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German court ends fight over estate of Iran shah's 2nd wife
Politics |
2016/02/20 14:43
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A German court has ruled that the estate of the former shah of Iran's second wife, Soraya Esfandiari-Bakhtiari, belongs to her late brother's ex-chauffeur.
The ruling announced Tuesday by the Cologne state court comes nearly 15 years after Soraya's death. She named as heir her brother, Bijan Esfandiari, who lived in Cologne and died days after her. The court ruled that a short will the brother wrote in a notebook, naming his former chauffeur and private secretary as his heir, is valid.
The man had spent several years disputing part of the inheritance with relatives of Soraya. The court didn't specify its value.
Soraya married Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi in 1951. Seven years later, the shah repudiated her in an Islamic divorce after they failed to have children.
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Chief justice remembers Scalia's 'irrepressible spirit'
Press Release |
2016/02/20 14:43
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Chief Justice John Roberts on Monday remembered the late Justice Antonin Scalia as a friend and colleague of "irrepressible spirit" as the Supreme Court resumed work for the first time since Scalia's death.
"He was our man for all seasons and we will miss him beyond measure," Roberts said in brief remarks after the court's eight remaining justices took the bench.
Roberts recounted Scalia's humble roots in New Jersey, his graduation at the top of his class at Georgetown University and his stellar performance at Harvard Law School. As a top attorney at the Justice Department, Roberts said Scalia argued his first and only case before the Supreme Court in 1976.
"He prevailed, establishing a perfect record before the court," Roberts said to laughter.
Scalia became the 103rd justice confirmed to the high court in 1986, Roberts noted, and wrote 292 majority opinions for the court.
"He was also known on occasion to dissent," Roberts said to more laughter.
The high court is resuming work just two days after the justices and thousands of dignitaries, friends and family mourned his loss at a funeral Mass in Washington.
The void created by Scalia's death was visible on Monday. His chair, in its usual place to the right of Roberts, was draped in black wool crepe, which will remain until next month.
Only in late March do the justices plan to switch seats in line with their seniority on the court. Justice Anthony Kennedy is now the longest-serving member of the court, with 28 years of experience.
President Barack Obama has vowed to nominate a candidate to take Scalia's seat, but Senate Republicans, backed by their party's presidential contenders, have pledged to block anyone Obama puts forward. Republicans have said the choice should await the next president.
Scalia's sharp questioning of lawyers transformed arguments into lively sessions in which the justices sometimes seemed to be talking to each other, rather than to the lawyers arguing before them. |
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Man recounts harrowing Uber ride with Kalamazoo suspect
Court News |
2016/02/20 14:43
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An Uber passenger says he called the police to report an erratic driver more than an hour before authorities allege the driver began shooting people at random, killing six and wounding two others before being arrested.
Matt Mellen told WWMT-TV in Kalamazoo that Jason Dalton picked him up at around 4:30 p.m. Saturday. He said Dalton introduced himself as "Me-Me" and that he sat in front, since Dalton had his dog in the backseat.
Mellen said about a mile into the trip, Dalton got a phone call and that when he hung up, he began driving erratically, blowing through stop signs and sideswiping cars.
"We were driving through medians, driving through the lawn, speeding along and when we came to a stop, I jumped out of the car and ran away," said Mellen. He said he called the police and that when he got to his friend's house, his fiancée posted a warning to friends on Facebook.
Authorities allege that Dalton shot the first victim outside of an apartment complex shortly before 6 p.m. and that he shot seven others over the next several hours. Dalton, 45, was arrested without incident early Sunday morning after a deputy spotted his vehicle driving through downtown Kalamazoo after leaving a bar parking lot.
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Court declines stay in redistricting; Congress elections off
Topics in Legal News |
2016/02/18 14:44
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The U.S. Supreme Court refused Friday night to stop a lower-court order demanding North Carolina legislators draw a new congressional map, meaning House primary elections won't occur next month as scheduled and are shifted to June.
The denial of the request by state of North Carolina attorneys for the justices to intervene came just hours after Republican lawmakers meeting in Raleigh voted for redrawn boundaries as a safeguard to comply with a federal court ruling that called two majority black districts racial gerrymanders. A new congressional elections calendar also was approved.
The General Assembly reconvened and passed a new map because a three-judge panel had ordered a replacement by Friday.
State attorneys argued that absentee ballots already were being requested for the March 15 primary election, and blocking districts used since 2011 would create electoral chaos and a costly separate House primary later in the year. But voters who sued over the boundaries said they shouldn't have to vote in illegal districts for another election cycle, like in 2012 and 2014.
The refusal — a one-sentence decision that said Chief Justice John Roberts had referred the request to the entire court — means the congressional primary elections will now occur June 7 under new boundaries that put two incumbents in the same district and seriously jeopardize the re-election of Democratic Rep. Alma Adams, who is now living in a strong Republican district.
Mollie Young, a spokeswoman for GOP House Speaker Tim Moore, said the legislative leaders' attorneys would review the decision before making a comment. |
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Court rejects pay for woman sterilized at county's behest
Opinions |
2016/02/12 14:44
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North Carolina doesn't have to compensate a woman involuntarily sterilized at the behest of a county social services worker because there's no evidence that the State Eugenics board was involved, an appeals court ruled Tuesday.
The North Carolina Court of Appeals upheld a state commission's determination that the woman was ineligible for payment under a state law to compensate people involuntarily sterilized as part of a state program that ran through the 1970s.
Court documents say the woman was coerced into having an abortion and a sterilization procedure in 1974 by a worker from the Cleveland County Department of Social Services who threatened to take her two daughters.
The woman's attorney argues that the county agency was functioning as an arm of the state's social services system, and that the county worker was acting under authority of state law regarding sterilizations.
Attorney Bobby Bollinger Jr. wrote in his appeal that the worker "was an agent of the State" and that his client's claim shouldn't be denied just because there is a no documentation proving involvement of the Eugenics Board.
However, the Appeals Court ruled that the lack of documentation means the woman can't prove that she meets requirements for compensation. A 2013 state law requires claimants to show they were sterilized under state authority.
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