|
|
|
Court rejects appeal of gay jury selection case
Topics in Legal News |
2014/06/25 09:53
|
A federal appeals court on Tuesday refused to reconsider its ruling granting heightened legal protections to gays and lesbians, prompting three dissenting judges to warn of far-reaching implications in same-sex marriage cases in the Western United States.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in January banned the exclusion of potential jurors because of their sexual orientation, saying such action was akin to striking someone from the jury pool because of their race or gender.
An undisclosed majority of the full 29-judge court voted against rehearing the case over the objections of three judges.
The dissenters, led by Judge Diarmuid O'Scannlain argued that the ruling "bears significant implications for the same-sex marriage debate and for other laws that may give rise to distinctions based on sexual orientation."
O'Scannlain argues giving gays and lesbians the same protections as minorities and women prematurely decides the same-sex marriage issue without the U.S. Supreme Court's input. O'Scannlain pointed out that officials in Nevada and Oregon have cited the 9th Circuit opinion to drop official opposition to same-sex marriage.
A week after the Jan. 21 ruling, for instance, Carson City District Attorney Neil Rombardo withdrew opposition to a lawsuit challenging Nevada's gay marriage ban, citing the 9th Circuit juror ruling that he called a "game changer."
O'Scannlain was joined by Judges Jay Bybee and Carlos Bea. All three judges were appointed by Republican presidents.
The ruling is binding in the nine Western states covered by the 9th Circuit, including the four states with pending same-sex marriage cases: Hawaii, Idaho, Oregon and Nevada. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
High court voids overall contribution limits
Topics in Legal News |
2014/04/04 09:42
|
The Supreme Court struck down limits Wednesday in federal law on the overall campaign contributions the biggest individual donors may make to candidates, political parties and political action committees.
The justices said in a 5-4 vote that Americans have a right to give the legal maximum to candidates for Congress and president, as well as to parties and PACs, without worrying that they will violate the law when they bump up against a limit on all contributions, set at $123,200 for 2013 and 2014. That includes a separate $48,600 cap on contributions to candidates.
But their decision does not undermine limits on individual contributions to candidates for president or Congress, now $2,600 an election.
Chief Justice John Roberts announced the decision, which split the court's liberal and conservative justices. Roberts said the aggregate limits do not act to prevent corruption, the rationale the court has upheld as justifying contribution limits.
The overall limits "intrude without justification on a citizen's ability to exercise 'the most fundamental First Amendment activities,'" Roberts said, quoting from the court's seminal 1976 campaign finance ruling in Buckley v. Valeo.
Justice Clarence Thomas agreed with the outcome of the case, but wrote separately to say that he would have gone further and wiped away all contribution limits. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Court upholds $185 million award against Argentina
Topics in Legal News |
2014/03/07 15:47
|
The Supreme Court has upheld a British natural gas company's multimillion dollar award against the government of Argentina.
BG Group won $185 million through arbitration of a dispute with Argentina over investment in natural gas development. An arbitration tribunal said the company did not have to first submit the dispute to Argentine courts before arbitration could begin.
Argentina asked a U.S. court to throw out the award. The federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., sided with Argentina because it found that judges, not arbitrators, should decide where attempts to resolve the dispute should begin.
But the Supreme Court said Wednesday the arbitrators get to make that call and that they were correct to rule in favor of BG Group in this case. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
UN court: Australia cannot use seized documents
Topics in Legal News |
2014/03/05 15:10
|
The United Nations' highest court on Monday banned Australia from making any use of documents it seized from a lawyer working for East Timor in an arbitration case over a multibillion-dollar oil and gas deal between the two nations.
The International Court of Justice also ordered Canberra not to "interfere in any way in communications" between East Timor and its legal advisers in the arbitration or future negotiations on a maritime boundary between resources-rich Australia and its tiny, impoverished northern neighbor.
Australian agents in December raided the Canberra office of a legal adviser to East Timor and seized documents and data. That followed claims by a former Australian spy that his country bugged the East Timorese government ahead of negotiations on the Timor Sea Treaty that carves up revenue from oil and gas under the sea between the two countries.
East Timor wants to renegotiate the treaty, arguing that it is invalid because of the alleged bugging.
It went to the world court arguing the seizure was illegal. Monday's orders did not address that claim, which will be litigated later. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fight over gay marriage moving to federal courts
Topics in Legal News |
2014/02/20 16:02
|
The overturning of Virginia’s gay marriage ban places the legal fight over same-sex unions increasingly in the hands of federal appeals courts shaped by President Barack Obama’s two election victories.
It’s no accident that Virginia has become a key testing ground for federal judges’ willingness to embrace same-sex marriage after last year’s strongly worded pro-gay rights ruling by the Supreme Court. Judges appointed by Democratic presidents have a 10-5 edge over Republicans on the Richmond-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, formerly among the nation’s most conservative appeals courts.
Nationally, three other federal appeals courts will soon take up the right of same-sex couples to marry, too, in Ohio, Colorado and California. The San Francisco-based 9th circuit is dominated by judges appointed by Democratic presidents. The Denver-based court, home of the 10th circuit, has shifted from a Republican advantage to an even split between the parties, while the 6th circuit, based in Cincinnati, remains relatively unchanged in favor of Republicans during Obama’s tenure.
U.S. District Judge Arenda Wright Allen’s ruling Thursday, that same-sex couples in Virginia have the same constitutional right to marry as heterosexuals, represented the strongest advance in the South for advocates of gay marriage. She put her own ruling on hold while it is being appealed.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Investment Fraud Litigation |
|
|
|
|
Securities fraud, also known as stock fraud and investment fraud, is a practice that induces investors to make purchase or sale decisions on the basis of false information, frequently resulting in losses, in violation of the securities laws. Securities Arbitration. Generally speaking, securities fraud consists of deceptive practices in the stock and commodity markets, and occurs when investors are enticed to part with their money based on untrue statements.
|
|
|
| |
| |
| |
|
The content contained on the web site has been prepared by Securities Law News as a service to the internet community and is not intended to constitute legal advice or a substitute for consultation with a licensed legal professional in a particular case. | Affordable Law Firm Website Design by Law Promo |
|
Legal News RSS Feed
