Calif. high court mulling release of law test data

Researcher Richard Sander has been fighting for years to obtain sensitive data collected by the administrator of California's bar examination to help him examine the effects affirmative action policies have on the performance of minority law school students.

On Thursday, the California Supreme Court will rule on the matter after an appeal court ordered the state bar to turn over the data to Sander.

Sander is a University of California, Los Angeles law professor who is seeking information on test takers' race, law schools attended, year graduated from law school, bar pass rate, law school grades and scores from standardized tests for admission to law schools.

Texas Supreme Court tackles same-sex divorce

The issues of same-sex marriage and divorce are set to go before the Texas Supreme Court.

The court is scheduled to hear arguments Tuesday on whether Texas can grant divorces to same-sex couples who married elsewhere.

Both cases involve same-sex couples who married legally in Massachusetts. Texas approved a constitutional ban on gay marriage in 2005.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott argues that state law won't allow Texas to recognize the divorces because that would validate the marriage. The couples question whether the same-sex marriage ban applies to divorce and whether it conflicts with the U.S. Constitution.

The U.S. Supreme Court in June struck down parts of the federal Defense of Marriage Act because it treats same-sex couples unequally.

The Texas court is not expected to rule for several months.

NC court dumps speedway's suit over $80M deal

A North Carolina court says it will not revive a lawsuit from one of the country's largest auto racing track operators which says local officials reneged on millions of dollars in tax breaks for a new drag strip.

A three-judge state Court of Appeals panel ruled Tuesday against Speedway Motorsports Inc. and Charlotte Motor Speedway, which sued Cabarrus County.

The companies had threatened to move the 135,000-seat speedway and build a new drag strip somewhere other than the Charlotte region unless they got the tax breaks. They say they decided to build the drag strip and upgrade the speedway after an oral agreement for $80 million in tax breaks.

The appeals court says there was no binding contract since nothing was put in writing until after the drag strip opened.

SC trial lawyer Ron Motley dies at age 68

Celebrated South Carolina lawyer Ron Motley has died at the age of 68, law partner Joe Rice confirmed Thursday.
No cause of death was given for the trial lawyer, and funeral arrangements have not been announced.
Motley served as lead counsel in lawsuits that ultimately yielded the largest civil settlement in U.S. history in which the tobacco industry agreed to reimburse states for smoking-related health care costs.
As part of the Ness Motley firm, he also sued on behalf of asbestos victims and the families of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack victims.
Motley's practice underwent a transformation in 2003 when he and Rice formed the Motley Rice firm. The Mount Pleasant-based practice is one of the largest plaintiffs' firms in the country. The name change was partly because 13 attorneys and about 40 support staff left to form a new firm, Richardson Patrick Westbrook & Brinkman, in 2002.
The family of deceased South Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Julius "Bubba" Ness also sued the firm, saying the Ness portion of the name should be dropped since the practice was no longer connected to the family. Ness' son-in-law, Terry Richardson, was among the lawyers who left to form the new firm.
On Thursday, Richardson remembered Motley _ with whom he practiced for nearly 30 years _ as a tenacious attorney who was a major figure in a time when plaintiffs' law experienced a renaissance.

Court bars tax preparer who inflated deductions

The U.S. Justice Department says a Charleston man prepared hundreds of tax returns that cheated the government out of $55 million.

A federal judge on Tuesday permanently barred Stacy Middleton from preparing federal tax returns for others.

Middleton had been preparing tax returns for more than a decade. Prosecutors say he and another man prepared returns that understated their clients' income tax liabilities and overstated deductions and credits.

From 2008 to 2011, authorities say the men prepared about 17,000 federal returns. Of the records examined by the Internal Revenue Service, more than 90 percent needed adjustments.

In all, the IRS estimates that the U.S. Treasury lost as much as $55 million in revenue.

Arizona high court to hear school funding case

The Arizona Supreme Court on Tuesday hears arguments in an appeal of a lower court's ruling that requires the state Legislature to give schools an annual funding increase even in lean years to account for inflation.

The high court is reviewing a Court of Appeals decision. It said a voter-approved law requires the Legislature to provide an annual inflation adjustment for state funding to public schools.

School districts and education groups sued after the Legislature in 2010 instead only increased schools' transportation funding, eliminating a $61 million increase in general school spending.

The Supreme Court says it is considering is whether the Voter Protection Act allows voters to require the legislature to increase funding for schools.

The Voter Protection Act severely restricts the Legislature's to change voter-approved laws.

Texas, Wyoming lose court challenge against EPA

A federal appeals court sided with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Friday in an ongoing dispute with Texas and Wyoming over reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia amounted to a defense of the federal Clean Air Act that has faced repeated challenges from Texas, which leads the nation in greenhouse gas emissions.

Federal environmental regulators have required states to include greenhouse gases when issuing pollution permits since 2011. The EPA took over Texas' permitting program when the state refused to comply, but Texas fought to retain control.

State environmental regulators in Texas called the decision disappointing. Bryan Shaw, chairman of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, criticized the EPA for imposing what he called restrictive timelines on states to meet new requirements.

"In light of all of this, it is remarkable that the D.C. Circuit has repeatedly found no harm to the states with respect to EPA's greenhouse gas rules," Shaw said.

The EPA released a statement saying the agency was pleased that the permitting structure was left in place.

Houston, Texas - Wrongful Death Law Firm

In Texas, if you are the surviving family of the victim who has been involved in a automobile accident, drowning, product defects, or structure collapses, you can have the right to a wrongful-death case. A wrongful death case results in the death due to negligence or other dangerous conditions. However, there are some restrictions as to who can file for a wrongful death case. For instance, a sibling is not able to bring a case for the death of their sibling if it occurred while they were there. If you want to find out if you have a wrongful death claim, contact Houston Texas personal injury lawyer today.

Appeals court allows capital retrial of Wolfe

A federal appeals court will allow a capital murder case to proceed against an accused drug kingpin from northern Virginia.
In a 2-1 ruling, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond overturned a federal judge in Norfolk who had ordered a halt to the prosecution of Justin Wolfe and his immediate release.
That judge said misconduct by prosecutors in Prince William County made it impossible for Wolfe to get a fair trial.
But a majority on the appellate court disagreed. The judges ruled that a new trial can be done fairly. A dissenting judge said the misconduct was so bad that freeing Wolfe was the only proper outcome.
Wolfe was sent to death row in 2002 for a drug-related murder, but his original conviction and sentence were overturned.

Retired Supreme Court Justice O'Connor visits SC

Issues dealing with church and state will always be among the toughest the nation's courts deal with and there's no easy test for deciding them, former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor said Monday.

"Religious pluralism lies at the very heart of the American political tradition and I think it remains a major concern as our country becomes ever more the home of larger and larger communities of people from widely different ethnic and religious backgrounds," the first woman appointed to the high court told a legal symposium focusing on a constitutional test she proposed in a high court ruling almost 30 years  ago.

The symposium at the Charleston School of Law was sponsored by the Charleston Law Review and the Riley Institute at Furman University.

O'Connor's endorsement test proposed that a government action can violate the First Amendment's separation of church and state if a reasonable observer sees that action as either endorsing or disapproving religion. But O'Connor, who is 83 and who retired from the court in 2006, said that there is no grand unified theory for applying to such cases. Over the years the Supreme Court has made seemingly contradictory decisions.

Doctor to plead guilty in CA prescription case

A Southern California doctor has agreed to plead guilty to charges of illegally prescribing drugs to his patients at nightly meetings in Starbucks stores.
Court documents show 44-year-old Alvin Mingczech Yee entered into a plea agreement earlier this week. He is expected to plead guilty to seven counts at a April 17 hearing.
Prosecutors say Yee saw up to a dozen patients nightly at Starbucks coffee stores across suburban Orange County at meetings that cost up to $600. Prosecutors say Yee barely examined them but prescribed drugs including OxyContin and Vicodin.
Yee was arrested in October 2011 at his Irvine office and has been free on bond.

MJM Law Office, P.C. - DUII / DUI / DWI Offenses

Most people agree that driving while you are high and/or drunk is not a good idea, but it is also a very common and sometimes difficult to avoid occurrence in America’s geographically dispersed car culture.  Residents of Oregon should be aware that the state’s drunk driving laws are some of the toughest in the country, making DUII (Driving Under the Influence of Intoxicants) an extremely serious offense.  If you’ve been charged with driving under the influence, you’ll want to have an experienced Eugene DUI lawyer on your side to ensure you make the best possible decisions throughout your case.

Losing your driving privileges can create major obstacles in your everyday life.  After a DUII arrest, you are at risk of losing your license both criminally (through the court) as well as civilly (through the DMV).  A DMV hearing is used to determine whether you will keep or lose your license, regardless of whether or not you are convicted.  Long term consequences of a DUII conviction can include difficulty obtaining employment, maintaining professional licenses, and qualifying for financial aid for schools.  In addition, those offenders that are professional motor vehicle operators may lose their commercial driver’s license and be completely out of work.

http://www.mjmlawoffice.com/criminal-law/duii-dui-dwi-offenses

Ex-hedge fund manager pleads not guilty in NYC

A former hedge fund portfolio manager charged with engineering a record-setting inside trade scheme has pleaded not guilty to insider trading charges.

Authorities say Mathew Martoma persuaded a medical professor to leak secret data from an Alzheimer's disease drug trial. Investigators say it helped him earn more than a quarter-billion dollars in illegal profits.

Martoma appeared Thursday in federal court in Manhattan. He remains free on bail.

He was arrested in November at his $2 million Palm Beach County, Fla., home on securities fraud and conspiracy charges.

He is a former portfolio manager at an affiliate of a Stamford, Conn.-based firm owned by Steven A. Cohen, one of the world's richest men.

Martoma is the fourth person associated with SAC Capital to be arrested on insider trading charges in the past four years.