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Court to hear cases over employment, housing bias
Court and Trial |
2014/10/03 14:00
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Did retailer Abercrombie & Fitch discriminate against a Muslim woman who was denied a job because her headscarf clashed with the company's dress code? That's the question in one of the 11 cases the Supreme Court said Thursday it will take on in its new term.
The justices took no action on the highly anticipated issue of same-sex marriage, though a decision on the gay marriage cases could come later this month.Among the new cases, the court will consider the scope of housing discrimination laws, the First Amendment rights of judicial candidates to raise campaign money and a challenge from Arizona Republicans over who can draw the state's congressional districts.
In the Abercrombie dispute, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued the retailer after it refused to hire Samantha Elauf at a Tulsa, Oklahoma, store in 2008 because her Muslim hijab conflicted with the company's "look policy."
The policy was described at the time as a "classic East Coast collegiate style."A federal judge initially sided with the EEOC, but the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed, saying Elauf never directly informed her interviewer she needed a religious accommodation, even though she was wearing the headscarf during her interview.
Government lawyers say the appeals court ruling undercuts legal protections for religious practices because it unfairly places the entire the burden to raise the issue with job applicants who often aren't aware of a potential conflict. |
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Argentina's embattled vice president back in court
Court and Trial |
2014/07/25 12:52
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Argentina's embattled Vice President was back in court Wednesday, this time over false data in documents for an old car that he bought about 20 years ago.
Amado Boudou appeared before a federal judge and presented a written statement instead of speaking in his defense. Boudou is accused of transferring a Honda CRX automobile to his name irregularly in 2003.
The judge is expected to decide in 10 days whether to charge Boudou or dismiss the case for lack of evidence.
In a separate case, the vice president was charged last month with bribery and conducting business incompatible with public office. He is accused of using shell companies and secret middlemen to gain control of a company that was given contracts to print Argentine currency as well as material for President Cristina Fernandez's election campaign.
Boudou is the first sitting Argentine vice president to face such charges. If convicted, he could be sentenced to between one and six years in prison and be banned for life from elective office.
The charges against the vice president come as Fernandez is struggling to curb double-digit inflation and court rulings in the United States that threaten to force Argentina into default on its debts. |
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Appeals court backs NYC's 'Taxi of Tomorrow' plan
Court and Trial |
2014/06/13 15:41
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A plan to remake the New York's yellow cab fleet by requiring owners to purchase Nissan minivans is legal, an appeals court ruled Tuesday.
The Appellate Division's ruling on the so-called Taxi of Tomorrow overturned a 2013 lower court decision that said New York City's Taxi and Limousine Commission had overstepped its authority by requiring taxi owners to buy a specific vehicle.
Writing for the four-judge panel, Judge David B. Saxe called the Taxi of Tomorrow a "legally appropriate response" to the Taxi and Limousine Commission's obligation to produce a modern, standardized fleet.
The city's fleet of yellow cabs has traditionally included a variety of car models modified to serve as cabs. The taxi commission solicited proposals for an exclusive cab design in 2009 and chose the Nissan NV-200 in 2011.
But the Greater New York Taxi Association, an owners' group, said the city was improperly forcing owners to buy a vehicle they didn't want.
Under the plan, cab owners will be required to replace most cabs they retire with the NV-200, which has a suggested retail price of $29,700. Supporters of the cab point to safety features and such amenities as a roomy back seat and a panoramic roof. |
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Condemned Texas inmate loses Supreme Court appeal
Court and Trial |
2014/05/29 12:49
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The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to review an appeal from condemned Texas inmate Duane Buck, whose supporters contend his death sentence decided by a Houston jury 17 years ago unfairly was based on race.
"His death sentence is the product of pervasive racial discrimination," attorneys Christina Swarns, Kathryn Kase and Kate Black said in a statement Wednesday.
Without comment, the high court Tuesday rejected Buck's appeal. The ruling was an appeal of a similar rejection in November from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the state's highest criminal court.
Buck, 50, was convicted of capital murder and sent to death row for the slaying of his ex-girlfriend and a man at her Houston apartment in July 1995. During the punishment phase of Buck's 1997 trial, psychologist Walter Quijano testified under cross-examination by a Harris County prosecutor that black people were more likely to commit violence.
Advocates for Buck, who is black, say that unfairly influenced jurors, who in Texas capital cases must decide when deliberating a death sentence whether an offender would be a continuing threat. Quijano, called as a defense witness, had testified earlier that Buck's personality and the nature of his crime, committed during rage, indicated he would be less of a future danger. |
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Michigan won't recognize same-sex marriages
Court and Trial |
2014/04/14 16:43
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Michigan won't recognize more than 300 same-sex marriages performed last weekend before a court halted a decision that opened the door to gay nuptials, Gov. Rick Snyder said Wednesday.
The announcement came a day after an appeals court indefinitely stopped any additional same-sex marriages. It will likely take months for the court to make its own judgment about whether a Michigan constitutional amendment that says marriage only is between a man and a woman violates the U.S. Constitution.
U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman struck down the gay marriage ban Friday.
Four counties took the extraordinary step of granting licenses Saturday before the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered a temporary halt. The stay was extended indefinitely on Tuesday.
Snyder acknowledged same-sex couples "had a legal marriage." But because of the court's stay, he added, the gay marriage ban has been restored.
The governor's move closes the door, at least for now, to certain benefits reserved solely for married couples. The American Civil Liberties Union said more than 1,000 Michigan laws are tied to marriage.
"We did our own homework and I believe this is a reasonable legal position to take based on the available literature and law," Snyder told reporters.
Other elected officials have urged the Obama administration to recognize the marriages for federal benefits. The U.S. Justice Department, which previously said it was monitoring the situation, did not immediately comment after Snyder's announcement.
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