Gregorio Ortega was arrested in March 2009 in Seattle after an officer on the second floor of a building observed Ortega and another man purportedly appear to make three drug transactions. The officer in the building maintained radio contact with officers in a car nearby, described Ortega's activities and instructed them to arrest him. The officers found crack cocaine and cash on him, the court wrote.
In a unanimous ruling, the court reversed a Court of Appeals ruling in 2011 that upheld his 2009 conviction of possession of cocaine with intent to deliver, because it said the circumstances of his arrest went against state law. |
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Lawyer seeks dismissal in Ohio HS player rape case
Headline Topics |
2013/03/14 15:20
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On the eve of their trial, the attorney for one of two Ohio high school football players charged with raping a girl after an alcohol-fueled party said Tuesday that moving forward with the case is "patently unfair and un-American" because important witnesses haven't been compelled to testify.
The attorney for Ma'Lik Richmond filed a motion Monday saying that further prosecution of Richmond violates his due process and equal protection rights and asks the judge or state to dismiss the case.
"You have case where it's clear — clear — that basic, fundamental, constitutional guarantees are not available to this child, my client, to put on a defense," Walter Madison told The Associated Press. "As such, it is patently unfair and un-American to continue knowing that that is not available."
Richmond, 16, and Trent Mays, 17, are scheduled to go on trial Wednesday in Jefferson County juvenile court in Steubenville on charges they attacked a 16-year-old West Virginia girl last August. Their attorneys have denied the charges.
But the attorneys for both teens said their clients will be denied a fair trial because of the availability of crucial witnesses. A West Virginia judge's ruled last week that three juvenile witnesses there could not be compelled to testify in the Ohio case. |
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Pa. court directs tobacco money to health care
Headline Topics |
2013/03/11 23:47
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Pennsylvania state officials are trying to figure out the implications of a judge's ruling that a portion of the state's unspent tobacco settlement money go to the defunct adultBasic health insurance program for lower-income adults or a similar plan.
Commonwealth Court Judge Dan Pellegrini on Tuesday ruled unconstitutional two state laws that siphoned the money from adultBasic and Medicaid for disabled workers.
Pellegrini is throwing out laws passed in 2010 and 2011 that diverted tobacco settlement funds.
Pellegrini is denying a request by those who sued that adultBasic be reinstated and that $200 million be reimbursed to the funds from the two prior years.
The judge notes that Gov. Tom Corbett's administration says the required portion of the tobacco money is all going to Medicaid. The decision says it must also go to adultBasic or a similar program. |
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CA supervisor agrees to plead guilty to felonies
Political View |
2013/03/04 12:55
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A Santa Clara County supervisor has resigned from office and agreed to plead guilty to a dozen counts of criminal activity, including perjury and misappropriation of public funds.
The San Jose Mercury News reports George Shirakawa Jr. made the announcement Friday after months of denying allegations that he used campaign and county funds for personal use.
In a memo, the 51-year-old Shirakawa says he plans to plead guilty at his arraignment on March 18. He apologized to his constituents and linked his troubles to depression and a gambling addiction.
The Board of Supervisors must decide how to replace Shirakawa, who was re-elected to a four-year term in November.
Prosecutors say Shirakawa moved $130,000 in and out of campaign accounts and public funds and spent most of it at casinos. |
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