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High court weighs Mich. ban on affirmative action
Legal Focuses |
2013/10/14 13:26
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After the Supreme Court ruled a decade ago that race could be a factor in college admissions in a Michigan case, affirmative action opponents persuaded the state's voters to outlaw any consideration of race.
Now, the high court is weighing whether that change to Michigan's constitution is itself discriminatory.
It is a proposition that even the lawyer for civil rights groups in favor of affirmative action acknowledges a tough sell, at first glance.
"How can a provision that is designed to end discrimination in fact discriminate?" said Mark Rosenbaum of the American Civil Liberties Union. Yet that is the difficult argument Rosenbaum will make on Tuesday to a court that has grown more skeptical about taking race into account in education since its Michigan decision in 2003.
A victory for Rosenbaum's side would imperil similar voter-approved initiatives that banned affirmative action in education in California and Washington state. A few other states have adopted laws or issued executive orders to bar race-conscious admissions policies. |
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Spanish court convicts 53 in corruption trial
Headline News |
2013/10/07 10:17
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A Spanish court convicted 53 people Friday in the country's biggest-ever corruption trial, which lasted two years and centered on widespread real estate fraud and bribery in the southern jet-set resort town of Marbella.
The defendants in the trial, which ended last year, included former town hall officials, lawyers and business representatives. The judge took several months to decide on the sentences — 40 other people were acquitted and two accused died while the case was being prepared.
Under a highly complex scheme in the mid-1990s, city funds were widely misappropriated, and public officials and business representatives divvied up under-the table kickbacks for planning permissions and construction of hotels, residential complexes and urban infrastructure. Much of the money was then laundered with the help of lawyers.
Marbella, located on Spain's southern coast, was a magnet for jet set and society figures from across the world during the 1970s and 1980s.
The man who prosecutors said was the mastermind of the fraud, former Marbella urban planning adviser Juan Antonio Roca, got the biggest sentence — 11 years — for money laundering, bribery and fraud. He also was fined 240 million euros ($326 million).
Roca has been in jail since 2006 when he was first arrested as the case broke. Back then, he was considered one of the richest people in Spain with his assets including ranches, fighting bulls, thoroughbred horses, art, expensive cars and boats.
The scheme began when late Atletico Madrid soccer club owner Jesus Gil y Gil was mayor of Marbella between 1991 and 2002. Roca began working for Marbella town hall under Gil and claimed during the trial that he was just following the mayor's orders. |
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NC court dumps speedway's suit over $80M deal
Topics |
2013/10/04 13:13
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A North Carolina court says it will not revive a lawsuit from one of the country's largest auto racing track operators which says local officials reneged on millions of dollars in tax breaks for a new drag strip.
A three-judge state Court of Appeals panel ruled Tuesday against Speedway Motorsports Inc. and Charlotte Motor Speedway, which sued Cabarrus County.
The companies had threatened to move the 135,000-seat speedway and build a new drag strip somewhere other than the Charlotte region unless they got the tax breaks. They say they decided to build the drag strip and upgrade the speedway after an oral agreement for $80 million in tax breaks.
The appeals court says there was no binding contract since nothing was put in writing until after the drag strip opened.
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Butte man pleads guilty in overdose death
Headline News |
2013/09/30 13:39
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A 20-year-old Butte man has pleaded guilty to a selling a prescription narcotic patch to a man who died of an overdose.
The U.S. Attorney's Office says Dacota Robert Rogers pleaded guilty to distribution of Fentanyl during a hearing Friday before U.S. District Judge Sam Haddon in Helena. Sentencing is set for Feb. 21.
Court records say Rogers told investigators that he sold the victim the patch for $35 last December and showed him how to smoke it. The man died of an overdose on Dec. 8.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opiate used to manage moderate to severe pain for patients who don't get enough relief from morphine or oxycodone. |
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Once notable NJ lawyer given life sentence
Legal Focuses |
2013/09/25 11:26
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A defense attorney who once had a roster of celebrity clients and boasted of having tried hundreds of cases in federal court was sentenced there on Monday to life in prison without parole after his conviction on nearly two dozen counts including murder conspiracy and racketeering.
Paul Bergrin, in custody since his 2009 arrest, wore khaki prison scrubs and showed little reaction as a judge read what amounted to several life sentences Monday afternoon in a federal courtroom in Newark.
The 57-year-old former federal prosecutor once represented an Army reservist charged in the Abu Ghraib prison scandal in Iraq and celebrities such as Queen Latifah, the rapper Lil' Kim and the group Naughty By Nature. He also represented reputed gang members and alleged drug kingpins from his offices in Newark.
Bergrin, formerly of Nutley, and several associates were arrested and charged in May 2009 with running his law business as a criminal enterprise. The U.S. attorney's office charged Bergrin with more than 30 counts including racketeering, setting up the murder of a witness, money laundering and drug offenses. His first trial, in which Bergrin represented himself, ended in a hung jury two years ago.
A second trial resulted in his conviction in March on 23 counts related to operating what prosecutors said was a racketeering enterprise that engaged in drug trafficking, prostitution, bribery, plotting to murder witnesses and money laundering. |
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Mavroudis & Guarino, LLC. - Essex County Real Estate Lawyers
Firm News |
2013/09/25 11:26
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Essex County Real Estate Lawyers makes up the team for The Mavroudis & Guarino, LLC. Our talented teams offers the highest quality counseling in the the area of Westchester County. While many law offices offer complex real estate services, the M&G difference is that we are not just attorneys, but established real estate professionals.
Our Real Estate Practice Group Chair, John M. Mavroudis, has developed over $1 billion dollars worth of commercial and residential real estate as founder, owner and Chief Executive Officer of Rio Vista, a prominent real estate development, construction and realty services company. Our lawyers have many years of skill and knowledge in a wide range of matters including regional and local office, retail, industrial and residential developments, home building, real estate brokerage, and other types of residential, industrial and commercial ventures.
Many representative cases have been the subject of reported decisions. M&G law firm offers personalized real estate representation from the most basic transaction such as buying or selling a home to the most complex; restructuring a multimillion dollar development. We can be the real estate attorneys for you, don't hesitate to contact our talented team today!
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