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US House staffers subpoenaed by federal court
Top Court Watch |
2016/04/12 00:31
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Four congressional staffers have told the U.S. House that they've been subpoenaed by the federal court in Springfield, Illinois, where a grand jury is conducting a probe into the spending of former U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock.
The financial chief for the House, Traci Beaubian, and three other staff members wrote letters notifying the chamber about the subpoenas that were read on the House floor Monday, the Chicago Tribune reported based on House records noting the letters were received and video of the letters being read. The letters did not mention the subject of the subpoenas.
Schock, the one-time rising GOP star from Peoria, came under intense scrutiny in early 2015 for his spending, including redecorating his office in the style of TV's "Downton Abbey." He left office in March 2015 amid questions about congressional and campaign spending.
He has since been issued at least two grand jury subpoenas seeking campaign and congressional records. FBI agents also have removed boxes and other items from his central Illinois campaign office.
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Court sends part of Wisconsin voter ID case back to judge
Top Court Watch |
2016/04/11 00:31
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A judge must consider whether Wisconsin's voter photo identification law applies to people who face daunting obstacles in obtaining identification, a three-judge federal appellate panel ruled Tuesday.
The American Civil Liberties Union and the National Law Center for Homelessness and Poverty filed a federal lawsuit in 2011 challenging the law. U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman struck the law down in April 2014, saying it unfairly burdens poor and minority voters who may lack such identification.
But a three-judge panel from the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ultimately reversed him and upheld the law that October, ruling Wisconsin's law is substantially similar to one in Indiana that the U.S. Supreme Court declared constitutional. The law was in effect for last week's presidential primary.
The ACLU and the national homeless center have continued to argue, however, that voters who face stiff hurdles in getting a photo ID should be allowed to vote by affidavit. They say those voters include people who can't obtain IDs because of name mismatches or other errors in birth certificates or other necessary documents; those who need a credential from another agency such as the Social Security Administration that they can't get without a state photo ID; or those who need a document that no longer exists.
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Oklahoma prosecutors allege abuse before boy's disappearance
Legal Blog News |
2016/04/10 00:31
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An Oklahoma couple arrested in the 2006 disappearance of their 9-year-old nephew had beaten the boy until he lay motionless on a couch and then threatened the boy's brother into repeating a rehearsed story to authorities, prosecutors allege in an affidavit filed Tuesday.
Rex and Rebecca Clark were serving as foster parents to the brothers when Colton Clark disappeared in April 2006. In the affidavit filed by prosecutors, Colton Clark's older brother detailed abuse he said the couple inflicted on the siblings, saying they used broomsticks and extension cords to beat the boys and at times used a red-and-white cattle prod to deliver an electric shock to the boys' genitals. The brother told investigators that around the time Colton disappeared, his aunt and uncle had beaten Colton so badly that the older brother wasn't sure whether his younger brother was breathing.
Rex and Rebecca Clark have not been formally charged in Colton's disappearance, but arrest warrants for the couple filed last week allege first-degree murder, child abuse, child neglect and conspiracy to commit a felony. The prosecutor's office has said Colton is presumed dead, and investigators have been searching the Clarks' property hoping to find his remains. Sheriff's Investigator David Hanson wouldn't say Tuesday whether anything pertinent to the case had been discovered.
The couple appeared in court Tuesday before the affidavit was filed, and Judge George Butner ordered them to return to court next week. Defense lawyer Robert Butler said after the hearing he didn't object to the state holding the pair at this stage. |
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Attorney: Court ruling lets Ohio political candidates lie
Law & Court News |
2016/03/28 13:08
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Candidates for public office in Ohio can lie and get away with it under a recent federal court ruling that struck down a state law banning false statements in campaigns, an attorney says.
Attorney Donald Brey, who has represented Republicans in cases before the Ohio Elections Commission, told The Columbus Dispatch his clients mostly tell the truth, but can legally lie as long as they don't defame anyone.
In past elections, the commission ruled on false-advertising complaints. That changed when the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals a few weeks ago upheld the 2014 ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Black that found the law violated the First Amendment. The Dispatch reports no further appeal is expected.
Black wrote that "lies are bad," but with some political speech, "there is no clear way to determine whether a political statement is a lie or the truth, and we certainly do not want the government deciding what is political truth."
Phil Richter, executive director of the state Elections Commission, said he has had to turn away calls from candidates alleging false-advertising claims.
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Supreme Court rejects Blagojevich appeal in corruption case
Legal Blog News |
2016/03/28 13:08
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The Supreme Court on Monday rejected former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's appeal of his corruption convictions that included his attempt to sell the vacant Senate seat once occupied by President Barack Obama.
The justices let stand an appeals court ruling that found Blagojevich crossed the line when he sought money in exchange for naming someone to fill the seat. Blagojevich, 59, is serving a 14-year sentence at a federal prison in Colorado.
A federal appeals court last year threw out five of his 18 convictions and Blagojevich was hoping the Supreme Court would consider tossing the rest. His lawyers argued in an 83-page November filing that the line between the legal and illegal trading of political favors has become blurred, potentially leaving politicians everywhere subject to prosecution.
The appeal to the high court was a last slim hope for Blagojevich, who has proclaimed his innocence for years. Since his 2008 arrest and through his two trials, Blagojevich has argued he was participating in legal, run-of-the-mill politicking.
Blagojevich meanwhile is awaiting a resentencing ordered in July by the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago when it ruled to toss the five convictions.
The Supreme Court hears only around 80 cases a year out of more than 10,000 requests and typically accepts cases that raise weighty and divisive legal issues. |
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