In a surprise move, a three-judge panel of a federal appeals court based in Virginia has tossed out one of the most prominent challenges to the health reform law. This is the first appeals court to throw out a case for lack of standing after a lower court had ruled on the merits. It leaves the Affordable Care Act with an even scorecard in the courts, with one appeals court ruling in favor of the health-care law’s constitutionality and one against it. Both cases have centered on the law’s individual mandate, which requires nearly all Americans to purchase health insurance beginning in 2014. Read full article > >

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Appeals court rejects Va. challenge to federal health-care law

Appeals court throws out 2009 law.

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Same-Sex Couples to Get Benefits

SAN DIEGO — The man accused in the Arizona shooting rampage kept himself awake for 50 hours straight after an appeals court stopped forced medication. He walked in circles until he developed sores and then declined antibiotics to treat an infected foot. Already thin, he stopped eating and shed nine pounds. U.S. District Judge Larry Burns described Jared Lee Loughner’s behavior to explain his refusal to overrule prison doctors who decided to resume forced medication July 18. The drugging, he said, “seems entirely appropriate and reasonable to me.” Read full article > >

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Judge allows prison to drug Arizona shooting suspect as details emerge on fragile mental state

A Thai appeals court clears the ex-wife of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra of tax evasion, overturning a three-year jail sentence.

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Thaksin ex-wife cleared of fraud

A Thai appeals court clears the ex-wife of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra of tax evasion, overturning a three-year jail sentence.

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Thaksin ex-wife cleared of fraud

A federal appeals court ruling could force Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz to turn over at least $300 million.

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Madoff Decision Is Significant Setback for Owners of Mets

A federal appeals court Friday struck down a central provision of the 2010 health-care law, ruling that Congress overstepped its authority by requiring virtually all Americans to obtain health insurance. The divided three-judge panel from the U. S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta is the first appellate court to rule against any portion of the statute. The decision marks a significant victory for the 26 Republican attorneys general and governors who challenged the health-care law on behalf of their states. Read full article > >

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Appeals court strikes down health-care law’s insurance mandate

THE CONSTITUTIONALITY of the new health-care law — specifically, the constitutionality of the requirement that every individual obtain health insurance or pay a fine — is now squarely teed up for the Supreme Court. One federal appeals court, the Cleveland-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit, has upheld the individual mandate by a 2 to 1 majority. On Friday, another, the 11th Circuit based in Atlanta, found the mandate unconstitutional , again splitting 2 to 1. The issue is also before the 4th Circuit in Richmond and the federal appeals court in the District. The mandate does not take effect until 2014. But given the central importance of the individual mandate to the architecture of the health-care law, the sooner the Supreme Court finally decides the matter, the better. Read full article > >

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Health care and the Constitution

A three-judge panel of the federal appeals court based in Atlanta on Friday ruled the health-care overhaul law’s individual mandate is unconstitutional, in one of the largest legal challenges to the Obama administration’s signature achievement. This is the second federal appellate court to rule on the law; the first decision, by a Cincinnati-based court, upheld the measure. It is also the most high profile ruling, responding to a challenge to the law brought by 26 states. The law’s constitutionality is likely to be ultimately decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. Read full article > >

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Health-care law individual mandate ruled unconstitutional by 11th Circuit appeals court

It might not seem like the spot for a dance party, but on Saturday, dozens of people shimmied, shook and even funky-walked inside the Jefferson Memorial in protest of a recent court ruling banning such behavior. About 200 people gathered on the steps to highlight their opposition to a U.S. Appeals Court decision handed down in May that banned dancing inside the memorial. More than 3,000 had signed up via Facebook to attend the event. But unlike last weekend, when five people were arrested and video posted to YouTube raised questions about police conduct , no arrests were reported. However, the memorial was shut down for about 90 minutes as officers worked to clear out demonstrators. Read full article > >

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Dancers shimmy at the Jefferson Memorial

MOSCOW — A Moscow appeals court has upheld the second conviction of oil magnate Mikhail Khodorkovsky, but it also reduced his prison sentence by one year. Tuesday’s decision means that the 47-year-old Khodorkovsky will remain in prison until 2016, a total of 13 years. He was convicted in December of stealing oil from his own company and laundering the proceeds, a ruling that drew strong international condemnation. Khodorkovsky was seen as a political threat to Vladimir Putin, who was president in 2003 when Khodorkovsky was arrested and remains Russia’s most powerful leader now that he is prime minister. Read full article > >

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Moscow appeals court upholds conviction of Mikhail Khodorkovsky but cuts sentence by 1 year

Should you find yourself drifting to the side of the players in the NFL labor dispute , it doesn’t mean you’ve gone all communist. Some fans may feel that to support the players is anti-capitalist, a little too May Day. But there is the spirit of free enterprise, and then there is the spirit with which NFL owners tend to do business. They aren’t at all the same thing. What’s so American about gouging, price-fixing, and frankly, sucking the life out of fans? There is a pattern forming. In the past week — before Monday’s appeals court ruling extending the lockout — we’ve seen a new stadium proposal for the Minnesota Vikings that amounts to a bilking of taxpayers. A judge is preparing to punish owners for cheating the players in negotiated TV deals. And waiters are suing a company co-founded by Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones for withholding tips from $35-a-day concession workers. If you had any lingering thoughts that the owners have been misunderstood or that the lockout isn’t their fault, recent events may have cured you of any sympathy with them. Read full article > >

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NFL lockout: In owners’ enterprise, nothing’s free

Niger’s appeals court drops all charges of misappropriating state funds against ousted President Mamadou Tandja and orders his release.

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Niger court drops Tandja charges

A US appeals court denies ex-Enron chief executive Jeff Skilling a new trial, upholding his conviction on 19 counts of conspiracy, fraud and other crimes.

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Enron’s Skilling denied new trial

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal appeals court has refused to allow gay marriages to take place in California while it considers the constitutionality of the state’s ban.

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Appeals court won’t allow gay marriages in Calif. while appeal of Prop. 8 ban proceeds