Supreme Court says tribes must be fully reimbursed

Headline Legal News 2012/06/18 12:36   Bookmark and Share
The Supreme Court says the government must fully reimburse Native American tribes for money they spent on federal programs.

The federal government had agreed to fully reimburse money tribes spent on programs like law enforcement, environmental protection and agricultural assistance, but Congress capped the amount of money earmarked for that reimbursement. The tribes sued, and the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver said the money must be fully reimbursed.

The high court on Monday said the Ramah Navajo Chapter and other Native American tribes must get their money back.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote the majority opinion for Justices Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, Clarence Thomas and Elena Kagan. Chief Justice John Roberts, and Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer and Samuel Alito dissented.
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Feds: Man to plead guilty in 1983 Conn. robbery

Topics in Legal News 2012/06/15 10:52   Bookmark and Share
The U.S. attorney's office in Connecticut says a Puerto Rican nationalist who's one of the last people charged in a $7 million armored car depot robbery in 1983 has agreed to plead guilty.

Federal prosecutors didn't give details Thursday of the deal with Norberto Gonzalez Claudio. His attorney hasn't responded to requests for comment.

The U.S. attorney's office says a hearing is scheduled for Friday in U.S. District Court in Hartford.

Gonzalez is not accused of directly participating in the West Hartford heist. He has pleaded not guilty to charges including bank robbery, conspiracy and transportation of stolen money. He was captured in Puerto Rico last year.

The robbery was orchestrated by Los Macheteros, a group that claimed responsibility for robberies, murders and bombings in the 1970s and '80s in the name of Puerto Rican independence.
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Accused Auburn shooter in court on 3 murder counts

Court News 2012/06/14 09:59   Bookmark and Share
The man charged in three slayings near Auburn University has had three attorneys appointed for him after telling a judge he cannot afford to pay for his legal defense.

Desmonte Leonard had his first appearance before a judge in Opelika, Ala., on Thursday morning. He's facing three counts of capital murder and two assault charges in the shootings last weekend.

The dead included two former Auburn football players, and a current player was among the three injured.

The 22-year-old Leonard told a judge he can't afford to pay for a legal defense. So the judge appointed three Montgomery attorneys to represent Leonard at taxpayer expense.

Leonard says he understands the charges against him. Leonard was chained at his hands and feet during the brief appearance and is jailed without bond.
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Ariz. gov. orders training ahead of court decision

Headline Legal News 2012/06/13 15:15   Bookmark and Share
Arizona's governor on Tuesday ordered a state board to redistribute a training video on the state's controversial immigration law to all law enforcement agencies.

The move comes ahead of an expected ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court this month on the law, which was signed by Gov. Jan Brewer in 2010.

Brewer said in a statement Tuesday that she wants to make sure officers are prepared if the court upholds the law.

Parts of the law blocked from taking effect include a provision requiring police to question people's immigration status while enforcing other laws if there's a reasonable suspicion they're in the country illegally.

The Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board's video outlines factors that constitute reasonable suspicion that someone is in the country illegally, including language, demeanor and foreign-vehicle registration.
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Court rules for news groups in execution case

Headline Legal News 2012/06/09 00:00   Bookmark and Share
A federal appeals court ruled Friday that witnesses should have full viewing access to Idaho's upcoming execution, siding with The Associated Press and 16 other news organizations.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued the decision a day after hearing arguments in a lawsuit from the news groups seeking to change Idaho's protocol, saying it's unconstitutionally restrictive.

The case aims to strike down a portion of Idaho's regulations that prevent witnesses — including reporters acting as representatives of the public — from watching executions until after catheters have been inserted into the veins of death row inmates.

The lawsuit comes as lethal injections have drawn greater scrutiny, from whether the drugs are effective to whether the execution personnel are properly trained.

It's unclear how the ruling will affect the scheduled execution next week of Idaho death row inmate Richard Leavitt, who will be put to death by lethal injection. Leavitt was convicted of the 1984 murder of a Blackfoot woman.

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Court denies dismissal of 8 WikiLeaks charges

Court News 2012/06/08 00:00   Bookmark and Share
A military judge is refusing to dismiss eight of the 22 counts against an Army private charged in a massive leak of government secrets.

Col. Denise Lind made the ruling Friday during a pretrial hearing for Pfc. Bradley Manning at Fort Meade, Md.

She rejected defense arguments that the government used unconstitutionally vague language in charging Manning with unauthorized possession and disclosure of classified information.

Lind is considering another defense motion seeking dismissal of two counts alleging Manning exceeded his authority to access a Defense Department computer system.

She said Manning's trial, currently set for September, will likely start in November or January due to procedural issues.

Manning is charged with aiding the enemy and other offenses on accusations he caused thousands of classified documents to be published on the WikiLeaks website.
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