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New Jersey, leagues renew court tussle over sports gambling
Legal Business |
2015/03/20 14:35
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The fight over legalized sports gambling in New Jersey returned to a federal appeals court Tuesday, where attorneys for the state and the country's major sports leagues spent nearly an hour parsing language in a decades-old federal statute and in recent court rulings.
At issue: Whether a 2014 New Jersey law repealing prohibitions against sports gambling violates the 1992 federal Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, which says states cannot "sponsor, operate, advertise, promote, license or authorize" sports betting.
A good portion of Tuesday's oral arguments before the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals focused on the meaning of the word "authorize," and whether New Jersey did that when Gov. Chris Christie signed the law striking the betting prohibitions.
Attorneys from both sides endured sharp questioning from the court, which heard a previous incarnation of the case in 2013. In the ruling that followed that argument, the court said New Jersey couldn't be prevented from repealing its sports gambling laws. The state seized on that language to write its 2014 law. |
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Egypt court sentences 14 Islamists to death
Court News |
2015/03/20 14:35
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Egypt's official news agency says a criminal court has sentenced 14 people, including the leader of the country's banned Muslim Brotherhood, to death.
The Giza Criminal Court issued its decision on Monday, however the court set an April 11 date to formally issue the ruling after consulting with the country's grand mufti; the mufti reviews all death penalty cases, but his ruling is not binding.
The case is rooted in violence that swept the country after the military-led ouster of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, whose supporters set up large protest encampments in Cairo.
Security forces violently ended the sit-ins, killing hundreds. In retaliation, many police stations and churches came under attack by alleged Morsi supporters. The court convicted Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohammed Badie and 13 others of orchestrating the violence. |
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Court upholds death sentence for Pakistan governor's killer
Attorney News |
2015/03/12 11:48
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A Pakistani court has upheld the death sentence of a man convicted of killing a provincial governor he had accused of blasphemy.
But the two-judge panel in Islamabad on Monday threw out the terrorism charges against him.
Mumtaz Qadri, a former police commando, was supposed to be protecting Gov. Salman Taseer in 2011 when he shot and killed him. Qadri's defense was that Taseer opposed Pakistan's so-called "blasphemy laws."
Qadri was convicted and sentenced in 2011.
It is unclear whether Qadri will be put to death as Pakistan has thousands of people on death row but also has a moratorium on carrying out executions. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif partially lifted the moratorium in December, allowing it to be used in terrorism-related cases. |
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Bankruptcy court to weigh Revel sale, but loopholes exist
Headline Legal News |
2015/03/12 11:48
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A bankruptcy court judge will consider — yet again — the proposed sale of Atlantic City’s former Revel Casino hotel to a Florida developer.
But the $82 million deal has loopholes that could let the owner, Revel AC, or the purchaser, Glenn Straub, back out before it is due to close March 31.
The latest sale agreement between Revel and Straub’s Polo North Country Club contains a “fiduciary out.” It is language that gives Revel the right to scrap the Straub deal if a higher offer presents itself before the deal closes.
That is crucially important this week with a new potential purchaser, Los Angeles developer Izek Shomof, planning a bid for Revel after touring the property last week. A hearing to consider the proposed sale is set for Thursday. |
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Justices pepper health care law opponents with questions
Attorney News |
2015/03/05 16:09
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Supreme Court justices peppered opponents of President Barack Obama's health care law with skeptical questions during oral arguments Wednesday on the latest challenge to the sweeping legislation.
Justice Anthony Kennedy, whose vote is seen as pivotal, suggested that the plaintiffs' argument raises a "serious" constitutional problem affecting the relationship between states and the federal government.
The plaintiffs argue that only residents of states that set up their own insurance markets can get federal subsidies to help pay their premiums.
Millions of people could be affected by the court's decision. The justices are trying to determine whether the law makes people in all 50 states eligible for federal tax subsidies to cut the cost of insurance premiums. Or, does it limit tax credits only to people who live in states that created their own health insurance marketplaces?
During oral arguments, the courts' liberal justices also expressed doubts. In an earlier case involving the law, however, Kennedy was on the opposite side, voting to strike down a key requirement.
A ruling that limits where subsidies are available would have dramatic consequences because roughly three dozen states opted against their own marketplace, or exchange, and instead rely on the U.S. Health and Human Services Department's healthcare.gov. Independent studies estimate that 8 million people could lose insurance coverage.
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