Recent Updates
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Court drops rape, other charges against megachurch leader
U.S. Court Watch 04/10/2020A California appeals court ordered the dismissal of a criminal case Tuesday against a Mexican megachurch leader on charges of child rape and human trafficking on procedural grounds.Naasón Joaquín García, the self-proclaimed apost...
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Lawyers, judges push to close immigration courts amid virus
U.S. Court Watch 03/27/2020Immigration attorneys have sported swim goggles and masks borrowed from friends to meet with clients in detention centers. Masked judges are stocking their cramped courtrooms with hand sanitizer for hearings they want to do by phone.While much of dai...
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Neville keeps seat in crowded primary for Supreme Court
U.S. Court Watch 03/19/2020Illinois Supreme Court Justice P. Scott Neville Jr. has won the primary election to keep his seat on the state’s highest court, emerging from a field of a six other Democrats. No Republicans ran, making him the presumed winner in November for t...
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Nevada high court defends Tahoe bear activists' free speech
U.S. Court Watch 03/08/2020Social media comments about protecting bears that were posted by Lake Tahoe activists referring to a longtime wildlife biologist as a murderer constitute "good faith communications" protected as free speech, the Nevada Supreme Court says.The recent o...
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Supreme Court won't hear case brought by author Jon Krakauer
U.S. Court Watch 02/24/2020The educational records of a star University of Montana quarterback accused of rape will remain confidential after the Supreme Court declined to get involved in the case brought by author Jon Krakauer.Krakauer had made a public records request for th...
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Lesotho's PM fails to show in court to face murder charge
U.S. Court Watch 02/21/2020Lesotho’s prime minister failed to show up in court on Friday to be charged with murder in the killing of his estranged wife, and police said he might have gone to neighboring South Africa for an undisclosed ailment.Prime Minister Thomas Thaban...
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PolyMet will appeal permit ruling to Minnesota Supreme Court
U.S. Court Watch 01/16/2020PolyMet Mining Inc. said Thursday it will ask the Minnesota Supreme Court to overturn a ruling that canceled three permits needed for its proposed copper-nickel mine in northeastern Minnesota.PolyMet President and CEO Jon Cherry said in a statement t...
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Court: Airline’s workers can’t sue as class in pay dispute
U.S. Court Watch 12/27/2019American Airlines workers at Newark’s airport who claim in a lawsuit they’ve been shorted on overtime pay can’t sue as a class, a federal appeals court ruled this week.The three-judge panel’s decision published Tuesday reverse...
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Activists cheer victory in landmark Dutch climate case
U.S. Court Watch 12/23/2019In a ruling hailed as an “immense victory for climate justice,” the Netherlands’ top court ruled Friday in favor of activists who have for years been seeking legal orders to force the Dutch government into cutting greenhouse gas emi...
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Trump asks Supreme Court to void financial records subpoena
U.S. Court Watch 12/06/2019President Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to void a subpoena from the House of Representatives that seeks the president’s financial records from his accounting firm. The justices already have shielded the documents from being t...
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Supreme Court to begin new term: About the top cases
U.S. Court Watch 10/07/2019The biggest cases before the Supreme Court are often the last ones to be decided, and the focus on the court will be especially intense in June, just a few months before the 2020 election.President Donald Trump first announced his intention in 2017 t...
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Fines, jail, probation, debt: Court policies punish the poor
U.S. Court Watch 07/08/2019Johnny Gibbs has been trying to get a valid driver’s license for 20 years, but he just can’t afford it.To punish him for high school truancy in 1999, Tennessee officials told him he would not be able to legally drive until he turned 21. H...