A federal judge blocked the federal government Monday from requiring tobacco companies to begin putting graphic new warning labels on cigarette packages, cartons and advertisements beginning next year. In a 29-page decision , U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon granted a request from five tobacco companies to issue a preliminary injunction barring implementation of the Food and Drug Administration’s new mandate. Read full article > >

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Graphic cigarette warning labels blocked by judge

Federal judge stays Nashville curfew.

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Occupy Movement Wins in Court

In a lacerating decision that accused Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of willfully ignoring the racial imbalance in the department, a federal judge ruled that a court-appointed authority would be installed to ensure that more minority candidates are hired.

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Monitor Must Oversee N.Y. Fire Dept. Hiring, Judge Rules

On the same day that a federal judge upheld most provisions of a strict immigration-enforcement law in Alabama, frightened Hispanics began moving out of Albertville in the northern part of the state.

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After Ruling, Hispanics Flee an Alabama Town

The Obama administration is escalating its crackdown on tough immigration laws, with lawyers reviewing four new state statutes to determine whether the federal government will take the extraordinary step of challenging the measures in court. Justice Department attorneys have sued Arizona and Alabama , where a federal judge on Wednesday allowed key parts of that state’s immigration law to take effect but blocked other provisions. Federal lawyers are talking to Utah officials about a third possible lawsuit and are considering legal challenges in Georgia, Indiana and South Carolina, according to court documents and government officials. Read full article > >

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Obama administration widens challenges to state immigration laws

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — A federal judge refused Wednesday to block key parts of a closely watched Alabama law that is considered the strictest state effort to clamp down on illegal immigration, including a measure that requires immigration checks of public school students. U.S. District Judge Sharon Blackburn wrote in a 115-page opinion finding some parts of the law that conflict with federal statutes, but others that don’t. Left standing at least temporarily are several key elements that help make the Alabama law stricter than similar laws passed in Arizona, Utah, Indiana and Georgia. Other federal judges already have blocked all or parts of those. Read full article > >

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Federal judge upholds key parts of Alabama immigration law seen as toughest in nation

CHICAGO — A federal judge indefinitely delayed on Monday the sentencing for ousted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich on multiple corruption convictions, including attempted extortion for trying to sell or trade President Barack Obama’s vacated U.S. Senate seat in exchange for campaign donations or a high-paying job. Read full article > >

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Judge delays sentencing for ex-Ill. Gov Blagojevich indefinitely, denies post-trial motions

Consider this bit of braggadocio about the advances of gay rights: More than two-thirds of Americans say they would vote for their party’s “well-qualified gay candidate for president.” The first openly gay male federal judge was just confirmed by an overwhelming majority in the Senate, and President Obama has nominated four other gay candidates for the bench. Read full article > >

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Same-sex marriage cases wind their way to Supreme Court as political climate changes

RICHMOND, Va. — New cigarette warning labels that show the sewn-up corpse of a smoker or a picture of diseased lungs shouldn’t be prevented from appearing on packs next year while a federal judge determines whether they violate tobacco companies’ free speech rights, the Food and Drug Administration said Friday. Some of the nation’s largest tobacco companies, led by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. and Lorillard Tobacco Co., sued last month to block the labels, questioning their constitutionality and saying that changing cigarette packaging will cost millions of dollars. Read full article > >

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FDA says judge shouldn’t stop graphic new cigarette warning labels

SAN FRANCISCO — A week after a big win against Oracle, German software maker SAP AG has been dealt a new blow in a theft case involving a now-defunct subsidiary. The Justice Department has criminally charged the SAP subsidiary, TomorrowNow, with 12 counts related to the theft of software and documents from Oracle Corp. websites in a 4-year-old case. The theft, which SAP has acknowledged, led to a $1.3 billion jury verdict against SAP last year. Last week, a federal judge threw out the award, calling it “grossly excessive.” Unless Oracle accepts a lower, $272 million award, a new trial will be ordered in the civil case. Read full article > >

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Justice Department files criminal charges against defunct SAP division in Oracle theft case

A federal judge temporarily blocked enforcement of a tough immigration law in Alabama on Monday.

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Alabama immigration law blocked

A former Moody’s analyst has been ordered to pay $34.6 million for his role in an insider trading scheme, the Securities and Exchange Commission said Wednesday. Deep Shah was charged in 2009 with participating in a scheme that included Galleon Management and its founder, hedge fund billionaire Raj Rajaratnam. Shah allegedly provided confidential information about corporate acquisitions, including Blackstone Group’s 2007 purchase of Hilton Hotels. Shah is believed to be in India and has not responded to the SEC’s civil complaint, the agency said. A federal judge issued a default judgment against him Tuesday. The $34.6 million includes a penalty of $24.6 million and $8.2 million to cover his ill-gotten gains along with those of others who profited from his tips, the SEC said. Read full article > >

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Fugitive analyst told to pay $34.6 million

A federal judge ruled that the class-action case on behalf of pregnant women at the company lacked evidence.

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Judge Rules for Bloomberg L.P. in Class-Action Bias Lawsuit

A federal judge ruled Wednesday that shooting suspect Jared Lee Loughner is mentally unfit to stand trial for the Jan. 8 rampage in Tucson that wounded Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and killed six, citing expert testimony that Loughner is schizophrenic and shows a paranoid distrust of his own defense attorneys. Facing an agitated Loughner in a Phoenix courtroom, U.S. District Judge Larry A. Burns remanded him to a federal facility in Springfield, Mo., where he will receive treatment aimed at restoring his competency. The judge ordered that Loughner be treated for up to four months, and if he is then deemed to be competent, the case against him could resume. If not, he could remain in treatment. Read full article > >

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Jared Lee Loughner ruled unfit for trial in Tucson rampage

Talks between the NFL and its locked-out players before a mediator are scheduled to resume Tuesday in Minneapolis, with a decision by a federal judge about whether to end the sport’s shutdown looming.

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NFL lockout: league, players to resume talks