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Supreme Court delays New Jersey sports betting decision
Attorney Blog News |
2017/01/15 15:38
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The U.S. Supreme Court says it wants to hear more arguments before deciding whether to consider New Jersey's challenge to a federal sports betting ban. The court had been expected to announce a decision Tuesday.
Instead, it asked the U.S. solicitor general to weigh in. That could mean several more months before a decision is made. New Jersey is challenging a 1992 federal law that restricts sports betting to Nevada and three other states. The four major pro sports leagues and the NCAA sued to stop New Jersey in 2012.
New Jersey claims the federal law violates the Constitution by preventing states from repealing their own laws. Several states including Mississippi, West Virginia, Arizona, Louisiana and Wisconsin have joined New Jersey's effort. |
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High Court won't hear appeal over Backpage.com escort ads
Attorney Blog News |
2017/01/10 19:19
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The Supreme Court said Monday it won't hear an appeal from three sex trafficking victims who accuse advertising website Backpage.com of helping to promote the exploitation of children.
The justices left in place a lower court ruling that said federal law shields Backpage from liability because the site is just hosting content created by people who use it.
The women say they were sold as prostitutes in Massachusetts and Rhode Island through advertisements for escort services on the site when they were as young as 15. They say Backpage is not protected by the Communications Decency Act because the company not only hosted the ads, but created a marketplace that makes child sex trafficking easier. Backpage has denied those allegations.
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Kansas court upholds death sentence in 1996 slaying
Attorney Blog News |
2016/11/01 15:08
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Kansas' highest court on Friday upheld the death sentence of a man convicted of killing a college student 20 years ago.
The Kansas Supreme Court let stand Gary Kleypas' death sentence in the 1996 rape and stabbing death of 20-year-old Pittsburg State University student Carrie Williams. Kleypas, 61, was the first person condemned in Kansas after it reinstated the death penalty in 1994. Kansas hasn't executed anyone in more than 50 years, although 10 men are on the state's death row.
In its 166-page ruling, the Topeka-based high court did throw out Kleypas' conviction of attempted rape and ordered him resentenced for aggravated burglary.
"Considering the errors we have found singularly and cumulatively, we hold that Kleypas' sentence of death was not imposed under the influence of passion, prejudice, or any other arbitrary factor," Justice Marla Luckert wrote for the court's majority.
Justice Lee Johnson dissented, reiterating his view that the death penalty is unconstitutionally cruel or unusual punishment. |
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Rights group criticizes Polish law of weakening top court
Attorney Blog News |
2016/10/14 11:42
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An international human rights body on Friday criticized recently enacted legislation in Poland regulating the nation's top legislative court, saying the law "gives excessive power to parliament and the executive over the judiciary."
The Venice Commission, a group of constitutional law experts with the Council of Europe, the continent's top human rights watchdog, issued its opinion during a meeting in Venice, Italy.
The Polish government refused to send representatives to the meeting, accusing the commisison of political bias and of refusing to take Warsaw's position into account.
It is the latest development in a long-running crisis in Poland surrounding the Constitutional Tribunal, which is charged with evaluating the constitutionality of disputed legislation. The court therefore plays a key role in Poland's system of democratic checks and balances.
The European Union, United States and many Poles also have expressed concerns about the Polish government's attempts to change how the court works. The changes have effectively weakened the court's ability to strike down disputed new laws governing other matters, including police surveillance and government control of public media.
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Court enters default judgment in Kansas voting rights case
Attorney Blog News |
2016/10/13 22:06
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A federal court clerk entered a default judgment Tuesday against Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach for failing to file a timely response to a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a state law requiring prospective voters to prove they are U.S. citizens.
It remains unclear whether U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson will give Kobach more time to respond. If the judgment stands it would apply to all voters in all federal, state and local elections — effectively ending the state's proof-of-citizenship requirement.
Kobach did not immediately return a cellphone message, but spokeswoman Desiree Taliaferro said he would comment.
Kobach faces four separate lawsuits challenging various aspects of Kansas' voter registration law. The law, which went into effect in January 2013, requires prospective voters to submit documentary proof of citizenship such as a birth certificate, U.S. passport or naturalization papers.
Kobach, a conservative Republican, has championed the proof-of-citizenship requirement as an anti-fraud measure that keeps non-citizens from voting, including immigrants living in the U.S. illegally. Critics say such requirements suppress voter turnout, particularly among young and minority voters, and that there have been few cases of fraud in the past.
"Oftentimes judges will give an attorney who has not filed something in a timely manner another chance," said Paul Davis, an attorney for the voter who brought the lawsuit. "We will have to see whether Judge Robinson is willing to do that in this case."
Kobach could ask the judge to set aside the clerk's action, possibly on grounds that include "excusable neglect," said Mark Johnson, another attorney for the voter.
But if the clerk's action stands, it means the proof-of-citizenship requirement can't be enforced, Johnson said.
The lawsuit contends the requirement violates voters' constitutional right to right to due legal process and the right to freely travel from state to state by infringing on people's ability to vote and to sign petitions. It also contends the actions Kobach has taken to verify citizenship status discriminates against people who were born or got married in other states.
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