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Court to hear dispute over state tax collection
Headline Legal News |
2014/05/30 15:14
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The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to consider a dispute over how a state may tax the income that its residents earn in another state.
In a case that could affect how taxes are collected in every state, the justices will hear an appeal from Maryland officials who want to overturn a lower court ruling that found the state's tax law unconstitutional.
Maryland law allows residents to deduct income taxes paid to other states from their Maryland state tax. But it does not apply that deduction when it comes to a local "piggyback tax" the state collects for counties and some city governments.
Last year, the Maryland Court of Appeals said the tax violates the Constitution's Commerce Clause. The court said the law discourages Maryland residents from earning money outside the state.
Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler says the state has authority to tax all income of its residents, even income earned outside the state. He said the Court of Appeals' decision could cost local governments $45 million to $50 million annually and warned that Maryland might have to refund up to $120 million in taxes.
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Arkansas court says judge went too far on voter ID
Headline Legal News |
2014/05/16 15:07
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The Arkansas Supreme Court tossed out a judge's ruling striking down the state's voter ID law on Wednesday, but stopped short of ruling on the constitutionality of the measure.
In a 5-2 ruling, justices vacated a Pulaski County judge's decision that the law violates Arkansas' constitution. Pulaski County Circuit Judge Tim Fox had struck down the law in a case that had focused on how absentee ballots are handled under the law, but justices stayed his ruling while they considered an appeal.
Fox also has ruled the law unconstitutional in a separate case but said he wouldn't block its enforcement during this month's primary. That ruling is being appealed to the high court.
Justices said Fox didn't have the authority to strike down the law in the case focusing on absentee ballots. They noted that there was no request before Fox in the case to strike down the law. |
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German court awaiting details of Gurlitt will
Headline Legal News |
2014/05/09 11:32
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A German court says it's awaiting details of a will drawn up by Cornelius Gurlitt, the reclusive art collector who hoarded more than 1,000 artworks at his apartment and died this week.
Munich district court president Gerhard Ziel said Wednesday that Gurlitt left a will with a notary in the southwest region of Baden-Wuerttemberg, news agency dpa reported.
He said the court expects to receive the document next week and will then establish whether it was correctly filed and whether Gurlitt named heirs.
Gurlitt's spokesman isn't commenting on who might inherit the works.
But German officials say that any heirs are bound by a deal under which Gurlitt agreed that hundreds of pieces from the collection would remain in government hands while they are checked for a possible Nazi-era past. |
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Court revives victim lawsuit in mistaken shooting
Headline Legal News |
2014/05/05 15:19
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The Supreme Court has reinstated the lawsuit filed by a former major league baseball player's son who was shot on the porch of his family home by a Houston-area police officer.
The justices on Monday ordered a lower court to reconsider the case of Robert Tolan, son of former major leaguer Bobby Tolan. The son was shot in the chest after police mistakenly believed he was armed and had stolen a vehicle.
A Houston-area jury acquitted Bellaire police Sgt. Jeffrey Cotton of criminal charges in the shooting, which happened on New Year's Eve in 2008. A federal appeals court dismissed Tolan's civil lawsuit claiming that Cotton used excessive force.
The high court said the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals acted too hastily. |
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Court revives EPA rule on cross-state pollution
Headline Legal News |
2014/04/29 16:59
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The Supreme Court has given the Environmental Protection Agency an important victory in its effort to reduce power plant pollution that contributes to unhealthy air in neighboring states.
The court's 6-2 decision Tuesday means that a rule adopted by EPA in 2011 to limit emissions from plants in more than two-dozen Midwestern and Southern states can take effect. The pollution drifts into the air above states along the Atlantic Coast and the EPA has struggled to devise a way to control it.
Power companies and several states sued to block the rule from taking effect, and a federal appeals court in Washington agreed with them in 2012.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote the court's majority opinion. Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas dissented. |
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