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Court dismisses lawsuits in power plant deaths
Legal News |
2013/05/09 06:14
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The Colorado Court of Appeals has dismissed lawsuits against three companies in the deaths of five workers at a power plant in 2007.
The appeals court agreed Thursday with a judge that there was no evidence that the companies violated duties or failed to provide adequate warnings of a fire hazard.
The workers died after a fire broke out inside a pipeline at Xcel Energy's Cabin Creek hydroelectric plant near Georgetown, about 40 miles west of Denver. The men were inside the pipeline resealing it at the time.
The workers were trapped in the tunnel when a flammable solvent they were using to clean an epoxy paint sprayer ignited on Oct. 2, 2007.
Families of the men and four injured employees sued KTA-Tator Inc., Structural Integrity Associates Inc. and Graco, Inc., claiming the companies were negligent.
The court, however, noted that the sprayer used by the workers carried a warning that "flammable fumes, such as solvent and paint fumes, in (a) work area can ignite or explode" and offered safety options.
The workers communicated by radio for 45 minutes with colleagues and rescue crews. But reaching them would have involved using ropes or ladders to go down a 20-foot vertical section of tunnel then along a 1,000-foot section at a 55-degree slope, to reach the horizontal section where they were located. |
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Flavor Flav due in Las Vegas court on felony case
Legal News |
2013/04/12 22:22
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A judge in Las Vegas is expected to hear evidence in a felony case alleging entertainer Flavor Flav attacked his longtime girlfriend and her teenage son last October.
The 54-year-old former rap and reality TV star is due Wednesday before a Las Vegas judge who agreed twice before to postpone his hearing.
Defense attorney Tony Abbatangelo has said he hoped to settle the case, but prosecutor Jake Merback says nothing is resolved so far.
The entertainer's legal name is William Jonathan Drayton Jr.
He's accused of pushing his girlfriend of eight years to the floor Oct. 17 and wielding two knives while allegedly chasing and threatening the woman's 17-year-old son.
He could face prison time on assault and child endangerment charges. |
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High court poised to upend civil rights policies
Legal News |
2013/04/02 17:33
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Has the nation lived down its history of racism and should the law become colorblind?
Addressing two pivotal legal issues, one on affirmative action and a second on voting rights, a divided Supreme Court is poised to answer those questions.
In one case, the issue is whether race preferences in university admissions undermine equal opportunity more than they promote the benefits of racial diversity. Just this past week, justices signaled their interest in scrutinizing affirmative action very intensely, expanding their review as well to a Michigan law passed by voters that bars "preferential treatment" to students based on race. Separately in a second case, the court must decide whether race relations - in the South, particularly - have improved to the point that federal laws protecting minority voting rights are no longer warranted.
The questions are apt as the United States closes in on a demographic tipping point, when nonwhites will become a majority of the nation's population for the first time. That dramatic shift is expected to be reached within the next generation, and how the Supreme Court rules could go a long way in determining what civil rights and equality mean in an America long divided by race.
The court's five conservative justices seem ready to declare a new post-racial moment, pointing to increased levels of voter registration and turnout among blacks to show that the South has changed. Lower federal courts just in the past year had seen things differently, blunting voter ID laws and other election restrictions passed by GOP-controlled legislatures in South Carolina, Texas and Florida, which they saw as discriminatory. |
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NY court hears arguments on town fracking bans
Court Watch |
2013/03/25 22:04
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Backers of natural gas drilling and environmental advocates wrangled Thursday over whether New York's towns have the legal right to ban oil and gas development in a fight that could ultimately be decided by the state's highest court.
A four-judge appellate panel heard arguments over the local bans in Dryden and Middlefield, two central New York towns among dozens in the state that have passed zoning laws prohibiting drilling. Opponents argue state rules supersede such local restrictions.
The Dryden law is being challenged by drilling company Norse Energy and the Middlefield ban by a dairy farmer who said the town's action prevents her from making money from gas wells that had been planned for her land.
The cases are being closely watched by other towns across the state as a test of their constitutional right of "home rule." They're also of keen interest to the industry, which has claimed it can't operate profitably in a state with a patchwork of local regulation that may shift with each town board election. |
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Man pleads not guilty in Oakland bank bomb case
Court Watch |
2013/03/15 06:46
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A 28-year-old former Marine has pleaded not guilty to charges that he tried to blow up an Oakland bank with a car bomb.
The Oakland Tribune reports Matthew Aaron Llaneza of San Jose entered the plea Friday in federal court. If convicted, he could face life in prison for attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction.
LLaneza's attorney says his client was found to suffer from significant mental illness but was competent to stand trial.
Authorites say Llaneza tried to blow up a Bank of America branch last month and ignite a civil war by blaming the bombing on anti-government militias.
LLaneza has been held in jail since he was caught in an FBI sting operation involving an agent posing as a member of the Taliban. |
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