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Toal seeking millions to safeguard SC court info
Court News |
2014/03/14 14:53
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The head of South Carolina's judicial system says she needs more money to safeguard digital information for courts around the state.
Chief Justice Jean Toal told a Senate panel Wednesday that it would take about $5.5 million to set up a site at Clemson University that could serve as a backup for digital court records now stored in Columbia.
Toal says she also needs about $500,000 to train staff on data security measures.
The House budget approved Wednesday doesn't include that money. But Toal says the state's courts would be crippled if the information were wiped out and not backed up.
Toal is also asking for the money to fund new circuit court and family court judges, as well as staff attorneys for both appellate courts. |
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French court blocks secret recordings of Sarkozy
Headline Legal News |
2014/03/14 14:52
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A French court has ordered an ex-aide of Nicolas Sarkozy to pay 10,000 euros ($14,000) in damages and costs to the former French president over secret recordings that were published in an online journal, and instructed the publication to pull down the links.
Sarkozy and his pop-star-supermodel wife, Carla Bruni, had demanded an emergency injunction blocking publication of their conversation, which surfaced in the online publication Atlantico. The court Friday ordered Atlantico to take down the audio files.
Once-trusted aide Patrick Buisson was ordered to pay 10,000 euros in damages to Sarkozy for making the recordings, and Atlantico and Buisson were each ordered to pay 1,000 euros in court costs.
Atlantico has already pulled the playful exchange between Sarkozy and Bruni. |
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Man pleads guilty to sea cucumber smuggling charge
Press Release |
2014/03/10 14:07
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Federal prosecutors in San Diego say a man has pleaded guilty to charges he smuggled 100 pounds of dried sea cucumber into the United States from Mexico.
Sea cucumbers are leathery-skinned marine animals used in some folk medicine practices.
United States Attorney Laura E. Duffy says Cheng Zhuo Liu (chuhng joo-oh lee-oo), a resident of Chula Vista, admitted to tucking the sea cucumbers into the spare tire area of his car before crossing the border last October.
According to the US attorney's office, their market value was between $5,000 and $10,000.
The particular species Liu had is protected under international trade rules, and requires a permit for import.
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Driver pleads guilty in deadly bus stop crash
Court News |
2014/03/10 14:06
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A driver who plowed into a Riverside bus stop, killing a woman and a 7-year-old girl, has pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter.
The Press-Enterprise reports 46-year-old Joe Williams was ordered Thursday to serve six months in custody of the Sheriff's Department, but his sentence could include a work-release program in lieu of jail time.
Williams was indicted after prosecutors told a grand jury that he had a history of blackouts seizures and should not have been driving.
Authorities say Williams, a parking enforcement agent, blacked out at a red light on Dec. 28.
When motorists behind him honked their horns, Williams accelerated, veered up onto the shoulder of the road and crashed into a bus bench.
Twenty-eight-year-old Melissa Bernal and 7-year-old Aniya Mitchell were killed. |
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Court upholds $185 million award against Argentina
Court News |
2014/03/07 15:18
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The Supreme Court has upheld a British natural gas company's multimillion dollar award against the government of Argentina.
BG Group won $185 million through arbitration of a dispute with Argentina over investment in natural gas development. An arbitration tribunal said the company did not have to first submit the dispute to Argentine courts before arbitration could begin.
Argentina asked a U.S. court to throw out the award. The federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., sided with Argentina because it found that judges, not arbitrators, should decide where attempts to resolve the dispute should begin.
But the Supreme Court said Wednesday the arbitrators get to make that call and that they were correct to rule in favor of BG Group in this case. |
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