Court won't get involved in NY lawyer ad fight
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court will not get involved in a New York dispute over whether officials can curb some law firm television commercials.
The high court refused to hear an appeal from New York officials who passed rules that would curb some television commercials from local law firms.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down much of the state's proposed regulations, which included bans on client testimonials or paid endorsements, and nicknames, mottos or trade names that suggest an ability to obtain results.
Personal injury firm Alexander & Catalano and advocacy group Public Citizen Inc. challenged the rules.
The firm wanted to be known as "The Heavy Hitters" but abandoned the motto for fear of running afoul of the new rules.
The case is Cahill v Alexander, 10-203.
Court rejects Ala. appeal in case of murder-for-hire
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from Alabama to reinstate the death sentence for a man convicted of a $100 murder-for-hire more than 20 years ago.
The court on Monday left in place a federal appeals court ruling that set aside the death sentence for James Charles Lawhorn because of his lawyer's poor work in the penalty portion of the case.
Three justices -- Samuel Alito, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas -- said they would have reversed the ruling by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta. The appeals court upheld Lawhorn's conviction for killing William Clarence Berry in 1988. Berry was the boyfriend of Lawhorn's aunt, who said she wanted Berry dead because she was scared of him.
Earlier, a federal judge overturned Lawhorn's conviction, ruling that his confession had been obtained improperly.
The case is Allen v. Lawhorn, 10-24.
High court won't block Columbia expansion plan
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court is refusing a call to block Columbia University's proposed expansion in New York City's West Harlem neighborhood.
The court on Monday rejected an appeal from neighborhood businesses that challenged the use of a state redevelopment agency's power of eminent domain to force them to sell their properties to accommodate the expansion.
New York's top appeals court ruled in Columbia's favor after a lower court questioned the proposed project, estimated in 2007 at $6.3 billion.
High court rejects appeal seeking bigger U.S. House
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal that calls for greatly increasing the House of Representatives to reduce discrepancies in the population of congressional districts from one state to another.
The justices on Monday ordered a lower federal court to dismiss a lawsuit from Mississippi. The suit said House districts vary widely in population, in violation of the principle of "one-man,one-vote."
Doubling or even quadrupling the size of the House from its current 435 representatives would make it easier to draw more evenly populated districts, the lawsuit said.
US. court tie vote sustains ruling in watch case
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court has left in place a ruling that found discount retailer Costco violated U.S. copyright law by selling a line of Omega watches at cut-rate prices without the Swiss watch maker's permission.
The court split 4-4 Monday on Costco's appeal of a lower court ruling. The tie vote upholds that ruling, but does not create a Supreme Court precedent on the issue.
New Justice Elena Kagan did not take part in the case because she worked on it while serving in the Justice Department before joining the court. It is the first 4-4 vote in 20 cases the court has so far heard without Kagan. Only two of the others have been decided.
Condemned Ex-Army recruiter loses at high court
HOUSTON (AP) -- The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to review the case of a former Army recruiter set to die next month for the slaying of a Sudanese woman eight years ago in Fort Worth.
Condemned inmate Cleve Foster faces lethal injection Jan. 11 for the abduction, rape and shooting death of Nyaneur "Mary" Pal on Valentine's Day 2002.
The high court Monday rejected Foster's appeal, without comment.
The 47-year-old Foster insists he's innocent. He's one of two men sentenced to die for the 28-year-old woman's slaying.
DNA tests tied both Foster and his roommate, Sheldon Ward, to Pal's death, though Ward tried to accept sole responsibility for the killing.
Ward also was convicted and sent to death row. The 30-year-old condemned inmate died of cancer in May.
Kagan says "steep learning curve" on Supreme Court
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan says she is facing a "steep learning curve" in her first months on the bench as she is drafting her first opinions and trying to acclimate to life as a judge.
In her first interview since joining the court in August, Kagan tells the C-SPAN cable network that there will not be many more cases that she has to sit out because of her previous work for the Obama administration. Kagan has taken herself out of more than two dozen cases so far, but says the numbers are "definitely subsiding."
She also says she reads Supreme Court briefs on a Kindle, in contrast to the iPad used by Justice Antonin Scalia.
C-SPAN provided excerpts of the 48-minute interview on Monday.
Published: Tue, Dec 14, 2010
––––––––––––––––––––
Subscribe to the Legal News!
https://test.legalnews.com/Home/Subscription
Full access to public notices, articles, columns, archives, statistics, calendar and more
Day Pass Only $4.95!
One-County $80/year
Three-County & Full Pass also available
