The Courts News Headlines

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Federal prosecutors are urging a judge to send a former Michigan Supreme Court justice to prison for bank fraud.

At some point, the federal government violated the U.S. Constitution while conducting electronic surveillance. Discovering the details of that violation, as the Electronic Frontier Foundation is trying to do, involves unlocking two of the most impenetrable obstructions known to man: secrecy and bureaucracy. Meet the secret …

A federal judge has changed her mind about having the West Virginia Supreme Court answer a question on gas drilling laws that could have statewide economic implications. Last month, U.S. District Judge ...

The Senate Judiciary Committee approved the immigration reform bill by a vote of 13-5 last evening, bringing a path to citizenship one step closer for an estimated 11 million unauthorized immigrants.        

WASHINGTON (AP) — Justice Sonia Sotomayor was the author of a unanimous decision delivered at the Supreme Court on Monday, but Sotomayor was hundreds of miles from Washington when the court convened.

By Dan Whitcomb (Reuters) - A federal appeals court struck down an Arizona law on Tuesday that bans abortions from 20 weeks gestation, saying it violated "unalterably clear" U.S. Supreme Court rulings that women have a right to terminate pregnancies until a fetus is viable. The decision by a three-member panel of the 9th …

A federal class-action lawsuit regarding the New York Police Department’s stop-and-frisk program has raised questions about the controversial practice made legal under a 1968 US Supreme Court ruling. Closing arguments in the trial were May 20, with the judge expected to rule in several months.

South Korea's Supreme Court has upheld a ruling sentencing a man to a year and half in prison for exchanging emails with an alleged North Korean spy and praising Pyongyang on his website. Spokesman Lee ...

Lyle Denniston looks at the Supreme Court’s decision to hear a case involving prayers at government meetings, and if the justices possibly have changed their opinions in recent years.

By Lawrence Hurley WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Monday to weigh whether federal law prevented a customer from suing an airline for kicking him out of its frequent flyer program for allegedly complaining too frequently about the service. Rabbi Binyomin Ginsberg sued Northwest Airlines Corp, which …

By Lawrence Hurley WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Delving into the controversial relationship between government and religion, the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to consider whether a town in New York could allow members of the public, who in practice were nearly all Christian clergy, to open meetings with a prayer. Two residents …

The Supreme Court will hear at least one of two potentially wide ranging cases involving the separation of church and state in its next term, which starts in October 2013.

The Supreme Court says a woman can seek lawyers' fees from the government even though her lawsuit over damage she said was caused by a vaccine was ruled untimely. The high court on Monday ruled for Melissa ...

The US Supreme Court on Monday agreed to examine whether offering a prayer before a town meeting violates the First Amendment’s separation of church and state.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court said Monday it will hear a new case on the intersection of religion and government in a dispute over prayers used to open public meetings.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court won't order new legislative elections in Mississippi over complaints about the timing of the state's redistricting.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has affirmed the authority of federal regulators to try to speed local government decisions on proposals to build or expand cell phone towers.

By Lawrence Hurley WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Supreme Court on Monday ruled for utility PPL Corp in its dispute with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service over credits the company claimed to offset overseas tax payments. The court ruled on a unanimous vote that Pennsylvania-based PPL can claim $39 million in U.S. foreign tax …

By Lawrence Hurley WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In a case involving whistleblowers at Fidelity Investments, the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to consider whether mutual fund employees are subject to the same whistleblower protections as workers at publicly traded companies. Two Fidelity whistleblowers asked the court to …

By Lawrence Hurley WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a patent dispute concerning Medtronic Inc over medical devices it manufactures that give the heart electrical jolts when it fails to pump blood properly. Medtronic wants the Supreme Court to reverse an appeals court finding that it …

By Lawrence Hurley WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear an Alaskan village's claim that it should be able to sue oil companies and utilities for damages attributed to climate change. Lawyers for the village of Kivalina wanted various named defendants responsible for greenhouse emissions, including …

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court will decide if government whistleblower protection applies to employees of a privately-held contractor or the subcontractor of a publicly-held company.

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iranian authorities executed two men on Sunday convicted of working for Israeli and U.S. spy agencies, Iran's Fars news agency reported. Mohammad Heidari, accused of passing security-related information and secrets to Israeli Mossad agents in exchange for money, and Kourosh Ahmadi, accused of gathering …