National News

WASHINGTON (AP) — Barely four months before the nation votes, one of the biggest factors in the fight for the White House still is a mystery. That will change on Thursday. The Supreme Court's expected ruling on President Barack Obama's sweeping federal health care law will shape the contours of the presidential campaign through the […]

Top News

I guess some people would rather live with their failure than risk crediting someone who doesn’t look like them for turning it into a success. By some people, I mean the Republican lawmakers, state attorneys and legions of Tea Partiers who are hoping that perhaps as soon as tomorrow, the Supreme Court will throw out […]

National News

DETROIT (AP) — The Supreme Court ruling that banned states from imposing mandatory life sentences on juveniles offers an unexpected chance at freedom to more than 2,000 inmates who have never been able to seek release and had virtually no hope that their prospects would change. In more than two dozen states, lawyers can now […]

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Civil rights advocates and black lawmakers praised Monday’s Supreme Court ruling that struck down key provisions of Arizona’s controversial 2010 immigration law but expressed fears that the justice’s decision that upheld a provision that requires police to check the status of people who might be in the country illegally will spur an increase in racial […]

National News

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court ruled Monday that it is unconstitutional for state laws to require juveniles convicted of murder to be sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole. The 5-4 decision is in line with others the court has made, including ruling out the death penalty for juveniles and life without […]

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Funeral services for Walter L. Gordon, Jr., a legendary Los Angeles trial attorney, drew scores of prominent elected and appointed officials and noted civic and community leaders. For nearly seven decades, Gordon, who died April 16 and would have been 104 on June 22, represented mostly African-American clients with an irrepressible combination of dignity, wit […]

Health & Wellness

For many HIV-positive Americans, and those who advocate on their behalf, these are days of anxious waiting as the Supreme Court ponders President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul. This loose-knit community — made up of activists, health professionals and an estimated 1.2 million people living with HIV — has invested high hopes in the Affordable […]

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A seemingly divided Supreme Court on Monday weighed a potentially costly challenge to the pharmaceutical industry’s practice of not paying overtime to its sales representatives. The justices questioned whether the federal law governing overtime pay should apply to the roughly 90,000 people who try to persuade doctors to prescribe certain drugs to their patients. Many […]

National News

In a case that affects thousands of businesses and millions of workers, the California Supreme Court ruled Thursday that employers are under no obligation to ensure that workers take legally mandated lunch breaks. The unanimous opinion came after workers’ attorneys argued that abuses are routine and widespread when companies aren’t required to issue direct orders […]

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Can’t a brother talk about judges or the Supreme Court? Apparently not if he’s President of the United States. President Barack Obama caused a firestorm last week when he said that he didn’t expect the Supreme Court to strike down the health care law because it “would be an unprecedented, extraordinary step of overturning law […]

The case of Shelley vs. Kraemer dates back to 1945, when the family of J.D. Shelley purchased a home in a St. Louis neighborhood that had apparently been under a restrictive covenant. This meant that white families in the area had a clause in their real estate contracts stating that no family with “Negro or […]