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By The Associated Press, Anchorage Daily News
Alaska's procedures for dealing with companies that buy oil leases but don't develop them were debated Wednesday in a case before the state Supreme Court.
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By Becky Bohrer, The Associated Press, Anchorage Daily News
The Alaska Redistricting Board on Tuesday decided on a partial appeal of a judge's decision that they redraw four House districts.
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AL: Bentley calls for cuts to government, funding and reform for schools
By Brian Lyman, Montgomery Advertiser
Gov. Robert Bentley called Tuesday night for new economic development legislation and special tax credits for teachers, while promising to protect Public Safety, the Department of Corrections and the Department of Human Resources from potentially steep cuts in the state's General Fund.
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AR: Hutchinson firm to represent secretary of state in redistricting lawsuit
By Rob Moritz, Arkansas News Bureau
Secretary of State Mark Martin, the lone Republican on a panel that redrew legislative districts last year, said today the law firm of a former GOP congressman and gubernatorial candidate will represent him in a lawsuit that contends the new boundaries dilute the black vote in an eastern Arkansas Senate district.
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CA: Proposition 8 ruling was just but wobbly
By Staff, The Washington Post
Is it unconstitutional to forbid same-sex couples from calling their unions a "marriage" if — as is the case in California — they enjoy the same legal rights and responsibilities as opposite-sex partners in the state?
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CA: Gay marriage fight may hinge on Supreme Court's Anthony Kennedy
By David G. Savage, Los Angeles Times
The Supreme Court has nine justices, but if the constitutional fight over same-sex marriage reaches them this year, the decision will probably come down to just one: a California Republican and Reagan-era conservative who has nonetheless written the court's two leading gay rights opinions.
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CA: Gay marriage foes weigh their next move
By Howard Mintz, Contra Costa Times
Same-sex marriage foes now have a simple choice in the legal battle over California's Proposition 8 -- ask a federal appeals court to reconsider its ruling invalidating the voter-approved ban on gay nuptials, with low odds of success. Or move swiftly to the more conservative U.S. Supreme Court, thrusting the same-sex marriage debate to the high court's docket in the midst of presidential election campaigning.
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CA: Counties ready to handle state's juvenile offenders, study says
By Michael Montgomery, California Watch
County governments have invested nearly a half-billion dollars over the past 15 years to modernize juvenile lockups and now have the capacity to absorb offenders currently housed in the state's youth prisons, if those facilities are closed, a new study contends.
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CA: No closure in sight for Golden State
By Geoffrey A. Fowler, The Wall Street Journal
Opponents and backers of gay marriage in California are caught in a waiting game. As the battle over California's Proposition 8 gay-marriage ban continues to make its way through the courts, the state may not have a final verdict until 2013.
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CA: Ruling may add to political fracas
By Jess Bravin and Geoffrey A. Fowler, The Wall Street Journal
Gay marriage already has become an issue in the presidential race. The major Republican candidates, except Ron Paul, have signed a pledge saying they are committed to an amendment to the U.S. Constitution banning same-sex marriage.
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CA: A ruling for equal rights
By Staff, The New York Times
This nation still has a long way to go to overcome one of the great remaining barriers to full equality and fairness, but a federal appeals court panel brought it a big step closer with a well-grounded ruling on Tuesday striking down a voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage in California.
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CA: Divided court rejects Proposition 8
By Maura Dolan and Carol J. Williams, Los Angeles Times
SAN FRANCISCO and LOS ANGELES -- A federal appeals court has declared California's 2008 voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional, concluding that the prohibition served no purpose other than to "lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians."
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CO: Court made right call on medical pot for criminals
By Staff, The Denver Post
Can a criminal on probation be barred from smoking pot — even if he has a state certificate granting him the right to medical marijuana? The state Court of Appeals says the answer is yes, and we think it made the right call.
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CO: Colorado crime bill stirs abortion debate
By Lynn Bartles, The Denver Post
Two of the legislature's most conservative lawmakers are sponsoring a bill that critics say would criminalize abortion and establish "personhood" status for a fetus.
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CO: Governor names county judge
By Jeff Tucker, The Pueblo Chieftain
Gov. John Hickenlooper appointed Public Defender David Lobato to the Pueblo County bench Tuesday.
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DE: Business, media interests in dispute over 'secret court'
By Sean O'Sullivan, The News Journal (New Castle-Wilmington)
The decision by the Delaware Court of Chancery to establish what some see as a "secret court" for business has set up a showdown between the court, the national media and top business interests.
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DE: Crime-reduction resources already in place, Delaware officials told
By Mike Chalmers, The News Journal (New Castle-Wilmington)
HIGH POINT, N.C. -- Wilmington seems to already have most of the building blocks it needs to deploy the crime-reduction strategy that has helped this city break up open-air drug markets and cut gang violence, officials here told a Delaware delegation Monday. "It may be just a matter of connecting those resources," said Wilmington Police Chief Michael Szczerba.
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FL: Veterans Court headed to Broward County
By Audra D.S. Burch, The Miami Herald
Legislation that would allow the establishment of separate courts for veterans was unanimously passed in House Appropriations Committee. The chief judge in each judicial circuit would be allowed — but not required — to create a vet court. Two similar bills are making their way through the Senate.
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FL: Ex-South Florida politician to plead guilty to tax charges in federal corruption probe
By Jay Weaver, The Miami Herald
A former Fort Lauderdale politician who is the only elected official charged in a major federal public corruption probe of Tallahassee's "pay-to-play" politics has decided to plead guilty to tax-evasion offenses. Mandy Dawson, who served in the Florida Legislature for 16 years, signaled her intention to change her plea in court papers filed this week.
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IA: Bill seeks to reinstate death penalty in Iowa
By ROd Boshart, Sioux City Journal
The leader of the Senate Republican minority is pushing to reinstate a limited death penalty in Iowa for any adult who kills a minor in the commission of a rape or kidnapping.
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ID: Repeal of archaic laws is trip down memory lane
By The Associated Press, The Idaho Statesman (Boise)
The Idaho Supreme Court's efforts to repeal obsolete laws offered a trip down memory lane, to the days when passenger trains sped across the Snake River Plain and the telegraph let people quickly communicate over the West's vast distances.
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IL: Ill. House backs more rights for crime victims
By The Associated Press, Northwest Indiana Times (Munster)
Illinois lawmakers are considering a change to the state constitution that would guarantee crime victims a bigger voice in what happens to offenders.
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IN: Indiana high court takes over Charlie White dispute
By The Associated Press, Evansville Courier and Press
The Indiana Supreme Court on Tuesday decided to take over the legal battle in which Democrats are trying to have convicted Republican Secretary of State Charlie White replaced by their 2010 candidate for that office.
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IN: Indiana stage builder cited in state fair collapse
By The Associated Press, Evansville Courier and Press
State fair officials, the stagehands union and a company that built the roof and lights rigging for a massive concert platform all share blame for last summer's deadly stage collapse at the Indiana State Fair, according to a government investigation.
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IN: Right-to-work fines put on hold by Ind. high court
By The Associated Press, Northwest Indiana Times (Munster)
The state Supreme Court placed on hold Wednesday all legislative fines against Democrats who boycotted the Indiana House during the right-to-work battle until it rules on whether it's legal for those fines to be deducted from their paychecks.
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IN: Court denies bid to replace Indiana sec'y of state
By The Associated Press, Northwest Indiana Times (Munster)
The Indiana Supreme Court has turned down a request by Democrats to have convicted Republican Secretary of State Charlie White replaced by their 2010 candidate for that office.
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IN: AG will seek to block Democratic legal move
By The Associated Press, Northwest Indiana Times (Munster)
The Indiana attorney general's office says it will object to a legal move by Democrats to put their 2010 secretary of state candidate in office following Republican Secretary of State Charlie White's conviction on voter fraud charges.
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KY: More court funds urged
By Deborah Yetter, The Courier-Journal (Louisville)
After several years of budget cuts, Kentucky's court system is in urgent need of money for upgrades in several areas, including technology, Chief Justice John Minton told a legislative panel Tuesday.
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KY: Judge -- Revise Ky. legislative districts ... again
By The Associated Press, Bowling Green Daily News
The Kentucky secretary of state was ordered Tuesday not to implement newly redrawn legislative districts because a judge found that they don't meet constitutional muster.
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LA: Any Gulf of Mexico oil spill settlement should include money for coastal restoration, Sierra Club says
By Bruce Alpert, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans)
The Sierra Club is asking President Barack Obama to ensure any settlement of the government's case against responsible parties for the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico include financing for Gulf Coast coastal restoration efforts. A lengthy trial to determine liability under the Clean Water Act and Oil Pollution Act is scheduled to begin Feb. 27 in New Orleans federal court.
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LA: Bill would abolish pardons by governor
By Ed Anderson, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans)
Gubernatorial pardons would be abolished if lawmakers approve and voters adopt a proposed change in the state Constitution filed Tuesday by a Louisiana House member from New Orleans.
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MA: Sal DiMasi's rumored testimony adds to Probation fear
By Laurel J. Sweet, Boston Herald
Disgraced former House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi could testify before a federal grand jury hearing evidence of corruption in the state Probation Department any day now — but his onetime pals on Beacon Hill are said to already be "on pins and needles" waiting for indictments to hit.
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MD: Henson robocall trial postponed
By Luke Broadwater, The Sun (Baltimore)
The election fraud trial of veteran political consultant Julius Henson was postponed Wednesday because of the illness of the state's primary investigator in the case.
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MD: Appeals court -- State cannot re-indict defendants unfit for trial
By Arthur Hirsch, The Sun (Baltimore)
A Maryland appeals court has ruled that the state violated the rights of two men who were found incompetent to stand trial and were then held in state institutions beyond the legal time limit without going through proceedings for commitment to a mental hospital.
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MD: Maryland joins nationwide mortgage settlement
By Hanah Cho, The Sun (Baltimore)
Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler has agreed to join other states in a multibillion-dollar settlement with the nation's five largest mortgage servicers — a landmark agreement that would aid homeowners who were victims of shoddy and illegal foreclosure paperwork practices.
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MD: Disgraced collector pleads guilty to stealing historical documents
By Peter Hermann, Steve Kilar and Tricia Bishop, The Sun (Baltimore)
Barry H. Landau, the once-esteemed collector of presidential memorabilia, admitted in federal court Tuesday that he stole thousands of documents regarded as cultural treasures from historical societies and libraries in Baltimore and up the East Coast.
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MI: Michigan takes on its deadly cities
By Matthew Dolan, The Wall Street Journal
DETROIT — Gov. Rick Snyder, recalibrating his spending plans after a string of victories for his business-friendly agenda, is promising a state-led campaign to make Michigan's most troubled cities safer. This fight promises to be tougher.
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MS: Lawmakers defend pardon request
By Jessica Bakeman, The Clarion-Ledger (Jackson)
Frances McDonald of Bay St. Louis turned to her elected official when she believed her friend was wrongly convicted of murder.
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MS: House panel snubs Hood, OKs bill limiting AG's authority
By Jeff Amy, The Associated Press, The Clarion-Ledger (Jackson)
A state House committee voted Tuesday to push forward a bill that would cut Attorney General Jim Hood's authority, turning down Hood's request to speak to the group before it voted.
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MS: Panel OKs bill to cut AG power
By Jeff Amy, The Associated Press, Hattiesburg American
A state House committee voted Tuesday to push forward a bill that would cut Attorney General Jim Hood's authority, turning down Hood's request to speak to the group before it voted.
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MT: Judge rejects challenge to Montana coal lease
By The Associated Press, The Bozeman Daily Chronicle
A judge has rejected a lawsuit challenging the state Land Board's lease of 587 million tons of publicly owned coal in southeastern Montana, removing a hurdle to a proposed mine with that could drastically expand the state's coal production.
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MT: State shuts down health insurance scam
By The Associated Press, The Bozeman Daily Chronicle
The state has shut down a health insurance scam and reached an agreement for insurers to pay $170,000 in medical bills for Montana victims.
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MT: Oil boom prompts more troopers for eastern Montana
By The Associated Press, Great Falls Tribune
Montana's Highway Patrol is boosting the number of troopers assigned to the eastern part of the state to handle growing law enforcement demands created by the region's oil boom.
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MT: Montana judge rules against Molnar in ethics case
By Matt Gouras, The Associated Press, Great Falls Tribune
Public Service Commissioner Brad Molnar was correctly fined $21,000 for violating ethics laws by using state government equipment for re-election campaign work, a judge said in an order filed Tuesday.
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NE: Legislature passes jail contraband bill
By The Associated Press, Lincoln Journal Star
People convicted of smuggling cigarettes, money or cellphones to Nebraska inmates would find themselves behind bars for up to a year, under a bill approved by the Legislature.
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NH: NH hospital officials blast for-profit cancer center bill
By Ted Siefer, The Union Leader (Manchester)
Representatives of the state's major hospitals fought a proposal that could pave the way for a for-profit cancer facility to come to the state at a hearing Tuesday that was notable for the absence of the company that was the impetus for the legislation: Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA).
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NJ: Bribery trial begins for former state Sen. Wayne Bryant
By Jeff Pillets, The Record of Bergen County
EnCap attorney Eric Wisler paid $8,000 a month to keep former state Sen. Wayne Bryant "in his pocket," providing public loans and changing state laws for his clients, a government lawyer said Tuesday.
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NM: Group files lawsuit over trapping in New Mexico
By The Associated Press, Santa Fe New Mexican
Environmentalists filed a lawsuit Tuesday against wildlife managers over their decision last summer to lift a trapping ban in southwestern New Mexico where the federal government is reintroducing Mexican gray wolves.
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NM: N.M. Supreme Court hears redistricting appeal
By Barry Massey, The Associated Press, Santa Fe New Mexican
The New Mexico Supreme Court on Tuesday waded into a political dispute over legislative redistricting that could influence elections for the coming decade and may help determine whether Republicans can win a majority in the state House of Representatives for the first time in a half century.
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NY: Push to avert foreclosures hits court logjam
By William Glaberson, The New York Times
New York has been among the most aggressive states in trying to protect homeowners from foreclosure, granting new legal protections and turning courts across the state into teeming negotiation centers working to keep people in their homes.
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OH: Kasich wants 'war' on slave trade
By Alan Johnson, The Columbus Dispatch
With Gov. John Kasich declaring "war on the slave-trade business" in Ohio, the state is enlisting over-the-road truck drivers, training more law-enforcement officers and creating "the Hub" to respond to human-trafficking crimes.
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PA: Federal judge rejects halt to April elections
By Karen Langley, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
A federal judge Wednesday rejected requests by top Republican state lawmakers to prevent April 24 elections from proceeding under existing legislative districts.
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PA: Sandusky seeks State College-area jury for trial
By The Associated Press, Erie Times-News
Jerry Sandusky's lawyer filed court paperwork Wednesday arguing that jurors in Sandusky's child sex-abuse trial should be chosen from the community where he lives and suggesting that a trial delay might be the best way to address the intense publicity generated by the case.
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PA: State wants Sandusky kept inside his home
By Kris Maher, The Wall Street Journal
The Pennsylvania attorney general asked a judge to require that Jerry Sandusky remain inside his home, except to seek medical treatment, as the former Pennsylvania State University football coach awaits trial on child-sex-abuse charges.
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RI: R.I. Senate votes to disqualify murderers, other violent criminals, from early release
By Katherine Gregg, The Providence Journal
For the second year in a row, the state Senate has responded to the public uproar over the potential release, 12 years early, of convicted child killer Michael Woodmansee by approving legislation to disqualify murderers, rapists, child molesters and other violent criminals from early-release from prison for "good behavior."
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RI: Cranston West prayer banner is covered with wood
By The Associated Press, The Providence Journal
Lawyers on both sides of a legal battle over a prayer banner at Cranston High School West have agreed on conditions for the display while city officials decide whether to appeal an order requiring its removal.
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SC: In voter ID case, South Carolina fights back against Obama administration
By Warren Richey, The Christian Science Monitor
The Justice Department has blocked a South Carolina law requiring all voters to have government-issued photo IDs, saying it would be discriminatory. The state asked a three-judge panel to intervene Wednesday, saying that the Obama administration is out of line.
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SC: S.C. sues to save Voter ID
By Meg Kinnard, The Associated Press, The Post and Courier (Charleston)
The U.S. Justice Department was wrong to block South Carolina from requiring voters to show government-issued photo identification to vote, the state's top prosecutor argued in a lawsuit filed Tuesday.
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SD: SD Senate sends school evaluation bill to House
By The Associated Press, Rapid City Journal
In an effort to get South Dakota schools away from No Child Left Behind, senators have passed a bill that sets a new school achievement and financial accountability system to judge performance.
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SD: Tougher penalties for DUI rejected
By John Hult, Argus Leader (Sioux Falls)
Two proposals in Pierre designed to toughen penalties for impaired drivers who hurt or kill someone in an accident failed in committee Tuesday. South Dakota lawmakers said drunken drivers don't automatically belong in the same legal category as rapists or robbers
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TN: Haslam's judges plan gets support
By The Associated Press, The Tennessean (Nashville)
MOUNT PLEASANT, Tenn. — Gov. Bill Haslam's plan for writing the state's judicial selection system into the Tennessee Constitution survived a challenge Tuesday from a fellow Republican in the state House.
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TN: Tennessee is close to evicting Occupy Nashville
By Chas Sisk, The Tennessean (Nashville)
Tennessee lawmakers moved toward removing the Occupy Nashville encampment from the state Capitol with a pair of votes Tuesday in which they also amped up the threat of jail time.
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US: States negotiate $26 billion deal for homeowners
By Nelson D. Schwartz and Shaila Dewan, The New York Times
After months of painstaking talks, government authorities and five of the nation's biggest banks have agreed to a $26 billion settlement that could provide relief to nearly two million current and former American homeowners harmed by the bursting of the housing bubble, state and federal officials said.
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US: States with highest foreclosure rates among bank deal holdouts
By Staff, Bloomberg Businessweek
California, New York, Nevada, Florida and Massachusetts are among the states that haven't signed off on a settlement with banks over foreclosure abuses, according to state officials and two people familiar with the talks. The holdouts include some with the highest rates of foreclosures.
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UT: Utah House OKs changes to sex-offender registry
By Robert Gehrke, The Salt Lake Tribune
The Utah House on Tuesday unanimously passed a measure Tuesday that would allow some people stuck on the sex-offender registry for the least egregious crimes to petition their way off the list.
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UT: Utah lawmaker seeks to end DUI checkpoints
By Robert Gehrke, The Salt Lake Tribune
A Utah lawmaker wants to do away with roadblocks that law enforcement uses to crack down on drunken drivers, saying they are ineffective and infringe on civil liberties.
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UT: Utah Supreme Court hears lunch-lady sex case
By Aaron Falk, The Salt Lake Tribune
The state's highest court is now considering whether a middle school lunch lady accused of having sex with a teen boy should be allowed to waive her right to a jury trial and, despite protest from prosecutors, have her case heard by a judge.
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UT: Utah high court to hear posthumous benefits case
By Jennifer Dobner, The Daily Herald (Provo)
Utah's Supreme Court on Tuesday considered what it means to "parent" and whether a sperm donor contract is proof that a man wanted to be father, even after his death.
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WA: Wis. court upholds child abuse conviction
By The Associated Press, La Crosse Tribune
A state appeals court has ruled a jury properly convicted a Kenosha woman of forcing her young son to take a cold shower that killed him.
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WA: Hundreds of WA state employees paid to stay home
By The Associated Press, The News Tribune (Tacoma)
Hundreds of Washington state employees are paid to stay home every year during investigations for possible misbehavior or crimes such as theft or harassing co-workers.
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WI: Former Walker aide to enter plea to 2 misdemeanors
By The Associated Press, La Crosse Tribune
A staffer who worked for Gov. Scott Walker when Walker was the Milwaukee County executive is expected to plead guilty to charges of posting pro-Walker messages online on work time.
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WI: Democrats tour state to talk about Walker probe
By The Associated Press, La Crosse Tribune
Democratic officials are traveling across the state to talk about the ongoing investigation into former close aides and associates of Gov. Scott Walker when he served as Milwaukee County executive.
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WV: W.Va. Senate passes 911, protective order changes
By The Associated Press, Charleston Daily Mail
The West Virginia Senate unanimously passed two bills Wednesday that would offer increased protections for children and adult victims of domestic or sexual abuse, plus victims of stalking and harassment.
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States slowly opening courts to cameras
By Maggie Clark, Stateline Staff Writer
Broadcasts of court proceedings have been exceptions in the past at all levels of government. But the barriers are coming down.
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