courts

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Fla. Law Changes Terms to Make Divorce Less Toxic

Change removes contentious terms from books

(Newser) - Divorcing parents won't be making deals on "custody" and "visitation" in Florida in the future; a new law scrubs the terms from its legal code in a bid to reduce acrimony and give kids a better shot at continuing relationships with both parents. Starting next month, custody will...

Tiffany Presses eBay to Police Forgeries

Showdown may force online auctioneer to monitor—at a big cost

(Newser) - A legal battle between Tiffany & Co and eBay could change the face of online auctioneering forever, the Wall Street Journal reports. The jeweler says eBay should be responsible for checking its millions of listings for counterfeit goods, while eBay maintains that it's up to the trademark holder to flag...

Socialite's Son Faces Criminal Charges

Brooke Astor's offspring allegedly defrauded New York's 'First Lady'

(Newser) - The son of the late socialite and philanthropist Brooke Astor has been indicted, along with a former family lawyer, the New York Times reports. The exact charges are unknown, but the case stems from years of accusations that Anthony Marshall took advantage of or defrauded his aging mother as her...

Saudi Rape Victim 'Crushed Human Being,' Husband Says

Blames judge, not system, for sentence

(Newser) - The husband of the Saudi gang-rape victim sentenced to 200 lashes and 6 months in jail blamed one judge's vendetta—and not the Saudi judicial system itself—for her treatment "as a guilty person who committed a crime." He told CNN his wife has been a severely depressed,...

Boy George Charged With Chaining Up Male Escort

Singer faces false imprisonment charges

(Newser) - Demonstrating endless imagination in running afoul of the law, Boy George has been charged with false imprisonment after a male escort told police the eccentric pop star chained him to the wall of his London flat. Police originally arrested the singer in April, when a 28-year-old Norwegian complained that George,...

Fujimori Will Be Extradited to Peru
Fujimori Will
Be Extradited
to Peru

Fujimori Will Be Extradited to Peru

Former president faces human rights abuse, embezzlement charges

(Newser) - A Chilean court ruled today to extradite Peru's ex-president Alberto Fujimori to his former country to face corruption and human rights abuse charges, Reuters reports. Judges cited evidence from two massacres linked to Fujimori’s war with Maoist faction Shining Path as the key to their decision. Fujimori has been...

Bush's AG Pick Has History With Terror Trials

Blind sheik case gave preview of security issues facing Mukasey

(Newser) - Before America was paying attention, Judge Michael Mukasey tried a landmark terrorism case. The 1995-96 trial of blind sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, convicted with nine others of plotting a massive "day of terror" at three New York sites, forced Mukasey, now President Bush's nominee for US attorney general, to...

Supreme Court Slays Patent Trolls
Supreme
Court Slays Patent Trolls

Supreme Court Slays Patent Trolls

Three recent decisions clamp down on frivolous patents and lawsuits

(Newser) - Technology Review looks at three recent Supreme Court decisions—taken together, "historic"—that crack down on "patent trolls," unscrupulous companies that file thousands of patents and just as many lawsuits, aggressively hunting for license fees. The new rulings make it harder to launch these licensing campaigns,...

Judge May Have Sued His Own Pants Off

Plaintiff in $54M suit vs. dry cleaners on thin ice in day job

(Newser) - Roy Pearson, the DC judge who sued his dry cleaners for $54 million after they lost his pants, may need to start tailoring his resume. A city commission informed Pearson yesterday that his reappointment is in jeopardy, reports the Washington Post. Though the pants trial made Pearson a national laughingstock,...

EU Court Protects File Sharers
EU Court Protects File Sharers

EU Court Protects File Sharers

European downloaders may be protected from angry copyright holders

(Newser) - European ISPs cannot be forced to hand over identities of illegally-downloading subscribers in copyright infringement suits, an advocate general for the EU's top court ruled today. Such information could only be procured in criminal, rather than civil, proceedings. The court most often sides with such opinions, though they are not...

Teen Sex Case Takes a Turn
Teen Sex Case Takes a Turn

Teen Sex Case Takes a Turn

Judge throws out 'cruel and unusual' 10-year sentence; AG plans to appeal

(Newser) - A judge ordered a 21-year-old Georgia man freed from prison today, ruling that his 10-year sentence for aggravated child molestation—receiving consensual oral sex from a 15-year-old when he was 17—was "cruel and unusual" and that keeping him incarcerated would be a "miscarriage of justice." The...

Lithwick: Nutty Legal Logic Used to Fire Attorneys

(Newser) - The same legal argument marshaled to justify mistreating prisoners is behind the Bush administration’s contention that the President can fire U.S. attorneys for any reason or no reason, according to Slate’s Dahlia Lithwick. It’s the theory that a greater power—like killing people in war—embodies...

Stories 21 - 32 | << Prev