Courts // Current

Reclaiming Rights in Afghanistan: With and Without the Burqa

Spend some time with a group of brave Afghan lawyers and their young clients, the... more

brishkay
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4 days ago
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US Supreme Court session opens

". . . and justice for all."

patomalley
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1 month ago
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California Courts Closed Today

The Supreme Court of California released this statement, "Due to the unprecedented... more

chrismorrow
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1 month ago
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Argentina Rules Punishing Marijuana Use Unconstitutional

The supreme court in Argentina has ruled that it is unconstitutional to punish people... more

rodstradamus
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3 months ago
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18 comments

Cybersquatting is now OFFICIALLY a crime

It's always been a matter of lawsuits and domain fights but domain theft has now... more

jeffgarlick
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3 months ago
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California state courts ordered closed 1 day per month

State officials have ordered California state courts to close one day each month to... more

Apocalipstick
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3 months ago
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1 comment

Police Bait Car Catches "Good Samaritan"

When Mark Douglas Ledford came home on Nov. 29, 2007, to find a strange green Honda... more

sespian
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4 months ago
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20 comments

Disabled man has to pay to enter court

Gacina was forced to call the student service and pay two students 200 kunas to carry... more

newsfreak
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5 months ago
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Texas Supreme Court Affirms Special Rights For Religion

The Texas state supreme court ruled unanimously on Friday that a town which had... more

Ihatethemall
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5 months ago
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The 132nd Death Row Exoneree: Implications for the Troy Davis Case

One of the many disturbing aspects of capital punishment is that it has no guarantee... more

slarabee
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6 months ago
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1 comment

New Wrinkle On Avoiding Jury Duty

There are probably better ways to avoid jury duty than the approach recently taken by... more

slarabee
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6 months ago
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9 comments

Federal court rejects Troy Davis’ appeal

The federal appeals court in Atlanta on Thursday rejected death-row inmate Troy... more

slarabee
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6 months ago
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5 comments

Study finds `massive waste' in misdemeanor cases

Treating petty, nonviolent misdemeanors as infractions rather than crimes would save... more

slarabee
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6 months ago
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4 comments

Obama Legal Team Wants Defendants' Rights Limited

The Obama administration is asking the Supreme Court to overrule long-standing law... more

slarabee
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7 months ago
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A looming battle over the role foreign judges should play in U.S. courts.

Harold Hongju Koh is a tweedy, brainy legal scholar who writes brilliant law-review... more

ClipsFC
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7 months ago
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Montana Supreme Court Undermines Medical Marijuana Law

HELENA, Mont. — Medical marijuana advocates complained Friday that Montana's Supreme Court misread the law in ruling that the state's Medical Marijuana Act does not protect an employee from being fired for using marijuana.

The state's high court on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit by a Kalispell man fired by Columbia Falls Aluminum Co. because of his state-sanctioned use of medical marijuana.

Under the Montana law, doctors can prescribe marijuana for those suffering from a chronic or debilitating disease.

Mike Johnson, who initiated the lawsuit, tested positive for marijuana in 2006 in a random drug test. The company said the 25-year employee could return to work if he submitted to additional drug tests and passed them. He refused and was fired.

Johnson filed a wrongful discharge suit and the District Court in Kalispell ruled against him.

In rejecting his appeal, the state Supreme Court said the medical marijuana law specifically provides that it does not require employers "to accommodate the medical use of marijuana in any workplace."

Johnson's attorney, John M. Wagner, had argued that his client wasn't asking the company to take any action, such as providing a place for a worker to smoke marijuana during the day if his medical condition required it.

"In my view, the company didn't have to do anything to 'accommodate' him. ... They weren't required to do anything, and that wasn't addressed in the opinion. They glossed over that," Wagner said Friday in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.

The state's Medical Marijuana Act was enacted by voters in 2004. Its primary drafter was attorney Karen O'Keefe, director of state policies for the Marijuana Policy Project, a national advocacy group in Washington.

O'Keefe said Friday that the Montana Supreme Court opinion was "wrongly decided and counter to the letter and intent of the Medical Marijuana Act."

"The act clearly says that a medical marijuana patient cannot be 'penalized in any manner or be denied any right or privilege,'" O'Keefe said in an e-mail to The Associated Press. "Yet, Johnson was penalized for having used medical marijuana by being fired."HELENA, Mont. — Medical marijuana advocates complained Friday that Montana's Supreme... more