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Kan. House debates forcing lawsuit over casino
Topics |
2011/04/28 09:06
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The Kansas House is debating whether it should force the attorney general to file a lawsuit over a proposed state-owned casino south of Wichita.
A resolution being discussed Thursday would require Attorney General Derek Schmidt to sue the state Racing and Gaming Commission's over its decision to allow a casino near Mulvane.
Iowa-based Peninsula Gaming plans to build a $260 million casino complex 18 miles south of Wichita.
Critics question whether the commission's decision in January was premature.
They cite misdemeanor campaign finance charges pending against the company and two top executives in Iowa. Company officials have said they're confident the case will be resolved in their favor, and they've started work on the casino.
Kansas law allows one legislative chamber to direct the attorney general to file a lawsuit. |
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Iowa court reverses child endangerment conviction
Law Center |
2011/04/28 09:05
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The Iowa Court of Appeals on Wednesday overturned the conviction of a mother who has been imprisoned for nearly four years after being found guilty of injuring her young son, basing its decision on the boy's newfound ability to speak and claim he was hurt after sticking his arm into a washing machine.
Tammy Smith was found guilty of hurting her then-4-year-old son in 2006, after his arm was broken in four places and his shoulder dislocated. Prosecutors could not prove how the injury happened, but doctors testified it could only have been caused by a lot of force or leverage being applied to the child's arm. Smith was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
The boy was described as developmentally delayed and could only make grunting sounds and other noises at the time of Smith's trial. He has since been in school and met with counselors and has been able to talk about what happened, telling people he hurt his arm when he put it in a front-load washing machine that was on spin cycle. |
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US envoy says rights talks with China yield little
Topics |
2011/04/28 02:05
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| pAn American human rights envoy said Thursday that China provided no useful information when probed about specific cases of individuals who have been detained or who disappeared in a major crackdown on dissent in recent months./ppHundreds of lawyers, activists, and other intellectuals have been questioned, detained, confined to their homes or have simply disappeared, apparently to squelch any chances of the kind of popular uprisings roiling the Middle East and North Africa. The clampdown on dissent is the broadest and harshest in years by China's Communist government./ppMichael Posner, U.S. assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor, said that his delegation received no satisfactory answers to its questions about Teng Biao, a law professor who disappeared in February, and the artist Ai Weiwei, who was apparently detained by authorities April 3 but has yet to be formally charged./ppWe need to and will continue to raise these issues in a range of forums, Posner said. The most senior government officials in the United States are deeply concerned about the deterioration of human rights in China over the last several months./p |
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High court rejects quick review of health care law
Law Firm News |
2011/04/25 09:27
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The Supreme Court rejected a call Monday from Virginia's attorney general to depart from its usual practice and put review of the health care law on a fast track. Instead, judicial review of President Barack Obama's signature legislation will continue in federal appeals courts.
The justices turned down a request by Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, a leading opponent of the law, to resolve questions about its constitutionality quickly. The Obama administration opposed Cuccinelli's plea.
Only rarely, in wartime or a constitutional crisis, does the court step into a legal fight before the issues are aired in appellate courts. Hearings already are scheduled in May and June in three appeals courts.
The case still could reach the high court in time for a decision by early summer 2012.
Cuccinelli said he asked for speedy review to end crippling and costly uncertainty about the law. |
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Court denies Va. inmate's lawsuit over beard
Law Center |
2011/04/23 09:27
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A federal court has denied a Muslim inmate's lawsuit claiming the Virginia prison system violated his religious rights by refusing to allow him to grow a 1/8-inch beard.
William Couch challenged the Department of Corrections' grooming policy that bans long hair or beards.
A federal court in Harrisonburg sided with the department Thursday.
Couch's attorney, Jeffrey Fogel, filed an appeal Monday. He argues the beard is too short to allow Couch to easily change his appearance or hide weapons, which is the department's reason for the policy.
A federal appellate court ruled against a group of inmates who sued the department after the grooming policy was instituted in 1999. Several lived in segregation for more than a decade until the department developed a separate living space for them last year. |
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Treasury risks overpaying law firms
Court Watch |
2011/04/18 09:57
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The Treasury Department paid out more than $27 million to law firms overseeing the financial bailouts without requiring detailed bills or questioning the incomplete records that the lawyers provided, a government watchdog says.
Treasury's current contracts and fee bill review practices create an unacceptable risk that Treasury, and therefore the American taxpayer, is overpaying for legal services, the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program said in a report issued Thursday.
Treasury could not have adequately gauged whether the fees were reasonable because the records are so sparse, the report says.
The report criticizes so-called block billing, in which law firms submit vague and inadequate descriptions of work, and administrative charges — all of which should have been questioned before payment, the report says.
Treasury staff failed to question the charges for work that was described vaguely, the report says. |
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