Teen charged in Mass. teacher killing due in court

Topics in Legal News 2014/01/30 14:50   Bookmark and Share
A 15-year-old Massachusetts boy charged with killing his math teacher is returning to court Thursday for arraignment on a second rape charge.

Philip Chism is charged in the October killing of Colleen Ritzer, a 24-year-old teacher at Danvers High School.

Chism has pleaded not guilty to charges of rape, robbery and murder. He was indicted last week on the initial rape charge. In court documents filed last week, state police say Chism admitted killing Ritzer but denied raping her.

Police say they want to conduct a forensic examination of Chism's cellphone to see if he memorialized the killing in photos, video or audio recordings.

Authorities allege Chism raped and killed Ritzer after she asked him to stay after school for extra help.

Chism's arraignment is in Salem Superior Court.
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High court rules against steelworkers' claim

Topics in Legal News 2014/01/27 13:58   Bookmark and Share
The Supreme Court says steelworkers do not have to be paid for time they spend putting on and taking off protective gear they wear on the job.

The court was unanimous Monday in ruling in favor of United States Steel Corp. over workers' claims that they should be paid under the terms of federal labor law for the time it takes them to put on flame-retardant jackets and pants, safety glasses, earplugs, hardhats and other equipment.

Justice Antonin Scalia said for the court that the labor agreement between the company and the workers' union says the employees don't get paid for time spent changing clothes. Scalia said most of the items count as clothing. He said earplugs, glasses and respirators are not clothing, but take little time to put on.
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Supreme Court debates 'straw purchasers' gun law

Topics in Legal News 2014/01/24 13:23   Bookmark and Share
The Supreme Court on Wednesday debated whether a Virginia man who bought a gun for a relative in Pennsylvania can be considered an illegal straw purchaser when both men were legally eligible to purchase firearms.

The justices heard an appeal from Bruce James Abramski Jr., a former police officer. Abramski bought a Glock 19 handgun in Collinsville, in Southside Virginia, in 2009 and transferred it to his uncle in Easton, Pa., who paid him $400.

Abramski was arrested after police thought he was involved in a bank robbery in Rocky Mount, Va. No charges were ever filed on the bank robbery, but officials charged him with making false statements about the purchase of the gun.

Abramski answered “yes” on a federal form asking, “Are you the actual transferee buyer of the firearm(s) listed on this form? Warning: You are not the actual buyer if you are acquiring the firearm(s) on behalf of another person. If you are not the actual buyer, the dealer cannot transfer the firearm(s) to you.”

Abramski’s lawyers told the high court that since he and his uncle were legally allowed to own guns, the law should not have applied to him.


Feds to limit use of shackles at immigration court.
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Court won't allow Daimler Chrysler suit in Calif

Topics in Legal News 2014/01/16 14:23   Bookmark and Share
The Supreme Court decided Tuesday not to allow a lawsuit to move forward in California that accuses a foreign company of committing atrocities on foreign soil. The decision could make it harder for foreign victims of foreign crime to seek justice in American courts.

The high court on Tuesday used a unanimous judgment to refuse to allow survivors and victims of Argentina's "dirty war" to sue in California the former DaimlerChrysler Corp. of Stuttgart, Germany, for alleged abuses in Argentina.

Victims who say they were kidnapped and tortured by the Argentine government in the late 1970s and relatives of those who disappeared sued in state court, alleging Mercedes-Benz was complicit in the killing, torture or kidnapping by the military of unionized auto workers.

In the 1970s and 1980s, thousands were killed, kidnapped or "disappeared," including trade unionists, left-wing political activists, journalists and intellectuals in Argentina in what has become known as the dirty war. The suit says "the kidnapping, detention and torture of these plaintiffs were carried out by state security forces acting under the direction of and with material assistance" from the Mercedes-Benz plant in Gonzalez-Catan, near Buenos Aires.

The lawsuit said that Daimler could be sued over the alleged Argentina abuses in California since its subsidiary, Mercedes-Benz USA, sold cars in that state. A federal judge threw that lawsuit out, but the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed and said it could move forward.
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Court suspends ban on a show by French comic

Topics in Legal News 2014/01/10 15:06   Bookmark and Share
A French court has suspended a ban the city of Nantes imposed to prevent a show on Thursday night by a comic whose performances are considered anti-Semitic.

But Interior Minister Manuel Valls said he would appeal the ruling to the Council of State, France's highest administrative authority, to combat the "mechanics of hate."

The Nantes performance of Dieudonne M'Bala M'Bala would kick off a national tour by the comic, who has popularized the "quenelle" hand gesture, which Valls has criticized as an "inverted Nazi salute."

In its ruling, the court called the ban a grave attack on freedom of expression. Jacques Verdier, lawyer for Dieudonne celebrated the ruling, saying: "The show will go on tonight."

Dieudonne has been convicted more than a half-dozen times for inciting racial hatred or anti-Semitism.
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Canadian court strikes down anti-prostitution laws

Topics in Legal News 2013/12/23 12:10   Bookmark and Share
Canada's highest court struck down the country's anti-prostitution laws Friday, a victory for sex workers who had argued that a ban on brothels and other measures made their profession more dangerous. The ruling drew criticism from the conservative government and religious leaders.

The court, ruling in a case brought by three women in the sex trade, struck down all three of Canada's prostitution-related laws: bans on keeping a brothel, making a living from prostitution, and street soliciting. The ruling won't take effect immediately, however, because the court gave Parliament a year to respond with new legislation, and said the existing laws would remain in place until then.

The decision threw the door open for a wide and complex debate on how Canada should regulate prostitution, which isn't in itself illegal in the country.

Robert Leckey, a law professor at McGill University, said the court found that the law did nothing to increase safety, but suggested in its ruling that more finely tailored rules might pass constitutional scrutiny in the future.
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