Category: Court

Court hands Dems victory in key battleground state – AOL

Post author By seenuna
Post date September 30, 2020
No Comments on Court hands Dems victory in key battleground state – AOL

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld a six-day extension for counting absentee ballots in Wisconsin’s presidential election, handing Democrats a victory in their fight to deliver the key battleground state for Joe Biden in November.

The decision, if it stands, means that ballots postmarked on or before Nov. 3 will be counted as long as they are received by Nov. 9. That could mean the winner in Wisconsin won’t be known for days after the polls close. Republicans could appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The decision came just two days after the appeals court put the lower court’s ruling granting the extension on hold. The appeals court vacated that ruling, saying Republicans who sued did not have standing. The court gave Republicans one week to argue why the case should not be dismissed.

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WILMINGTON, DELAWARE – JUNE 30: Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign event June 30, 2020 at Alexis I. Dupont High School in Wilmington, Delaware. Biden discussed the Trump Administration’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

US Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden answers questions after speaking about the coronavirus pandemic and the economy on June 30, 2020, in Wilmington, Delaware. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP) (Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

US Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden leaves after speaking about the coronavirus pandemic and the economy on June 30, 2020, in Wilmington, Delaware. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP) (Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

TOPSHOT – US Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden speaks about the coronavirus pandemic and the economy on June 30, 2020, in Wilmington, Delaware. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP) (Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

LANCASTER, PA – JUNE 25: Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden arrives to speak to families who have benefited from the Affordable Care Act during an event at the Lancaster Recreation Center on June 25, 2020 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Biden met with families who have benefited from the Affordable Care Act and made remarks on his plan for affordable health care. (Photo by Joshua Roberts/Getty Images)

LANCASTER, PA – JUNE 25: Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks to families who have benefited from the Affordable Care Act during an event at the Lancaster Recreation Center on June 25, 2020 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Biden met with families who have benefited from the Affordable Care Act and made remarks on his plan for affordable health care. (Photo by Joshua Roberts/Getty Images)

LANCASTER, PA – JUNE 25: Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks to Amy Raslevich (C) and her daughter Laura about how they have benefited from the Affordable Care Act during an event at the Lancaster Recreation Center on June 25, 2020 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Biden met with families who have benefited from the Affordable Care Act and made remarks on his plan for affordable healthcare. (Photo by Joshua Roberts/Getty Images)

LANCASTER, PA – JUNE 25: Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks during an event about affordable healthcare at the Lancaster Recreation Center on June 25, 2020 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Biden met with families who have benefited from the Affordable Care Act and made remarks on his plan for affordable healthcare. (Photo by Joshua Roberts/Getty Images)

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden delivers remarks after meeting with Pennsylvania families who have benefited from the Affordable Care Act on June 25, 2020 in Lancaster,Pennsylvania. – Biden has largely remained off the campaign trail and in his Delaware home since mid-March due to the pandemic, although he has begun participating in small-scale events. (Photo by JIM WATSON / AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden speaks about reopening the economy during a round table discussion at Carlettes Backyard Bar & Soul food Restaurant in Yeadon, Pennsylvania on June 17, 2020. (Photo by JIM WATSON / AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden holds a roundtable meeting on reopening the economy with community leaders at the Enterprise Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on June 11, 2020. (Photo by JIM WATSON / AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

Democratic presumptive presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden speaks via video link as family and guests attend the funeral service for George Floyd at The Fountain of Praise Church on June 9, 2020, in Houston. – George Floyd will be laid to rest Tuesday in his Houston hometown, the culmination of a long farewell to the 46-year-old African American whose death in custody ignited global protests against police brutality and racism.Thousands of well-wishers filed past Floyd’s coffin in a public viewing a day earlier, as a court set bail at $1 million for the white officer charged with his murder last month in Minneapolis. (Photo by David J. Phillip / POOL / AFP) (Photo by DAVID J. PHILLIP/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

TOPSHOT – Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden arrives to speak at Delaware State Universitys student center in Dover, Delaware, on June 5, 2020. (Photo by JIM WATSON / AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

Former vice president and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden meets with clergy members and community activists during a visit to Bethel AME Church in Wilmington, Delaware on June 1, 2020. – Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden visited the scene of an anti-racism protest in the state of Delaware on May 31, 2020, saying that the United States was “in pain”. “We are a nation in pain right now, but we must not allow this pain to destroy us,” Biden wrote in Twitter, posting a picture of him speaking with a black family at the cordoned-off site where a protesters had gathered on Saturday night. (Photo by JIM WATSON / AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

Democratic presidential candidate and former US Vice President Joe Biden (L) departs the Delaware Memorial Bridge Veteran’s Memorial Park after paying respects to fallen service members in New Castle, Delaware, May 25, 2020. – Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, emerged from more than two months of seclusion on May 25, wearing a black face mask during a visit to lay a wreath on the day the United States honors its war dead. Biden’s last public appearance was March 15 when he faced off against his former Democratic rival Bernie Sanders for a debate in a television studio held with no live audience. (Photo by Olivier DOULIERY / AFP) (Photo by OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images)

Democratic presidential candidate and former US Vice President Joe Biden arrives to pay his respects to fallen service members on Memorial Day at Delaware Memorial Bridge Veteran’s Memorial Park in Newcastle, Delaware, May 25, 2020. (Photo by Olivier DOULIERY / AFP) (Photo by OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images)

Democratic presidential candidate and former US Vice President Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden, leave Delaware Memorial Bridge Veteran’s Memorial Park after paying their respects to fallen service members in Newcastle, Delaware, May 25, 2020. (Photo by Olivier DOULIERY / AFP) (Photo by OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images)

Democratic presidential candidate and former US Vice President Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden, pay their respects to fallen service members on Memorial Day at Delaware Memorial Bridge Veteran’s Memorial Park in Newcastle, Delaware, May 25, 2020. (Photo by Olivier DOULIERY / AFP) (Photo by OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images)

Democratic presidential candidate and former US Vice President Joe Biden with his wife Jill Biden, pay their respects to fallen service members on Memorial Day at Delaware Memorial Bridge Veteran’s Memorial Park in Newcastle, Delaware, May 25, 2020. (Photo by Olivier DOULIERY / AFP) (Photo by OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 28:
Former Vice President Joe Biden speaks with Hillary Clinton during The Impact of COVID-19 on Women virtual town hall event as seen livestreaming on a laptop in Washington, DC on April 28, 2020. During the event, Hillary Clinton endorsed Joe Biden for president. (Photo by Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES – APRIL 21: James chats with Joe Biden Melanie C from his garage on THE LATE LATE SHOW WITH JAMES CORDEN, scheduled to air Tuesday, April 21, 2020 (12:37-1:37 AM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Photo is a screen grab. (Photo by CBS via Getty Images)

UNKNOWN LOCATION – APRIL 13: In this screengrab taken from JoeBiden.com campaign website, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) endorses Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden during a live streaming broadcast on April 13, 2020. Sanders said, “Today, I am asking all Americans—I’m asking every Democrat, I’m asking every Independent, I’m asking a lot of Republicans—to come together in this campaign to support your candidacy.” (Photo by JoeBiden.com via Getty Images)

El exvicepresidente Joe Biden habla con los medios de comunicación y un puñado de simpatizantes en Berston Field House el 9 de marzo de 2020, en Flint, Michigan. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

Democratic presidential candidate, former Vice President Joe Biden arrives to speak at Alexis Dupont High School in Wilmington, Del., Tuesday, June 30, 2020. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Democratic presidential candidate, former Vice President Joe Biden speaks at Alexis Dupont High School in Wilmington, Del., Tuesday, June 30, 2020. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

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All three judges who issued the ruling were appointed by Republican presidents. Amy St. Eve was appointed by President Donald Trump in 2018; Ilana Rovner by President George H.W. Bush in 1992; and Frank Easterbrook by President Ronald Reagan in 1984.

The Republican National Committee, state GOP and Wisconsin Republican legislators argued against the deadline extension, saying people have plenty of time to obtain ballots and get them back to clerks by Election Day. Their attorney, as well as GOP legislative leaders, did not immediately return messages.

The court said the ruling did not order the state and national Republican parties to do something or forbid them from doing anything.

“Neither group contends that the new deadlines established by the district court would violate the constitutional rights of any of their members,” the appeals court said. “The political organizations themselves do not suffer any injury caused by the judgment.”

The Legislature does not have standing to represent a general state interest in federal court, the appeals court said.

Republicans across the country have fought attempts to expand voting, particularly in battleground states like Wisconsin. Democrats contend the move is meant to suppress the votes of people more likely to vote Democratic.

“We welcome the court’s decision to expand voting in Wisconsin so that more voters have the opportunity to register and have their voices heard in this election,” said Courtney Beyer, spokeswoman for the Wisconsin Democratic Party. “We will continue to ensure Wisconsinites have the information they need to successfully cast their ballot.”

Absentee ballots are normally due in local clerks’ offices by 8 p.m. on Election Day to count. But the Democratic National Committee, the state Democratic Party and allied groups including the League of Women Voters sued to extend the deadline after the April presidential primary saw long lines, fewer polling places, a shortage of workers and thousands of ballots mailed days after the election.

“All Wisconsin voters—regardless of their party or where they live—benefit from election procedures designed to be safe and effective during the ongoing challenges of voting during a pandemic,” said Farbod Faraji, an attorney for Protect Democracy, a liberal group involved with the lawsuit. “Today’s decision paves the way from a safer, more inclusive election in November”

U.S. District Judge William Conley ruled Sept. 21 that ballots that arrive up to six days after Election Day will count as long as they’re postmarked by Election Day. State election officials anticipate as many as 2 million people will cast absentee ballots to avoid catching the coronavirus at the polls. That would be three times more absentee ballots than any other previous election and could overwhelm both election officials and the postal service, Conley wrote.

As of Tuesday, more nearly 1.2 million absentee ballots had been requested and more than 308,000 had been returned.

Conley also extended the state’s deadline for registering by mail or electronically by seven days, from Oct. 14 to Oct. 21 and declared that poll workers can work in any county, not just where they live. Clerks have reported fears of the virus caused shortages of poll workers in both Wisconsin’s spring presidential primary and state primary in August. Loosening the residency requirements could make it easier to fill slots.

The 7th Circuit upheld both of those rulings as well.

Trump won Wisconsin by less than 1 percentage point — fewer than 23,000 votes — in 2016 and the state figures to be a key battleground again in 2020. Polls show Biden with a slight lead but both sides expect a tight race.

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Court Supreme

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery – Fox News

Post author By seenuna
Post date September 29, 2020
No Comments on Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery – Fox News

The late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery Tuesday beside her husband, Martin, who died in 2010.

Video of the procession shows a large police escort approaching the cemetery, where a military escort awaited its arrival.

The private ceremony included family, friends, fellow justices and members of Ginsburg’s staff, according to a Supreme Court spokesperson. Ginsburg is survived by her two children, Jane Carol and James Steven Ginsburg.

SUPREME COURT JUSTICE RUTH BADER GINSBURG DEAD AT 87

Ginsburg had battled back from two forms of cancer in the past, but her health began to further decline in December 2018 when she underwent a pulmonary lobectomy after two malignant nodules were discovered in the lower lobe of her left lung.

On Jan. 7, 2019, the court announced she would miss oral arguments that day for the first time since she was confirmed in 1993 as she recuperated from that surgery.

In this Aug. 1src, 1993 photo, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg takes the court oath from Chief Justice William Rehnquist, right, during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington. Ginsburg's husband Martin holds the Bible and President Bill Clinton watches at left. (AP Photo/Marcy Nighswander, File)

In this Aug. 10, 1993 photo, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg takes the court oath from Chief Justice William Rehnquist, right, during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington. Ginsburg’s husband Martin holds the Bible and President Bill Clinton watches at left. (AP Photo/Marcy Nighswander, File)

TRUMP VISITS SUPREME COURT TO PAY RESPECTS TO RUTH BADER GINSBURG, PROTESTS HEARD OUTSIDE

Arlington is the final resting place for more than 400,000 service members, veterans and their family members, and Ginsburg is the 14th Supreme Court justice to be interred there. Her husband, Martin Ginsburg, joined the Army shortly after the two were married in 1954.

AMY CONEY BARRETT ACCEPTS SUPREME COURT NOMINATION, PLEDGES TO ‘FAITHFULLY AND IMPARTIALLY’ DISCHARGE DUTIES

Three justices who Ginsburg served alongside also are buried at Arlington. They are Harry Blackmun, the author of the Roe v. Wade decision, John Paul Stevens, who died last year and former Chief Justice William Rehnquist.

The flag-draped casket of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is carried out of the Statuary Hall by a joint services military honor guard after Ginsburg lied in state Sept. 25, in Washington. (Chip Somodevilla/Pool via AP)

Ginsburg became the first woman and the first Jewish person to lie in state last week in the U.S. Capitol Statuary Hall.

Civil Rights pioneer Rosa Parks lay “in honor” in the Capitol Rotunda on Oct. 29, 2005. She was the first woman to be so recognized in the Rotunda. Lying in “honor” is considered one level below “state.”

Ginsburg also laid in repose for two days atop the Supreme Court’s steps, and thousands turned up to pay their respects, including President Trump and the first lady. Former Vice President Joe Biden, his wife, Jill, and running mate Sen. Kamala Harris also paid their respects to the late justice on Capitol Hill.

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The battle over President Trump’s nominee to fill her seat, Judge Amy Coney Barrett, already has stoked partisan tensions in the nation’s capital.

Fox News’ Bill Mears, Adam Shaw and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Court Trump

Trump wins court fight to deport Salvadorans with TPS – New York Daily News

Post author By seenuna
Post date September 14, 2020
No Comments on Trump wins court fight to deport Salvadorans with TPS – New York Daily News

New York Daily News

Sep 14, 2020 3:12 PM

In this Feb. 13 photo, an unidentified immigrant woman who fled El Salvador in 2src15 and was waiting on a decision regarding her asylum request, walks upstairs with her son to their apartment in Los Angeles. “There are a lot of adolescent kids who would still be alive today if they hadn't been deported,” said the woman, whose cousin Marcos González was killed in their native country after he was deported from the U.S. — In this Feb. 13 photo, an unidentified immigrant woman who fled El Salvador in 2015 and was waiting on a decision regarding her asylum request, walks upstairs with her son to their apartment in Los Angeles. “There are a lot of adolescent kids who would still be alive today if they hadn’t been deported,” said the woman, whose cousin Marcos González was killed in their native country after he was deported from the U.S. (Damian Dovarganes/AP)

President Trump won a legal round Monday in his fight to deport hundreds of thousands of immigrants from El Salvador and other countries who came to the U.S. after disasters in their homelands.

A divided three-judge panel of the federal 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that Trump was within his rights to revoke the so-called Temporary Protected Status from Salvadoran immigrants.

Assuming the ruling withstands possible scrutiny from the Supreme Court, it means Trump could deport more than 300,000 immigrants, many of whom have been living and working in the U.S. for years.

The ruling is also expected to affect the status of people from Honduras, Nicaragua, Sudan and Nepal, whose separate lawsuit is expected to be governed by the outcome of the Salvadoran case.

Temporary Protected Status beneficiaries from six countries in all have been granted legal authorization to live and work in the U.S. through Jan. 4.

The ruling could mean that those immigrants must find another way to remain in the United States legally or leave the country after a wind-down period of six months or a year, in the case of El Salvador.

The timing means that the fate of the immigrants would likely be determined by the results of the upcoming presidential election, since Democrat Joe Biden would have time to reverse the policy if he beats Trump in November.

Haitian immigrants who obtained Temporary Protected Status after a massive 2010 earthquake wreaked havoc on the Caribbean nation filed a separate case that is being heard by Manhattan’s 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

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Court Florida

Florida can bar ex-felons from voting if they owe court payments, appeals court rules – CNN

Post author By seenuna
Post date September 11, 2020
No Comments on Florida can bar ex-felons from voting if they owe court payments, appeals court rules – CNN

Washington (CNN)Florida can bar ex-felons from voting if they owe court fines or fees associated with their convictions, even if they are unable to pay, a federal appeals court ruled Friday.

The 6-4 ruling by the full 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a lower court’s ruling blocking the law.

The law, Chief Judge William Pryor wrote in the majority opinion, doesn’t constitute a poll tax. Instead, “it promotes full rehabilitation of returning citizens and ensures full satisfaction of the punishment imposed for the crimes by which felons forfeited the right to vote.”

“That criminal sentences often include financial obligations does not make this requirement a ‘capricious or irrelevant factor,'” Pryor wrote. “Monetary provisions of a sentence are no less a part of the penalty that society imposes for a crime than terms of imprisonment. Indeed, some felons face substantial monetary penalties but little or no prison time.”

Visit CNN’s Election Center for full coverage of the 2020 race

The ruling, issued less than two months before the presidential election, marks another chapter in the extensive court battle over the law in a state President Donald won in 2016 by less than 113,000 votes over Hillary Clinton, or 1.2% of the vote.

Earlier this year, the US Supreme Court said Florida can enforce the law while the legal case over its constitutionality plays out, meaning the rule would likely be in place for the November elections.

Friday’s ruling overturns a decision from US District Court Robert Hinkle, who had said the Florida law, in respect to those people who are unable to pay, violates the Constitution. Hinkle called the state’s procedure an “unconstitutional pay-to-vote system.”

Convicted felons in Florida had their voting rights restored with a constitutional amendment that passed in November 2018. Amendment 4, which allowed convicted felons who complete “all terms of sentence” the right to vote, passed with nearly 65% of the vote, exceeding the 60% threshold required.

View 2020 presidential election polling

After Amendment 4 went into effect in January 2019, the GOP-led Florida Legislature passed, and Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed, a bill that clarified “all terms of sentence” to include legal financial obligations such as fines, fees and restitution.

Multiple groups, including the Campaign Legal Center and American Civil Liberties Union, filed a flurry of legal challenges arguing the new law was unconstitutional and amounted to a “poll tax.”

Paul Smith, vice president at the Campaign Legal Center, called Friday’s decision “deeply disappointing.”

“While the full rights restoration envisioned by Amendment 4 has become less likely to be realized this fall, we will continue this fight for all Florida voters, so the full benefits of Amendment 4 will someday be realized,” Smith said in a statement, adding that “nobody should ever be denied their constitutional rights because they can’t afford to pay fines and fees.”

CNN’s Veronica Stracqualursi, Paul LeBlanc and Caroline Kelly contributed to this report.

Tags Court, Florida

Court Saudi

Saudi court issues final verdicts in Khashoggi murder, sentencing 8 to prison – Fox News

Post author By seenuna
Post date September 7, 2020
No Comments on Saudi court issues final verdicts in Khashoggi murder, sentencing 8 to prison – Fox News

A Saudi court has issued final verdicts Monday in the 2018 killing of journalist and dissident Jamal Khashoggi, sentencing eight to prison, according to state television.

The names of those convicted were not made public, but Riyadh Criminal Court reportedly ordered a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for five. Another received a 10-year sentence, and two others were ordered to serve seven years in prison.

Yet the trial has been widely criticized by rights groups and an independent U.N. investigator, who noted that no senior officials nor anyone suspected of ordering the killing were found guilty. The independence of the court has also been brought into question.

SAUDI OFFICIALS GO ON TRIAL IN ABSENTIA IN TURKEY FOR KHASHOGGI MURDER

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman smiles as he attends the Future Investment Initiative summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in 2src18. Prince Mohammed has denied any knowledge of the operation that resulted in Khashoggi's death. (AP)

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman smiles as he attends the Future Investment Initiative summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in 2018. Prince Mohammed has denied any knowledge of the operation that resulted in Khashoggi’s death. (AP)

Prior to his killing, Khashoggi had written critically of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in columns for the Washington Post. He’d been living in exile in the United States for about a year as Prince Mohammed oversaw a crackdown in Saudi Arabia on human rights activists, writers and critics of the kingdom’s devastating war in Yemen.

Khashoggi was killed in late 2018 inside the Saudi consulate in Turkey.

A team of 15 Saudi agents had flown to Turkey to meet Khashoggi inside the consulate for his appointment to pick up documents that would allow him to marry his Turkish fiance, who waited outside. The team included a forensic doctor, intelligence and security officers, and individuals who worked directly for the crown prince’s office, according to Agnes Callamard, who investigated the killing for the United Nations.

Turkish officials allege Khashoggi was killed and then dismembered with a bone saw inside the consulate. His body has not been found. Turkey apparently had the Saudi Consulate bugged and shared audio of the killing with the C.I.A., among others.

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Western intelligence agencies, as well as the U.S. Congress, have said the crown prince bears ultimate responsibility for the killing and that an operation of this magnitude could not have happened without his knowledge. But the crown prince has denied any knowledge of the operation.

Salah Khashoggi, one of the writer’s sons, lives in Saudi Arabia and has received financial compensation from the royal court for his father’s killing.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Tags Court, Saudi

blocks Court

Court blocks release of Trump tax returns amid latest appeal – Atlanta Journal Constitution

Post author By seenuna
Post date September 2, 2020
No Comments on Court blocks release of Trump tax returns amid latest appeal – Atlanta Journal Constitution

Trump’s lawyers had asked for a temporary stay while they appeal a lower court ruling that granted Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr.’s office access to Trump’s tax returns. A lawyer for Vance’s office had argued that further delays would only impede their investigation.

“The question at this juncture is quite simple but also quite important,” Trump lawyer William Consovoy said. “Will the president be given an opportunity to appeal that ruling before his personal records are disclosed to the grand jury and the status quo is irrevocably changed?”

Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow said they were pleased with the ruling. A message seeking comment was left with Vance’s spokesperson.

A hearing on the merits of Trump’s latest appeal will be held Sept. 25 after both sides agreed to an expedited schedule.

Trump’s lawyers appealed to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last month after a district court judge rejected their renewed efforts to invalidate a subpoena issued to his accounting firm. Judge John M. Walker Jr. said at Tuesday’s hearing that the subpoenas cover 11 entities engaged in business dealings as far away as Europe and Dubai.

Trump has blasted the long-running quest for his financial records as a “continuation of the most disgusting witch hunt in the history of our country” and predicted the case would again end up before the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court ruled last month the presidency in itself doesn’t shield Trump from Vance’s investigation, but the high court returned the case to U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero’s courtroom to allow Trump’s lawyers to raise other concerns about the subpoena.

Trump’s lawyers then argued the subpoena was issued in bad faith and overly broad, might have been politically motivated and amounted to harassment. Marrero rejected those claims. Consovoy told the judges Tuesday the investigation was an “arbitrary fishing expedition.”

Carey Dunne of the district attorney’s office said Trump and his lawyers have long misrepresented the scope of the investigation as focusing primarily on hush money payments that were paid to protect Trump from adultery allegations. Vance’s lawyers have said they are legally entitled to extensive records to aid a “complex financial investigation.”

“The president has complained at every turn that we’ve not announced what the grand jury is looking at as if that itself is bad faith,” Dunne said. “But, of course, what the grand jury is looking at is secret. We’re not allowed to make that public, which is what has led to his speculation about the grand jury scope. But none of this speculation is plausible.”

Even if Vance gets Trump’s tax records, those would be part of a confidential grand jury investigation and not automatically be made public.

Vance, a Democrat, began seeking the Republican president’s tax returns from his longtime accounting firm more than a year ago, after Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen told Congress the president had misled tax officials, insurers and business associates about the value of his assets.

Congress is also pursuing Trump’s financial records, though the Supreme Court last month kept a hold on the banking and other documents that Congress has been seeking and returned the case to a lower court.

Trump is the only modern president who has refused to release his tax returns. Before he was elected, he had promised to do so.

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California Court

California court rules Amazon CAN be held liable for defective third-party goods – Daily Mail

Post author By seenuna
Post date August 14, 2020
No Comments on California court rules Amazon CAN be held liable for defective third-party goods – Daily Mail

Angela Bolger suffered severe burns after a replacement laptop battery exploded in 2016

A California appeals court has dealt a major blow to Amazon, finding that the online retail giant can be held liable for defective goods sold by third-party vendors through its marketplace.

A three-justice panel of the 4th District Court of Appeal on Thursday overturned a lower court’s decision that Amazon was not liable for an exploding battery that injured a San Diego woman.

Angela Bolger brought the lawsuit, saying that the battery she bought from Amazon marketplace vendor Lenoge Technology (HK) Ltd, also known as E-Life, gave her third-degree burns when it exploded in 2016.

The appeals court found that Amazon controlled key aspects of the transaction, including marketing the product, billing Bolger and shipping it to her in Amazon-branded packaging.

An Amazon spokesperson blasted the decision in a statement to DailyMail.com: ‘The court’s decision was wrongly decided and is contrary to well-established law in California and around the country that service providers are not liable for third party products they do not make or sell.’

A truck passes an Amazon warehouse on Staten Island in a file photo. A California appeals court has found that the online retail giant can be held liable for defective goods sold by third-party vendors through its marketplace

‘We will appeal this decision,’ the Amazon spokesperson added.

The case, which could have enormous consequences for Amazon, stems from Bolger’s purchase of a $12.30 replacement laptop battery on the site, which exploded several months later.

Bolger was left with severe burns, and had to be hospitalized for two weeks, according to court documents.

She filed a suit against Amazon in January 2017. Three months later, the tech giant sent Bolger an email which said they had learned that the Lenoge replacement battery she had ordered ‘may present a fire hazard or not perform as expected[.]’

The email advised immediately halting use of the product and disposing of it at a battery recycling center, and informed her that Amazon had provided a credit of the purchase price to her Amazon account.

Bolger, a clinical research associate with the Navy, also added Lenoge and several Chinese companies in her suit, but none appeared in court, and some were impossible to serve.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is seen in a file photo. The ruling comes as a major blow to the online retail giant, which relies on third-party vendors for more than half of its sales

The appeals court opinion stated: ‘But for Amazon’s own acts, Bolger would not have been injured. Amazon’s own acts, and its control over the product in question, form the basis for its liability.’

‘Nothing aside from Amazon’s own choices required it to allow Lenoge to offer its product for sale, to store Lenoge’s product at its warehouse, to accept Bolger’s order, or to ship the product to her. It made these choices for its own commercial purposes. It should share in the consequences,’ the opinion reads.

The ruling comes as a major blow to the online retail giant, which relies on third-party vendors for more than half of its sales, by unit.

About 40 percent of the goods sold on Amazon are items that Amazon itself selects, buys from distributors, and sells directly to the public. The rest are sold by third-party vendors, with Amazon taking a cut of the sales price.

The appeals court opinion found that Amazon acted as an intermediary between an upstream supplier and the ultimate consumer, and thus had strict liability for defective products.

‘The supplier has no direct relationship with the buyer, and indeed in most cases does not even have an indirect relationship with the buyer,’ the opinion found of third-party vendors who use Amazon’s marketplace.

One of Bolger’s attorneys, Jeremy Robinson, told the Times of San Diego: ‘It is impossible to overstate the magnitude of this ruling. Consumers across the nation will feel the impact of this.’

Amazon has previously faced multiple lawsuits seeking to hold it responsible for damage or injuries caused by defective products sold by third parties, including ones based overseas in China.

However, most courts have concluded that Amazon is not a ‘seller’ under various states’ product liability laws when it is brokering transactions for third-parties.

Both Pennsylvania’s and Ohio’s top courts are currently considering the issue, and federal appeals courts are weighing cases under California and Texas law.

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appeals Court

Appeals Court Weighs Whether to Permit Inquiry Into Flynn Case Dismissal – The New York Times

Post author By seenuna
Post date August 11, 2020
No Comments on Appeals Court Weighs Whether to Permit Inquiry Into Flynn Case Dismissal – The New York Times

Politics|Appeals Court Weighs Whether to Permit Inquiry Into Flynn Case Dismissal

A majority of the judges on a federal appeals court signaled that they may allow a court hearing into the Justice Department’s decision to drop the case.

Credit…Brendan Smialowski/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Aug. 11, 2020

WASHINGTON — A Justice Department lawyer urged an appeals court on Tuesday to block a judge from scrutinizing its decision to drop the prosecution of President Trump’s former national security adviser Michael T. Flynn, arguing that the “spectacle” of examining its motives in a public hearing would damage the executive branch.

But a lawyer for the judge overseeing the case, Emmet G. Sullivan, appeared to walk back expectations that he would engage in a searching inquiry about what lay behind the decision to drop the charge against Mr. Flynn, suggesting that he did not have a basis to conduct extensive fact-finding and that he might limit a hearing to mainly discussing legal issues.

Those were two takeaways from nearly four hours of oral arguments before the full Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. It was the latest chapter in a twisting legal and political saga over the case against Mr. Flynn, who has twice pleaded guilty to lying to the F.B.I. about his conversations with a Russian ambassador in December 2016.

In May, the department moved to drop the case. Its stated rationale has shifted across several filings, but centers on the idea that Mr. Flynn’s lies were not material to any legitimate investigation and that the F.B.I.’s aggression in questioning him might give a jury a reason to acquit him. That stance dovetails with Attorney General William P. Barr’s disdain for the Trump-Russia inquiry.

The case has since been consumed in a legal fight over whether Judge Sullivan had no choice but to dismiss it since the Justice Department no longer wants to pursue it, or whether the federal rules of criminal procedure empower him to scrutinize whether Mr. Barr sought to drop it for illegitimate reasons and — if Judge Sullivan were to decide that was the case — whether he could instead sentence Mr. Flynn anyway.

Judge Sullivan appointed John Gleeson, a retired federal judge who had criticized Mr. Barr’s move in a Washington Post opinion column, to provide arguments critiquing it. Mr. Gleeson filed a scathing brief contending that prosecutors’ stated rationale made no sense and must be cover for a corrupt and politically motivated decision. The department has denied that accusation.

Judge Sullivan had scheduled a hearing to discuss the issue when the process was derailed by a surprise decision by a three-judge panel on the appeals court in June. It voted 2 to 1 to grant a request by Mr. Flynn’s lawyer, Sidney Powell, that the appeals court immediately order Judge Sullivan to dismiss the case without review.

But the two judges in the majority on that panel — Neomi Rao and Karen L. Henderson — have shown more willingness than their colleagues to interpret the law in Mr. Trump’s favor. Last month, the full court voted to erase the panel decision and rehear the issue, an intervention that suggests it is likely to let Judge Sullivan hold the hearing after all.

Questions from the judges on Tuesday further bolstered the impression that a majority of them on the full court appear likely to reject Ms. Powell’s request. But even so, it was less clear that letting the process play out would force the Justice Department to divulge significant new information about what led to Mr. Barr’s decision.

Judge Sullivan’s lawyer, Beth Wilkinson, has argued that he has the authority to explore whether the proposed dismissal served “due and legitimate prosecutorial interests” or was instead contrary to the public interest, suggesting that he needed to examine “the facts and circumstances.” The Trump administration has reacted with alarm to the notion of an intrusive factual inquiry requiring it to show what went into Mr. Barr’s move to dismiss the charge beyond the rationale it has cited in public filings.

On Tuesday, Jeff Wall, the acting solicitor general, urged the court to again order the case dismissed immediately. But even if the court instead lets the judge proceed, Mr. Wall said, it should instruct him not to pry into what was behind the statements the Justice Department made in its court filings because, he argued, the constitutional system of separation of powers is “meant to guard against oversight and scrutiny of this core executive discretion.”

But while also arguing that the Justice Department did not have to explain its thinking, Mr. Wall suggested that Mr. Barr might have had a secret reason for dismissing the case.

“The attorney general, of course, sees this in a context of nonpublic information from other investigations,” he said, adding: “It may be possible that the attorney general had before him information that he was not able to share with the court. And so what we put in front of the court were the reasons we could, but may not be the whole picture available to the executive branch.”

On behalf of Judge Sullivan, Ms. Wilkinson argued against imposing any restrictions or instructions on what kind of questions he could ask at the hearing, assuming he is allowed to hold one. Among other things, she noted that because the written briefs are not complete, it is not clear what all the issues are.

But she also repeatedly emphasized that to date he has not ordered any steps that would require the submission of internal Justice Department documents or sworn declarations. And she noted that if he asked about internal deliberations at the hearing and Justice Department lawyers declined to answer, he might choose not to pursue the matter.

Ms. Wilkinson also argued that orders like the one Ms. Powell has requested — a so-called writ of mandamus — are supposed to be for extraordinary situations in which there is no other remedy. Here, if the normal process plays out, Judge Sullivan might decide to dismiss the case, she noted — or, if he decides not to do so, that ruling could then be appealed.

Ms. Powell argued, as she has before, that Judge Sullivan has no authority to second-guess the Justice Department’s decision to drop the case, and that it was improper for him to appoint Mr. Gleeson and schedule a hearing rather than immediately ending the matter. She also accused him of displaying bias against her client.

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appeals Court

Full D.C. Appeals Court Agrees To Take Up Michael Flynn Legal Case – NPR

Post author By seenuna
Post date July 30, 2020
No Comments on Full D.C. Appeals Court Agrees To Take Up Michael Flynn Legal Case – NPR

Former national security adviser Michael Flynn’s legal odyssey continues after the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit agreed to hear oral arguments in the case next month.

Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP

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Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP

The full U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit says it has scheduled oral arguments in the case of former national security adviser Michael Flynn on Aug. 11.

A smaller panel of judges within the D.C. Circuit ruled earlier that a lower-court judge must terminate the case against Flynn, as requested both by his attorneys and — in an unusual wrinkle — the Justice Department.

That lower-court judge, U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan, said he wanted to probe the reasons for the government’s move, but the smaller appellate panel ordered him to stop that work and simply end the matter.

Sullivan asked for the full appeals court to consider the case, and it agreed on Thursday.

Next installment in long saga

Flynn’s legal odyssey has been churning for years — he pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his conversations with Russia’s then-ambassador to the United States in the waning days of President Barack Obama’s administration. Flynn then became what the government called a model cooperator in the Russia investigation.

That relationship soured, however, after Flynn replaced his legal team.

Flynn’s attorneys began to press for the revelation of more material they called pertinent to his case and sought to withdraw his initial guilty plea. In their eyes and those of supporters, the actions of the FBI and Justice Department were improper.

In the meantime, William Barr became attorney general and amid broad Republican political antipathy toward the legacy of the Russia investigation, took a sympathetic view of Flynn’s case.

So Barr and the Justice Department told Sullivan they wanted to abandon the prosecution of Flynn even after his admission of guilt, prompting the judge to initiate an investigatory and advisory process aimed at learning how the government had reached that decision.

A former judge appointed by Sullivan to give him an assessment about the government’s position called it an abuse of power by an attorney general obviously acting favorably toward a friend of the president.

Barr, meanwhile, defended his handling of the Flynn matter then and now, including at a hearing this week before the House Judiciary Committee.

The full D.C. appeals court likely will assess whether Sullivan can go ahead with the consideration and investigation of the government’s change of heart; the smaller panel of judges ruled that he had overstepped himself and violated the privilege of the executive branch to reach decisions about prosecutions confidentially.

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Court Orders

Court orders Michael Cohen’s release – POLITICO

Post author By seenuna
Post date July 23, 2020
No Comments on Court orders Michael Cohen’s release – POLITICO

A lawyer for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan insisted that the conditions presented to Cohen earlier this month were not aimed at quashing publication of his book. Assistant U.S. Attorney Allison Rovner said the probation officer who presented Cohen with the list of limits received the language from a colleague in May and was not even aware that Cohen was planning a book.

“With all respect, your honor, it is actually impossible to draw the inference that you’re suggesting,” Rovner said.

But the judge made clear from the outset of Thursday’s court session that he was highly dubious of the government’s position. He said logic dictated that the provision about media contact was aimed at silencing Cohen and that ordering him rejailed because he didn’t want to sign also amounted to retaliation.

Officials have denied any political motive in the handling of Cohen’s release or reimprisonment. However, in a court filing Wednesday, one prison system official said Bureau of Prisons Deputy Director Gene Beasley was consulted and concurred before Cohen was ordered back into custody two weeks ago. Government lawyers did not submit a declaration from Beasley indicating whether he discussed the matter with the BOP director or officials at Justice Department headquarters.

Hellerstein also said the authorities handling Cohen appeared to have overreacted to efforts by one of his attorneys to negotiate the terms of his release.

Probation officer Adam Pakula submitted a declaration that called Cohen “combative” and “argumentative” during the back-and-forth about the conditions, but Hellerstein said it seemed odd to penalize Cohen simply for objecting.

“Why could not something like that be a subject of negotiation with an attorney? What’s an attorney for if he’s not going to negotiate an agreement for his client?” Hellerstein asked. “That’s a common thing. If you want to call it discussion, negotiation, you can call it that. I can’t see there’s a fair inference made because an attorney is negotiating, there’s an exhibit of intransigence on the part of the defendant.”

Hellerstein also complained that after the discussion about the conditions, Cohen was told to wait and then simply taken into custody without any further exchange. Cohen has maintained that while he objected to several aspects of the proposed agreement, he would have signed it if he had known the alternative was to be sent back to prison.

“Mr. Cohen was never given a chance to say, ‘If this is it, I will sign,'” the judge said.

Rovner said the Bureau of Prisons wasn’t obliged to do anything more.

“I think he was not then given a chance to sign, but he had already refused,” Rovner said. “I don’t think that BOP is necessarily required to give him a chance to negotiate.”

At one point during Thursday’s session, Hellerstein grew prickly as second prosecutor — Thomas McKay — attempted to interject with what he called a “factual matter” related to the dispute.

“Is Ms. Rovner not capable of answering my question?” the judge snapped. “You keep quiet. If Ms. Rovner wants to consult you, she may. … One person speaks on a side.”

While clearly siding with Cohen, the judge did signal that he thought some limits on the former Trump lawyer’s media activities were reasonable, noting that he remained a prisoner even if serving his sentence at home.

However, it was unclear whether the judge fully appreciated how broadly someone can engage with the press and the public from home via the use of modern technology.

“Could he turn his home into a television studio?” the judge asked skeptically. “Just as you wouldn’t have a press conference from a jail cell, you shouldn’t be allowed to have a press conference. You can communicate. You can discuss. You can post on social media. All sorts of thing. …You can’t make a person confined to jail at home into a total free person. There’s got to be a limit.”

During the hearing, Cohen attorney Danya Perry initially resisted any limits on Cohen’s speech, arguing that they did not serve “any legitimate penological purpose.” However, she later said she was willing to negotiate with prison officials on terms to cover Cohen’s conduct while confined at home.

“He wants to be able to publish and edit his book,” said Perry. “Mr. Cohen will be happy to work with them. … I don’t know what the Bureau of Prisons is looking to do.”

The language Cohen was initially asked to agree to said the limits on his speech and contact with the media were intended to “avoid glamorizing or bringing publicity to [his] status as a sentenced inmate serving a custodial term in the community.”

In 2018, Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to a series of charges, including tax evasion, campaign finance violations related to payments during the 2016 campaign to women claiming sexual relationships with Trump, and lying to a Senate committee about the state of discussions during the same campaign about a Trump Tower Moscow project.

Some lawyers said Trump seemed to be implicated in the campaign finance charges and the charge of lying to Congress, but no charge was ever brought against him.

Justice Department policy bars charging a sitting president. Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team declined to opine on whether Trump had or had not broken the law, but Attorney General William Barr announced that the evidence did not support any such charge.

Trump has accused Cohen of fabricating stories in order to try to curry favor with prosecutors.

Cohen was sent home in May after serving about half of his sentence.

Tags Court, Orders