Courts

Mikulski led Senate fight to pass new law protecting equal work for equal pay

15-Sep-2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) today praised the recent use of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to protect equal work for equal pay. The Third Circuit Court of Appeals recently used the new law to hold that a Title VII claim was erroneously dismissed on the basis that the claim was not filed in a timely manner.

“This decision does exactly what the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act was signed into law to do-- right a terrible wrong,” said Senator Mikulski, the lead sponsor of the bill who fought for its passage on the Senate floor.    » read more »

Court Grants Temporary Restraining Order

August 31, 2009 -- CONCORD - New Hampshire Governor John Lynch today announced that the New Hampshire Department of Justice went to court this afternoon in an attempt to protect the rights of the 131 workers of Precision Technology in Pembroke. In response to the state’s action, a judge has issued a temporary restraining order.

This afternoon Merrimack County Superior Court Judge Bruce Mohl issued a temporary restraining order against the company, preventing the transfer of assets of Precision Technology until a formal hearing is held. A hearing has been scheduled for Sept. 10, at 10:30 a.m.    » read more »

June 15, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, this evening issued the following statement after the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the Exxon Mobil Corporation to pay $507.5 million in punitive damages from the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil disaster.

In addition, the Court also ordered Exxon Mobil to pay 5.9 percent interest accrued from the 1996 trial judgment:

“I am gratified by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision to award interest to the plaintiffs of the Exxon Valdez oil spill.    » read more »

Ahmed Ghailani Transferred from Guantanamo Bay to New York for Prosecution on Terror Charges

June 9, 2009 -- Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, a Tanzanian national who had been held at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility since September 2006, arrived early this morning in the Southern District of New York to face criminal charges stemming from his alleged role in the Aug. 7, 1998 bombing of the U.S. Embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya.

After a thorough review of his case by the interagency Guantanamo Review Task Force, Ghailani was recently referred for criminal prosecution in the Southern District of New York pursuant to a March 12, 2001 superseding indictment against him.    » read more »

Statement of Adina Rosenbaum, Attorney, Public Citizen* and Clarence Ditlow, Executive Director, the Center for Auto Safety

June 8, 2009 -- "We are extremely gratified that Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has stayed the Second Circuit’s order affirming the approval of the bankruptcy sale of Chrysler under an agreement that would eliminate all current and future product liability claims of people injured or killed by defects in Chrysler vehicles. Justice Ginsburg’s order stays the sale until a further order from her or from the entire Court.    » read more »

June 5, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit today rejected a challenge to the conviction of James Ford Seale, a former member of the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan of Mississippi.

Seale was convicted by a federal jury in Mississippi in 2007 and sentenced to three life terms in prison. The jury determined that Seale and other Klansmen conspired to abduct, interrogate, beat and eventually murder Henry Hezekiah Dee and Charlie Eddie Moore, both 19 years old at the time of their murders.    » read more »

Chicago, June 2, 2009 -- J. Michael Luttig, executive vice president and general counsel of The Boeing Company [NYSE:BA], today directed that an immediate appeal be made following a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit decision upholding the government’s position in the long-running A-12 case.

“Today's decision, which awards no amount of damages to either the contractors or the government, is but the next step in this regrettable litigation that is now in its eighteenth year. The decision is fatally flawed under what has been the law governing this case from the outset. It creates out of whole cloth a new law that essentially requires the case to be tried anew from the beginning,” Luttig said.    » read more »

Continues to Blather on About Separation of Powers

Columbia, S.C. - June 1, 2009 - After a federal judge today sent two stimulus lawsuits back to the state Supreme Court, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford said he would not make any state or federal appeals of whatever is decided by the state’s top court, and will abide by whatever their decision is regarding a disputed $700 million in federal stimulus funds.    » read more »

May 28, 2009 -- TRENTON - In a victory for all of New Jersey's children, New Jersey Governor Jon S. Corzine today praised the decision by the New Jersey Supreme Court affirming the constitutionality of the School Funding Reform Act of 2008.

"I am deeply gratified on behalf of the state and all of our children. This is a truly historic ruling that brings to conclusion decades of conflict and litigation that many thought would never end," Governor Corzine said.

"By agreeing that the new funding formula is constitutional and that the prior Abbott remedies are no longer necessary, the court has allowed us to focus in a unified and predictable way on meeting our obligation to all of our children while in no way prejudicing those who have benefited from the Abbott rulings in the past."    » read more »

Decision paves way for implementation of Delaware's sports lottery

May 28, 2009 -- WILMINGTON – Responding to the Governor's formal request, the Delaware Supreme Court issued an opinion late Wednesday addressing the legal issues related to the recently enacted sports lottery legislation.    » read more »

05/26/2009 -- California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today issued the following statement after the California Supreme Court issued its ruling on Proposition 8:

“While I believe that one day either the people or courts will recognize gay marriage, as Governor of California I will uphold the decision of the California Supreme Court.

"Regarding the 18,000 marriages that took place prior to Proposition 8’s passage, the Court made the right decision in keeping them intact. I also want to encourage all those responding to today’s Court decision to do so peacefully and lawfully.”

Source: California Governor

May 26, 2009 -- PLAINFIELD, IND - A jury in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana last Tuesday ruled in favor of Duke Energy on four of six projects involved in a lawsuit affecting the company's Midwest power plants. The jury ruled against the company on two Indiana projects.    » read more »

May 22, 2009 -- BATON ROUGE – Today, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal announced that 150 Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Criminal Justice (LCLE) grants totaling over $20 million have been awarded to municipalities as well as law enforcement programs and agencies throughout the state. Governor Jindal said the grants will be used to enhance Louisiana’s criminal justice system and promote public safety.

Governor Jindal said, “We’re committed to providing our law enforcement officers and public safety agencies with the resources they need to keep our families safe. These grants will help ensure that our entire criminal justice system has the capacity to keep our citizens protected.”    » read more »

April 28, 2009 -- SANTA FE – New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson applauded the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeal’s unanimous decision today to require the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to take a hard look at the potential adverse impacts from oil and gas drilling on Otero Mesa.

“This is a major boost in our fight to protect one of New Mexico’s most ecologically valuable and unique places,” Governor Bill Richardson said. “I am pleased that the courts share our steadfast position that the public must have a voice in decisions affecting oil and gas leasing on Otero Mesa."

The Tenth Circuit Court upheld a previous ruling in federal district court that the BLM could not issue a new lease without further National Environmental Policy Act requirements.    » read more »

April 17, 2009 -- MONTGOMERY - The Alabama Supreme Court today issued an order that allows the Governor’s Task Force on Illegal Gambling to hold onto the slot machines and cash seized in March during a raid on the White Hall gambling facility in Lowndes County. Former Supreme Court Justice Mark Kennedy had ordered the Task Force to return the slot machines and cash, but the Task Force challenged Kennedy’s ability to decide the case based upon his ties to gambling interests in the state.    » read more »