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California appeals court rejects right-to-die lawsuit
Court Line |
2015/11/01 16:30
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A California appeals court on Thursday rejected a lawsuit by three terminally ill patients that sought to clear the way for doctors to prescribe fatal medication to them and others like them who want the option of taking their lives.
A state law that makes helping someone commit suicide a crime clearly applies to physicians who provide patients lethal drugs, a division of the Fourth District Court of Appeal ruled.
"We believe prescribing a lethal dose of drugs to a terminally ill patient with the knowledge the patient may use it to end his or her life goes beyond the mere giving of advice and encouragement and falls under the category of direct aiding and abetting," Associate Justice Alex McDonald wrote.
The ruling affirmed a lower court decision that dismissed the lawsuit. The lawsuit was brought against the state by Christy O'Donnell and two other terminally ill California residents.
O'Donnell suffers from Stage IV cancer of the left lung and was given less than six months to live in May when the lawsuit was filed.
California has since approved right-to-die legislation, though it will not likely go into effect in time to benefit the three patients, the appeals court acknowledged.
John Kappos, an attorney for the patients, said they are considering all options, including an appeal to the California Supreme Court.
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Court rejects ACLU's request to stop phone record collection
Court Line |
2015/11/01 16:29
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A federal appeals court in New York has rejected the American Civil Liberties Union's effort to stop bulk collection of its phone records while a more limited collection system is put in place.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Thursday that Congress intended for data collection to continue during a six-month transition period before a new law takes effect. Earlier this year, the appeals court in Manhattan struck down the government's mass collection of Americans' phone records, finding Congress never authorized it.
Congress then approved a more limited collection method due to take effect Nov. 29.
The 2nd Circuit says an abrupt end to the current program would harm the public interest in surveilling terrorist threats.
An ACLU lawyer says the civil rights group disagrees with the ruling.
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Court: Therapy dog didn't sway jury against sex offender
Court Line |
2015/10/31 15:28
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A therapy dog used to calm a testifying young victim did not influence the jury during the trial of an Ohio man who was convicted of having sex with a minor and providing drugs to another, an appeals court ruled.
The Akron Beacon Journal reports the ruling on Michael Jacobs' complaint to the 9th District Court of Appeals is considered important in Ohio because it was the first time a state appellate court heard a case challenging the use of therapy dogs during trial.
Jacobs was convicted in 2014 of having sex with a minor and providing drugs to another. He's serving a four-year prison sentence.
He argued that the Labrador-golden retriever mix brought in by county prosecutors, named Avery II, was a distraction in the Summit County courtroom.
Prosecutors contended that the dog was out of the view of jurors as it sat by the child's feet.
The court ruled that judges are permitted to allow "a variety of special allowances" for young victims of sexual abuse who testify during a trial, including therapy dogs.
"One of my main objectives as Summit County prosecutor is to fight for the rights of victims, especially children. Avery plays a vital role in how my office focuses on the needs of crime victims," prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh said. |
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'Whitey' Bulger's lover heads to court on contempt charge
Attorney News |
2015/10/19 22:44
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The longtime girlfriend and fugitive companion of James "Whitey" Bulger is expected in federal court to face a contempt charge for refusing to tell whether other people helped the Boston mobster during his 16 years on the run.
Catherine Greig is scheduled to make an initial appearance on the new charge Monday in U.S. District Court.
Greig, 64, already is serving an eight-year sentence for conspiracy to harbor a fugitive, identity fraud and conspiracy to commit identity fraud.
The indictment alleges that from December 2014 until last month, Greig disobeyed a judge's order to testify before a grand jury in an investigation into "third parties" who assisted and harbored Bulger.
Bulger, now 86, fled Boston just before being indicted in early 1995. He was one of the FBI's most wanted fugitives until he was captured in Santa Monica, California, in 2011. He and Greig had been living together in a rent-controlled apartment.
When Greig was sentenced on the original charges in 2012, her lawyer, Kevin Reddington, said Greig was in love with Bulger when she fled with him and did not believe that Bulger was capable of murder.
In 2013, Bulger was convicted of playing a role in 11 murders and other charges in a sweeping racketeering indictment.
Prosecutors said Greig had numerous opportunities to leave Bulger during their time on the run. Instead, they said she helped him remain a fugitive by using false identities and posing as his wife so she could pick up his prescriptions.
The couple posed as married retirees from Chicago. After they were captured, authorities found a stash of more than $800,000 in cash and 30 weapons in their apartment.
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Lawyer tried to keep Somali rape victim in Australia
Legal Focuses |
2015/10/18 22:44
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A lawyer for a pregnant Somalia refugee rape victim said Monday that he wanted to seek a court order keeping her in Australia before the government suddenly flew her to Nauru without providing the abortion she had requested.
The case of the 23-year-old woman, known by the pseudonym Abyan, has amplified criticisms of the government's tough policy of refusing to allow asylum seekers who arrive by boat to settle in Australia under any circumstances.
Asylum seekers who attempt to reach Australian shores are transferred to Australia-run immigration detention camps on the impoverished Pacific island nations of Nauru and Papua New Guinea.
Abyan alleges she became pregnant at a detention camp on Nauru when she was raped in July.
She requested an abortion and the Australian government flew her to Sydney on Sunday last week on a commercial flight from the tiny atoll for the 14-week pregnancy to be terminated. But she was flown the 4,000 kilometers (2,500 miles) back to Nauru on Friday in a chartered private jet, in what some critics suspect was a hastily arranged bid to beat a potential court order allowing her to stay.
Government officials said she was sent back because she had decided to not proceed with the termination. Abyan said in a statement from Nauru she had not changed her mind, but had been denied an interpreter and counselling.
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