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Miss Universe pageant fights back on rigging claim
Legal News Feed |
2012/06/08 11:28
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The Miss Universe Organization says a former contestant should be made to pay for her "defamatory" claims that this year's Miss USA pageant was a sham.
The New York-based organization made a filing with a dispute resolution company over the former Miss Pennsylvania USA's assertion that another contestant spotted the list of finalists on a planning sheet hours before the event was even held Sunday, its lawyer Scott Balber said Friday.
A statement from the organization said it was seeking compensation for her "ongoing defamatory statements," but Balber wouldn't say how much money the Miss Universe Organization was seeking.
The pageant also released a statement from Miss Florida USA — the contestant Sheena Monnin claims saw the list — in which she disputes Miss Pennsylvania's version of the events that prompted her to step down.
Monnin gave up her crown Monday, claiming in a Facebook post that the pageant had been rigged, with the top five finishers selected before the show was broadcast Sunday night from Las Vegas. Pageant organizers immediately denied Monnin's allegation and claimed she had actually stepped down because she disagreed with the pageant's decision to allow transgender contestants.
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Kan. gov. signs measure blocking Islamic law
Legal News |
2012/05/26 16:13
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Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback has signed a law aimed at keeping the state's courts or government agencies from basing decisions on Islamic or other foreign legal codes, and a national Muslim group's spokesman said Friday that a court challenge is likely.
The new law, taking effect July 1, doesn't specifically mention Shariah law, which broadly refers to codes within the Islamic legal system. Instead, it says courts, administrative agencies or state tribunals can't base rulings on any foreign law or legal system that would not grant the parties the same rights guaranteed by state and U.S. constitutions.
"This bill should provide protection for Kansas citizens from the application of foreign laws," said Stephen Gele, spokesman for the American Public Policy Alliance, a Michigan group promoting model legislation similar to the new Kansas law. "The bill does not read, in any way, to be discriminatory against any religion."
But supporters have worried specifically about Shariah law being applied in Kansas court cases, and the alliance says on its website that it wants to protect Americans' freedoms from "infiltration" by foreign laws and legal doctrines, "especially Islamic Shariah Law."
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Court orders woman to stay away from Jeff Goldblum
U.S. Court News |
2012/05/25 16:13
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A judge on Friday granted Jeff Goldblum a temporary restraining order against a woman who has been repeatedly ordered to stay away from the actor in recent years.
Goldblum's attorneys obtained the order against Linda Ransom, 49, after she repeatedly went to the actor's home three times this month. A previous stay-away order against Ransom from 2007 has expired and police claim she has told them that she will not stop trying to meet Goldblum unless a restraining order is in place.
The filings state Ransom has been arrested three times for violating previous restraining orders. Goldblum first alerted authorities to her in 2001 after she attended one of his acting classes and then started waiting outside his home.
"Over the past decade, I have experienced substantial emotional distress due to Ms. Ransom's continuous stalking, harassing, and threatening behavior," Goldblum wrote in a sworn court declaration.
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2nd campaign aide to DC mayor pleads guilty
Court News |
2012/05/24 16:13
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For the second time in three days, a former campaign staffer to District of Columbia Mayor Vincent Gray has pleaded guilty to a federal offense arising from Gray's 2010 mayoral bid.
Howard Brooks pleaded guilty Thursday to lying to the FBI about payments he made to another mayoral candidate using Gray campaign funds. On Tuesday, former Gray aide Thomas Gore pleaded guilty to making some of the same payments and shredding records of them.
Authorities said the cases makes clear that the Gray campaign engaged in dirty politics.
"Today's guilty plea further reveals the underhanded dealings that tainted the integrity of the 2010 mayoral campaign," U.S. Attorney Ronald Machen said in a statement.
What remains unclear is whether Gray participated in or even knew about the criminal activity. While Gray has suffered politically from the scandal, he has not been implicated in any crimes. He has insisted previously during a long-running federal probe that he knew nothing about the potential misdeeds committed by staffers.
The most serious offenses that arose from the cases against Gore and Brooks occurred after Gray took office and involved attempts to conceal the Gray campaign's schemes. Gore pleaded guilty to shredding records of payments made with Gray campaign funds to Sulaimon Brown, a minor mayoral candidate. And Brooks admitted lying to the FBI about his involvement in giving Brown the money. |
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