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NJ high court to rule in case of retired judge
Court Watch |
2011/08/01 16:06
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New Jersey's Supreme Court has upheld the censure of a retired Superior Court judge.
Steven Perskie was disciplined in March for not recusing himself in a timely fashion from a case involving his former campaign treasurer. A state Supreme Court committee also found Perskie was not forthcoming in his remarks to a Senate committee about the incident when he was facing re-appointment.
Today's ruling found Perskie shouldn't have rejected a request during a 2006 case that he recuse himself. He later recused himself for different reasons.
The court also found that Perskie didn't intentionally mislead the Senate committee when he answered questions about the incident.
Perskie served on the Superior Court in Atlantic County and retired in January 2010. He also served as a state legislator. |
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Oklahoma Supreme Court sets hearing in bribery case
Legal PR |
2011/08/01 13:05
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The Oklahoma Supreme Court has agreed to hear a former state senator's request to dismiss a bribery charge against her and scheduled oral arguments for September.
Former Sen. Debbe Leftwich, D-Oklahoma City, faces bribery charges along with Rep. Randy Terrill, R-Moore. Prosecutors say Terrill offered Leftwich an $80,000-a-year job at the state Medical Examiner's Office in exchange for Leftwich not running for re-election and clearing the way for Republican Rep. Mike Christian of Oklahoma City to run. Christian has not been charged a crime and is expected to be a witness.
Leftwich's attorney, Robert McCampbell, filed a motion to dismiss the charge that maintains Leftwich is exempt from prosecution for alleged wrongdoing in the performance of her professional duties under the speech and debate clause of the Oklahoma Constitution.
The court scheduled oral arguments from her defense, Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater and attorneys for the Oklahoma Senate for Sept. 13, according to an entry posted Thursday on the Supreme Court's website. The entry also says Leftwich's case is on hold until the court makes a decision.
The Senate's attorneys also will have a chance to express lawmakers' concerns about language in a recent Court of Criminal Appeals decision denying Leftwich's motion to dismiss, the entry said. |
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Layoffs loom in Ala. court clerks' offices
Legal Focuses |
2011/08/01 11:05
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A month-long notice has begun for massive layoffs in state court clerks' offices.
The Birmingham News reports that court officials say about one-third of the 750 employees in clerks' offices statewide will be laid off effective Aug. 31.
The officials say the layoffs are timed so the 255 workers will be off the state payroll before the court system's new, leaner budget takes effect Oct. 1.
The Jefferson County clerk's offices, which handle more than 75,000 filings per year, will be down to 48 full-time clerks and three temporary workers after the layoffs.
Chief Justice Sue Bell Cobb has ordered clerks' offices statewide to be closed to the public for 10 hours weekly starting in August to give the workers time to catch up on processing court documents. |
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NJ court rules against son in Plain estate dispute
Court Line |
2011/07/26 16:02
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A New Jersey court has ruled against the son of Belva Plain in a dispute over the late author's estate.
John Plain had claimed his mother, the bestselling author of more than 20 novels, and sisters had schemed to cut him out of her will.
Attorneys for Belva Plain's estate argued that her son had signed an agreement in the 1990s vowing not to contest her will.
Friday's decision in state Superior Court in Essex County dismissed John Plain's claim. Plain's lawyer said he was reviewing the decision.
Belva Plain began writing her novels after raising her children and becoming a grandmother. When she died in her sleep last fall at her home in New Jersey at age 95, more than 28 million copies of her books were in print. |
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Conn. court: church can't be sued by ex-principal
Legal Focuses |
2011/07/26 16:01
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The Connecticut Supreme Court ruled Monday that a former Catholic school principal cannot sue the Archdiocese of Hartford on claims she was wrongly fired for not retaliating against a student, who complained about sexual remarks allegedly made by a priest now accused of abusing children.
The high court unanimously overturned a lower court ruling in favor of Patricia Dayner, former principal of St. Hedwig's School in Naugatuck. Justices said Dayner's lawsuit against the archdiocese was barred under the "ministerial exception" to state courts' authority to decide employment cases. The exception is based on the First Amendment right to freedom of religion, and the right of religious organizations to control their own internal affairs.
But the state Supreme Court, in its first ruling on the issue, didn't ban all labor-related lawsuits against religious institutions. Justices adopted the view of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York, which ruled in 2008 that courts can decide to step into church employment disputes based on the nature of the complaints and whether court action would intrude on churches' right to decide issues related to doctrine or internal governance.
Federal appeal courts have issued conflicting rulings in ministerial exception cases. The U.S. Supreme Court will take up the issue later this year, when it hears a case involving a teacher at a church-run school in Michigan and decides whether ministerial exception applies to the Americans with Disabilities Act in cases where church workers are deemed secular, and not religious, employees. |
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