Latest Courts News

Appeals court orders new trial for man on Texas' death row over judge's antisemitic bias

Nov. 06, 2024 19:09 PM EST

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — A Texas appeals court ordered a new trial Wednesday for a Jewish man on death row — who was part of a gang of prisoners that fatally shot a police officer in 2000 after escaping — because of antisemitic bias by the judge who presided over his case. Lawyers...

Democrats gain another statewide position in North Carolina with Rachel Hunt victory

Nov. 06, 2024 18:54 PM EST

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Democrats will hold one additional spot in the group of top statewide elected positions in North Carolina after Tuesday's elections, while Republicans continued their recent dominance in appellate court races, winning three seats and leading narrowly in a fourth. ...

Trump's election could assure a conservative Supreme Court majority for decades

Nov. 06, 2024 17:34 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump has already appointed three Supreme Court justices. In his second term, he could well have a chance to name two more, creating a high court with a Trump-appointed majority that could serve for decades. The decisive outcome spares the court from having...

Highest court in Massachusetts hears arguments in Karen Read's bid to dismiss murder charge

Nov. 06, 2024 13:47 PM EST

BOSTON (AP) — An attorney for Karen Read on Wednesday argued at the state's highest court that trying her again on several charges related to the death of her Boston police officer boyfriend amounted to double jeopardy and that it should allow jurors to be questioned about the verdict. ...

Stewart wins election as Alabama chief justice

Nov. 06, 2024 12:13 PM EST

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama Supreme Court Justice Sarah Stewart was elected as the state’s chief justice, becoming the first Republican woman to be elected to the position. Stewart easily defeated Circuit Judge Greg Griffin, a Democrat from Montgomery, in the low-key election...

Allison Greenfield, the law clerk disparaged by Donald Trump, is elected as a judge in Manhattan

Nov. 06, 2024 10:46 AM EST

NEW YORK (AP) — Allison Greenfield, the law clerk whom Donald Trump assailed with falsehoods during his civil fraud trial last year, has been elected as a New York City judge. Greenfield, 38, was one of six candidates for six seats on Manhattan’s civil court, which handles small...

Democrat-backed justices keep their majority on Michigan’s Supreme Court

Nov. 06, 2024 05:22 AM EST

DETROIT (AP) — Michigan Democrats have successfully defended control of the state Supreme Court after an expensive campaign with reproductive rights as a key issue. Court races are nonpartisan but candidates are nominated at party conventions. Republicans had hoped to flip the...

Democrat-backed justices keep their majority on Michigan’s Supreme Court

Nov. 06, 2024 05:00 AM EST
DETROIT (AP) — Democrat-backed justices keep their majority on Michigan’s Supreme Court.

Justice who opposed blocking an Arkansas abortion referendum will lead the state Supreme Court

Nov. 06, 2024 02:56 AM EST

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A justice who wrote a blistering dissent when the Arkansas Supreme Court blocked an abortion-rights measure from the ballot has been elected to lead the court. Justice Karen Baker defeated Justice Rhonda Wood to replace Chief Justice Dan Kemp in Tuesday’s...

Australian High Court overturns law that forced scores of migrants to wear tracking bracelets

Nov. 06, 2024 01:46 AM EST

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australia’s highest court ruled Wednesday that migrants can’t be forced by law to wear electronic tracking bracelets or to comply with curfews. The ruling is a blow to the government, whose lawyers have unsuccessfully argued that laws imposing...