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Court won't hear challenge to copyright board
Court Issues |
2013/05/31 17:12
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The Supreme Court won't hear a challenge to the authority of the board that sets royalty rates for musical works.
The high court refused Tuesday to hear an appeal challenging the Copyright Royalty Board, a panel of three copyright judges appointed by the Librarian of Congress.
Intercollegiate Broadcast System Inc. said the board should be appointed instead by the president and confirmed by the Senate. They want to have overturned a decision by the board that noncommercial educational webcasters pay an annual fee of $500 per channel for a license authorizing the webcasting of unlimited amounts of music.
The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit refused to hear their appeal, and the Supreme Court did as well. |
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Appeals court allows capital retrial of Wolfe
Court Issues |
2013/05/22 18:54
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A federal appeals court will allow a capital murder case to proceed against an accused drug kingpin from northern Virginia.
In a 2-1 ruling, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond overturned a federal judge in Norfolk who had ordered a halt to the prosecution of Justin Wolfe and his immediate release.
That judge said misconduct by prosecutors in Prince William County made it impossible for Wolfe to get a fair trial.
But a majority on the appellate court disagreed. The judges ruled that a new trial can be done fairly. A dissenting judge said the misconduct was so bad that freeing Wolfe was the only proper outcome.
Wolfe was sent to death row in 2002 for a drug-related murder, but his original conviction and sentence were overturned. |
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Ex-Mass. chemist pleads not guilty in lab case
Court Issues |
2013/02/05 05:39
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A former Massachusetts chemist accused of faking test results at a state drug lab has pleaded not guilty at her sixth and final arraignment.
Annie Dookhan was arraigned Monday on a charge of misleading a grand jury prosecutor and judge. She and her attorney declined to comment after the brief hearing. She has been free on $10,000 bail and prosecutors did not ask the judge in Salem to increase it.
Dookhan is accused of falsely claiming she holds a master's degree in chemistry while testifying as an expert witness. She has already pleaded not guilty to a string of charges in five other counties.
Dookhan was indicted in December on a total of 27 charges related to her alleged misconduct at the lab.
The scandal could jeopardize thousands of criminal cases. |
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Court: District court can hear some fed complaints
Court Issues |
2012/12/10 20:39
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The Supreme Court says some discrimination complaints from federal workers can go to federal district court, instead of being forced into the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
The justices on Monday ruled unanimously that some appeals from the Merit Systems Protection Board can go before U.S. district judges if they involve discrimination claims dismissed for procedural reasons.
Carolyn M. Kloeckner was fired from the Labor Department in 2005 after complaining of sex and age discrimination and a hostile work environment, as well as being declared "absent without leave."
The Merit Systems board dismissed her claims as untimely, and she tried to appeal to district court. But the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said her appeal could only be heard by the D.C.-based Federal Circuit. |
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