|
|
|
Federal court rejects GOP-drawn Texas voting maps
Court Issues |
2012/08/31 19:17
|
Stadiums and hospitals removed from the districts of black congressional members and country clubs newly drawn into those of white incumbents. A lawyer emailing "No bueno" to a Republican staffer about plans that risked leaving a paper trail and jeopardizing the legality of a voting map.
Those were among the evidence a Washington federal court used to determine that Texas Republican lawmakers discriminated against minorities while drawing new political boundaries, throwing out the maps as violations of the Voting Rights Act but likely not in time to affect the November elections.
The decision Tuesday by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia is instead likely to reverberate in 2014, when some Texans could find their congressional and statehouse districts changed for the third time in five years.
The long-awaited ruling was hailed as a sweeping victory by minority rights groups that sued the state after the Republican-controlled Legislature pushed through new redistricting maps last year. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott called the decision "flawed" and vowed to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Pa. city's immigration rules back in US court
Court Issues |
2012/08/15 17:43
|
The dispute over a northeast Pennsylvania city's attempt to crack down on illegal immigrants is back before a federal appeals court Wednesday.
The six-year case involving Hazleton returns to the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals because of a recent Supreme Court ruling.
The city rules would fine landlords who rent to illegal immigrants and deny business permits to companies that employ them. A companion piece requires tenants to register with City Hall and pay for a rental permit.
But they've all been on hold since a federal judge struck them down, and the federal appeals court affirmed the decision, saying they usurp the federal government's power to regulate immigration.
Now a mixed decision from the Supreme Court in a related case in Arizona is sending the Pennsylvania case back to court. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fed. appeals court denies ex-Ill. governor appeal
Court Issues |
2012/08/08 19:04
|
A federal appellate court in Chicago has denied an appeal filed by imprisoned former Illinois Gov. George Ryan.
The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals released a 16-page ruling on Monday denying the 78-year-old Republican's appeal.
A ruling in his favor could have led to Ryan's release from an Indiana prison. It was widely seen as his last chance to get out of prison early.
Ryan is nearing the end of a 6 1/2-year sentence. He's due to be released in mid-2013.
The U.S. Supreme Court in April ordered the appeals court to revisit Ryan's arguments to overturn his conviction.
Last year, the lower court rejected arguments that the 2006 convictions should be tossed because prosecutors never proved Ryan took a bribe. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Court rejects Florida prison privatization appeal
Court Issues |
2012/07/27 18:58
|
An appellate court on Tuesday tossed out Attorney General Pam Bondi's request for a decision to uphold the proposed privatization of 29 South Florida prison facilities.
A three-judge panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal rejected her plea to reverse a lower court's ruling against privatization, saying Bondi couldn't appeal on her own after her client, the Department of Corrections, declined to do so. The panel unanimously dismissed the case because Bondi was not a party.
"A party who suffers an adverse judgment in Circuit Court has the right to appeal, but nonparties whose rights have not been adjudicated have no right of appeal," Chief District Judge Robert Benton wrote for the court.
Leaders of the Republican-controlled Legislature had urged Bondi to appeal after Gov. Rick Scott decided the department, which is part of his administration, would not.
One of Bondi's assistants acknowledged during oral argument last month that it was too late to carry out the privatization due to the expiration of a budget provision authorizing the plan. Nevertheless, Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Glogau asked the appellate court to issue a ruling upholding the privatization provision that would set a precedent for future budgets. |
|
|
|
|
|
| Lawyer & Law Firm Websites |
|
|
Legal News RSS Feed
