Court Watch 2012/03/19 09:55
The Supreme Court has turned down Louisiana's bid to recover the congressional seat taken from the state as a result of the 2010 Census.
The court is not commenting on its order Monday preventing the state from pursuing a lawsuit that claims the Census unfairly included undocumented immigrants in each state's population count.
Louisiana said California, Florida, Texas and other states with large populations of undocumented immigrants gained seats in the House of Representatives at the expense of Louisiana and a handful of other states. Louisiana went from 7 to 6 seats in the House based on the Census.
The lawsuit asked the court to order the federal government to re-calculate House seats based only on legal residents.
Court Watch 2012/03/16 10:18
A federal appeals court has put on hold the suspension of two Florida CVS pharmacies that would have prevented them from selling controlled substances.
The court on Wednesday stopped the suspension while it considers an appeal from the stores. The Drug Enforcement Administration had issued the suspension because of alleged lax enforcement of restrictions on a powerful painkiller.
The DEA says the pharmacies were dispensing the painkiller oxycodone far in excess of legitimate needs. CVS says it has taken steps to reduce the prescriptions.
On Tuesday, a federal judge denied the CVS stores' request for a preliminary injunction in the case, but the stores immediately appealed.
The appeals court has already put on hold DEA's suspension of Cardinal Health's Lakeland, Fla.-based center that supplied the stores.
Court Watch 2012/03/13 10:48
The San Francisco sheriff has a political thicket to get through now that he's putting his legal woes behind him with a plea bargain in a domestic violence case that made international headlines.
Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi pleaded guilty Monday to a misdemeanor charge of false imprisonment in exchange for the dropping of three more serious charges, including misdemeanor domestic violence and child endangerment.
The plea doesn't automatically disqualify Mirkarimi from office, but San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee said Monday he plans to consult with city attorneys and investigate what disciplinary actions he can take. Lee does have the authority to attempt to remove Mirkarimi from office if the mayor believes the conviction rises to official misconduct.
"This clearly remains serious and troubling for our city," Lee said in a statement.
Court Watch 2012/03/06 09:25
A 17-year-old boy charged in a school shooting rampage that left three students dead was told by a judge on Tuesday that the case could be sent to adult court for trial.
Authorities will decide later whether T.J. Lane will be tried as an adult and face a possible life sentence if convicted.
Lane, who is charged with three counts of aggravated murder, two counts of attempted aggravated murder and one count of felonious assault, did not enter a plea Tuesday when he appeared before Juvenile Judge Tim Grendell.
The judge postponed a hearing on the adult-court matter from March 19 until April 3 because two new attorneys have joined the defense team.
Lane watched the judge without visible emotion, blinking occasionally. He was taken into court under heavy security, a deputy's hand on his arm. He was dressed in an outfit similar to what he wore last week in court — a tan, open-collared dress shirt and dark slacks.
Relatives of the victims faced Lane from the jury box. Some wore memorial ribbons of red and black, the colors of Chardon High School.
Lane spoke in response to routine questions from the judge about his understanding of the case and his rights.

Court Watch 2012/03/05 09:26
Missouri's highest court says convenience stores cannot claim a tax break on the electricity used to prepare food.
The Supreme Court's decision Tuesday hinged on whether the act of warming or cooking food qualified as "processing" a product. If so, then the electricity used for food preparation could qualify for a state sales tax exemption.
In a 5-2 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that food preparation was not "processing" and the tax break could not be claimed.
Casey's General Stores had sought the tax break for one month of electricity used at stores in Grain Valley and Greenwood.
The Missouri Department of Revenue said it did not have a specific figure for what might have been owed to Casey's, or to other companies that might have made similar claims.
Court Watch 2012/02/28 10:19
George Mason University law student Matthew Long still has three months of schoolwork before graduation, but this week he and two classmates had a case before the Supreme Court.
The group of students is part of a new class dedicated to Supreme Court work at the Fairfax, Va., school. Nationwide, more than a half dozen law schools offer similar courses.
The students don't get to argue the cases. They aren't even lawyers yet. But students participating in the so-called Supreme Court clinics get to do everything else: research issues, draft briefs and consult with the lawyer actually presenting the case to the high court.
"We're all very much aware that you can go your entire legal career without ever being on a case before this court, and it's unbelievable that we'd have this experience as law students," Long, 26, said as he stood outside the Supreme Court after Monday's arguments in a case about a man in prison for murder in Colorado and time limits involved in his case.
Stanford University started the first Supreme Court clinic for students in 2004 and is still involved in the most cases. But schools with clinics now include Harvard University, Yale University, the University of Virginia and the University of Texas. In the past three years, clinics report that students have been involved in about 1 out of every 6 cases argued before the court. This week, students are participating in two of the court's cases.
