Recent Updates

  • Court: Bloggers have First Amendment protections

    Court: Bloggers have First Amendment protections

    National News 01/20/2014

    A federal appeals court ruled Friday that bloggers and the public have the same First Amendment protections as journalists when sued for defamation: If the issue is of public concern, plaintiffs have to prove negligence to win damages. The 9th U.S. C...

  • Court: Feds can target California pot clinics

    Court: Feds can target California pot clinics

    National News 01/16/2014

    An appeals court Wednesday affirmed the federal government's long-standing policy that California medical marijuana dispensaries have no protection under state law from drug prosecutions. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that thr...

  • Chile's top court rules against coal-fired complex

    Chile's top court rules against coal-fired complex

    National News 01/13/2014

    Chile's Supreme Court sided with local fishermen who contend a coal-fired power complex harms ocean life and pollutes their community, but the judges stopped short of ordering a suspension and left it to environmental authorities to decide if operati...

  • Court: Lawmakers must expedite education funding

    Court: Lawmakers must expedite education funding

    National News 01/10/2014

    The Washington Supreme Court on Thursday ordered lawmakers to submit a complete plan by the end of April to detail how the state will fully pay for basic education. The 8-1 ruling said that while the state made progress in last year's budget to incre...

  • Pa. monsignor due in court after leaving prison

    Pa. monsignor due in court after leaving prison

    National News 01/06/2014

    A Roman Catholic church official is due in court Monday for the first time since his conviction in the priest sex-abuse scandal was reversed. Monsignor William Lynn is not quite a free man. He must remain under electronic monitoring while prosecutors...

  • Serial rapist Coe appeals confinement in US court

    Serial rapist Coe appeals confinement in US court

    National News 01/02/2014

    Kevin Coe, who was arrested in 1981 after dozens of women were raped in Spokane, is appealing his confinement as a sexually violent predator to federal court. Coe was suspected in the rapes, attributed to the "South Hill Rapist," but only one convict...

  • Hearing: Which court should hear coastal lawsuit?

    Hearing: Which court should hear coastal lawsuit?

    National News 12/20/2013

    A legal tug-of-war continues in a state levee board's lawsuit against 97 oil, gas and pipeline companies over the erosion of wetlands. The Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East wants U.S. District Judge Nannette Jolivette Brown to send ...

  • $15 SeaTac minimum wage challenged in court

    $15 SeaTac minimum wage challenged in court

    National News 12/16/2013

    A King County Superior Court judge declined Friday to immediately rule on a challenge to the voter-approved $15 an hour minimum wage requirement for airport workers in Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Judge Andrea Darvas said she'll issue a ruli...

  • New Calif. court date set for ex-Nevada lawmaker

    New Calif. court date set for ex-Nevada lawmaker

    National News 12/09/2013

    A California court date was pushed back again for a former Las Vegas-area lawmaker jailed since a freeway chase and scuffle with police the day he was expelled last March from the Nevada Assembly. Prosecutor Shannon Faherty said a Friday court date f...

  • LA airport shooting suspect appears in court

    LA airport shooting suspect appears in court

    National News 12/05/2013

    The man charged with killing a Transportation Security Administration officer and wounding two other agents and a civilian during a shooting rampage at Los Angeles International Airport made his first court appearance Wednesday, still showing signs o...

  • Appeals court won't toss NYC stop-frisk rulings

    Appeals court won't toss NYC stop-frisk rulings

    National News 11/25/2013

    A federal appeals court refused Friday to toss out court rulings finding that New York City carried out its police stop-and-frisk policy in a discriminatory manner, ending what was likely the city's last chance to nullify the decisions before the arr...

  • Republicans block nominee to key appeals court

    Republicans block nominee to key appeals court

    National News 11/22/2013

    Senate Republicans on Monday blocked President Barack Obama's nomination of Robert L. Wilkins to a key appellate court, continuing a nomination fight that has stoked partisan tensions in the Senate. Wilkins, a District Court judge in Washington who i...