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California high court pick up for confirmation
Court News |
2014/08/28 12:07
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California Gov. Jerry Brown's nominee to fill a vacancy on the state Supreme Court has received strong support during the run-up to his confirmation hearing.
The three-member Commission on Judicial Appointments is widely expected to confirm Stanford University law professor Mariano-Florentino "Tino" Cuellar after a two-hour hearing Thursday in San Francisco.
If approved, the registered Democrat would fill a vacancy created by the retirement in January of conservative Justice Marvin Baxter. The Mexican-born Cuellar will also be placed on the November ballot for voter approval if confirmed Thursday.
The three witnesses scheduled to testify say they are supporters. In addition, the commission received seven written endorsements, including one from former FBI chief Robert Mueller. The commission hasn't received any written opposition.
"I believe Tino to be of the highest caliber and a man of character," Mueller wrote. "He is reasonable, even-tempered and moderate in his approach to the law."
Cuellar was born in Matamoros, Mexico, and walked across the border to attend school in Brownsville, Texas, according to the governor's office. He earned his law degree from Yale Law School and a doctoral degree in political science from Stanford University. He has been a law professor at Stanford since 2001. |
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Appeals court OKs permits for Upper Peninsula mine
Court News |
2014/08/13 15:21
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The Michigan Court of Appeals has upheld a decision by state environmental regulators to allow construction of a nickel and copper mine in the Upper Peninsula.
A three-judge panel unanimously sided with the Department of Environmental Quality, which issued mining and groundwater discharge permits to Kennecott Eagle Minerals Co. The Marquette County mine is now owned by Lundin Mining Corp.
DEQ officials approved a mining permit for the project in 2007, drawing legal challenges from environmentalists and the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community. A DEQ administrative law judge and a circuit court judge affirmed the department's decisions, and opponents took the case to the Court of Appeals.
The mine has been constructed and is scheduled to begin producing minerals this fall. |
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Court hearing gay marriage arguments from 4 states
Court News |
2014/08/06 11:12
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A federal appeals court was set to hear arguments Wednesday in six gay marriage fights from four states — Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee - in the biggest such session on the issue so far.
Three judges of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati will consider arguments that pit states' rights and traditional, conservative values against what plaintiffs' attorneys say is a fundamental right to marry under the U.S. Constitution. Large demonstrations are expected outside the courthouse by both opponents and supporters.
Michigan's and Kentucky's cases stem from rulings striking down each state's gay marriage bans. Ohio's case deals only with the state's recognition of out-of-state gay marriages, while Tennessee's is narrowly focused on the rights of three same-sex couples.
Attorneys on both sides in the Michigan and Ohio cases will go first and get a half-hour each to make their cases. Kentucky and Tennessee will follow, with 15 minutes for each side from both states.
A handful of people were at the courthouse Wednesday before it opened to reserve a seat in an overflow room for the hearing, including Frank Colasonti Jr., 61, of Birmingham, Michigan, who said he camped outside the building overnight.
Colasonti said he and his partner of 26 years married this year in Michigan, before a court order halted marriages pending the state's appeal. |
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German court receives suit against EU bank union
Court News |
2014/07/29 14:19
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A group of German professors has filed a complaint to the country's highest court against the European Union's plans to create a so-called banking union, a central part of the effort to make the continent's financial system more resilient.
The Federal Constitutional Court said Monday it had received the complaint. It wasn't clear when the court might rule; verdicts on previous attempts to block measures meant to stem Europe's debt crisis took at least several months.
The group behind the complaint says the banking union "has no legal basis in the European treaties."
It objects to handing the European Central Bank direct supervision of the eurozone's biggest lenders with binding powers over national authorities, and opposes plans for a separate authority with the power to dissolve or restructure failing banks. |
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Montana court sends wind farm clash to California
Court News |
2014/07/22 14:15
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A dispute over a Montana wind farm's potential to harm nearby nesting eagles and other birds should be heard in California, the Montana Supreme Court said Friday, in an opinion that deals a legal setback to the project's developers.
The legal row over the Rim Rock wind farm near Cut Bank began last year, when San Diego Gas & Electric accused developer NaturEner of concealing the possibility that eagles and other birds could be harmed by the 126-turbine project.
NaturEner, whose parent company is based in Spain, filed a competing lawsuit in Montana. Its attorneys alleged SDG&E was trying to get out of an unfavorable contract and using the eagle issue as an excuse.
The Rim Rock wind farm is near an area with seven golden eagle nests and Montana's densest concentration of ferruginous hawks. Under federal law, a take permit is required for activities that could injure, kill or otherwise harm protected birds such as eagles.
SDG&E alleges federal officials recommended to NaturEner that the wind farm needed such a permit. NaturEner has denied the claim.
Montana District Judge Brenda Gilbert ruled in May that the case should be heard in Montana because of Rim Rock's importance to the economies of Glacier and Toole counties. She also issued an injunction requiring the utility to pay NaturEner nearly $2 million a month. |
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