|
|
|
Calif man accused of extortion through hacking
Headline Topics |
2010/06/24 09:00
|
| Federal agents have arrested a man accused of hacking into computers to obtain personal data to extort sexually explicit videos from women and teenage girls in exchange for keeping their information private.pThe Los Angeles U.S. attorney's office says 31-year-old Luis Mijangos was arrested Tuesday in Santa Ana./ppFBI experts say he infected more than 100 computers used by about 230 people, including at least 44 juveniles./ppThe alleged scheme involved using peer-to-peer networks to infect computers, induce victims to download malware disguised as songs, and control those computers to spread malware through contact lists./ppMijangos allegedly searched computers for sexual or intimate images to blackmail victims into making videos for him. Prosecutors say he also was able to control some webcams to capture intimate scenes./p |
|
|
|
|
|
|
High court upholds anti-terror law
Headline Topics |
2010/06/21 09:01
|
| pThe Supreme Court has upheld a federal law that bars material support to foreign terrorist organizations, rejecting a free speech challenge from humanitarian aid groups./ppThe court ruled 6-3 Monday that the government may prohibit all forms of aid to designated terrorist groups, even if the support consists of training and advice about entirely peaceful and legal activities./ppMaterial support intended even for benign purposes can help a terrorist group in other ways, Chief Justice John Roberts said in his majority opinion./ppSuch support frees up other resources within the organization that may be put to violent ends, Roberts said./ppJustice Stephen Breyer took the unusual step of reading his dissent aloud in the courtroom. Breyer said he rejects the majority's conclusion that the Constitution permits the government to prosecute the plaintiffs criminally for providing instruction and advice about the terror groups' lawful political objectives. Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor joined the dissent./p |
|
|
|
|
|
|
High court to review mental health advocacy suit
Headline Topics |
2010/06/21 09:01
|
pThe Supreme Court says it will decide whether Virginia's advocate for the mentally ill can force state officials to provide records relating to deaths and injuries at state mental health facilities./ppThe justices agreed Monday to review a federal appeals court ruling dismissing the state advocate's lawsuit against Virginia's mental health commissioner and two other officials./ppBacking the appeal, the Obama administration said the ruling by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond threatens to undermine the enforcement of federal laws that Congress designed to protect especially vulnerable individuals from the abusive and neglectful practices that can result in injury and death./ppThe Virginia advocate's office, like those in the other 49 states, was created under two federal laws that give states federal money for monitoring the treatment of the mentally ill in state facilities. The first law grew out of public reports in the 1970s of crowded, filthy conditions and abusive treatment of mentally retarded children at the Willowbrook State School in New York./ppThe issue for the court is whether the Eleventh Amendment prohibits a state agency from going to federal court to sue officials of the same state. The state itself could not be sued in the same circumstances.
/p |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Texas asks court to intervene in fight with EPA
Headline Topics |
2010/06/16 03:01
|
| Texas asked a federal court on Monday to intervene in its fight with the Environmental Protection Agency over how the state regulates emissions from oil refineries and other petrochemicals plants. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott asked the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans to review the EPA's rejection in March of a 1995 state law that allows refineries to be modified without being subject to additional regulation, provided the changes don't increase a facility's overall emissions.pThe issue is part of an ongoing disagreement Texas and the EPA have over how pollution is regulated in the state, said Terry Clawson, a spokesman for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. In recent weeks, debate has focused on the state's use of so-called flexible permits, which sets a general limit on how much pollutants an entire facility can release./ppIn a news release, Abbott's office criticized the EPA for taking more than a decade before deciding to reject the law and said it filed the legal challenge in an effort to defend the state's legal rights and challenge improper overreach by the federal government./p |
|
|
|
|
|
Legal News RSS Feed
