Court: Idaho woman can't challenge fetal pain law

Headline Legal News 2012/09/12 10:47   Bookmark and Share
A federal appeals court on Tuesday ended an Idaho woman's challenge of a law banning some abortions that might cause fetal pain, saying she didn't have legal standing to contest it because she wasn't charged with that crime.

The development came in a broader lawsuit filed by Jennie Linn McCormack, who is believed to be the first person in the nation to sue over bans on conducting abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy based on the premise that the fetus might feel pain. Idaho and several other states have the bans.

However, the court didn't close the door on all challenges to the fetal pain law. McCormack's lawyer, who is also a doctor and her co-plaintiff in the lawsuit, can still fight the ban in federal courts.

The appellate court also ruled Tuesday that some other Idaho abortion laws are likely unconstitutional, including one barring medication-induced abortions.

The decision was largely a win for McCormack, a Pocatello resident who sued Bannock County Prosecutor Mark Hiedeman after she was charged in May 2011 with having an illegal abortion.

Hiedeman alleged that McCormack used drugs she obtained over the Internet to terminate her pregnancy, which was more than five months along. The law requires that health professionals be involved in ending a pregnancy, and it carries a possible five-year sentence for a conviction.

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Ga. county must $4 million to billboard firm

Headline Legal News 2012/09/07 15:25   Bookmark and Share
A Georgia county has been ordered to pay more than more than $4 million in damages and attorney fees to a billboard company as part of its ongoing fight to keep billboards out of Atlanta's northern suburbs.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that the verdict is the latest blow to Fulton County in its long-running legal battle against billboard companies.

A U.S. District Court in Atlanta jury last month awarded the $3.97 million in damages to KH Outdoor, which sued the county in 2003. Last week, a federal judge ordered the county to pay $477,156 in attorneys' fees and expenses to the company's lawyers.

Adam Webb, a lawyer for the billboard company, declined to comment. Fulton County Attorney David Ware said an appeal by the county "remains a viable option."

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Wash. man due in court in alleged Obama threat

Headline Legal News 2012/08/24 14:16   Bookmark and Share
A Washington state man accused of making an email threat against President Barack Obama and brandishing a shotgun at officers who came to his door is scheduled to appear in federal court.

Secret Service spokesman Brian Leary says 31-year-old Anton Caluori was arrested Tuesday at an apartment in Federal Way for investigation of making threats against the president and assault on a federal officer.

U.S. attorney's spokeswoman Emily Langlie says the threat was sent to a general purpose FBI email address.

A Secret Service agent and a Federal Way police officer went to an apartment, knocked and announced themselves for about three minutes, then found themselves facing a man armed with a shotgun when the door opened.

Leary says Caluori is set to appear at 2 p.m. Wednesday in court.

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Court orders Chevron to stop drilling for oil

Headline Legal News 2012/08/01 16:54   Bookmark and Share
A federal court has given Chevron Corp. and driller Transocean Ltd. 30 days to suspend all petroleum drilling and transportation operations in Brazil until the conclusion of investigations into two oil spills off the coast of Rio de Janeiro.

The court says in a statement posted Wednesday on its web site each company will be fined 500 million reals ($244 million) for each day they fail to comply with the suspension.

About 155, 000 gallons of oil crude began seeping from cracks in the ocean floor at the site of a Chevron appraisal well in November. Two weeks later, the National Petroleum Agency said the seepage was under control. But in March, oil again started leaking and Chevron voluntarily suspended production in the field.
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Pa.'s tough, new voter ID law heads to court

Headline Legal News 2012/07/25 14:26   Bookmark and Share
The first legal test for Pennsylvania's tough new voter identification law is arriving.

A state Commonwealth Court judge will begin a hearing Wednesday on whether to block the law from taking effect in this year's election while the court considers a challenge to its constitutionality.

The hearing could last a week.

The law is the subject of a furious debate over voting rights as Pennsylvania is poised to play a key role in deciding the presidential contest in the Nov. 6 election.

Republicans say it's necessary to prevent fraud. But Democrats say it's an election-year scheme to steal the White House and contend that there's no track record of fraud that it would prevent.

Republican Gov. Tom Corbett signed the law in March without a single Democratic lawmaker supporting it.
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FBI investigates missing $17M in trust funds

Headline Legal News 2012/07/09 15:17   Bookmark and Share
The FBI is investigating the apparent theft of $17 million from Northern California trust fund accounts.

The San Jose Mercury News says the money has vanished from the trust funds of dozens of Santa Clara County residents who relied on a money manager to oversee their life savings.

Probate court records show the investigation centers on accounts administered by Christine Backhouse. She handles more than $104 million in assets.

Court records show she doesn't have enough insurance to cover the missing funds.

Backhouse says a boyfriend secretly wired millions of dollars out of the trusts.

The Campbell money manager mostly handled private trusts with no judicial oversight of her fees for service.

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