10th Circuit Court

10th Circuit rules Utah gay-marriage ban is unconstitutional

A divided federal appeals court panel in Denver on Wednesday upheld a decision by a federal judge in Utah that a voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional under the 14th Amendment. “Courts do not sit in judgment of the hearts and minds of the citizenry,” said the Denver-based 10th…

Jun 25, 2014 5:45 PM CDT

10th Circuit Judge William Holloway Jr. dies

William J. Holloway Jr., a judge on the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, died Friday. He was 90 years old. According to the Associated Press, Holloway died from a respiratory illness at his Oklahoma City home. Holloway, a former Justice Department lawyer, was appointed to the 10th Circuit…

Apr 25, 2014 9:40 PM CDT

Federal judge provides for jury counseling after marshal fatally shoots defendant in court

A new federal courthouse in Salt Lake City was touted for its enhanced security features. However, when a defendant in a racketeering case lunged at a witness at his trial began Monday, it wasn’t the exterior vehicle barricades or the bullet-resistant glass and paneling that stopped him but an armed…

Apr 22, 2014 2:35 PM CDT

Defendant shot dead by marshal after charging witness stand during trial, officials say

Updated: A defendant in a federal racketeering trial was shot multiple times in the chest by a federal marshal Monday after he lunged toward the witness stand holding a pen or pencil, officials said. The defendant, 25-year-old Siale Angilau, died in the hospital at around 2 p.m. The trial of…

Apr 21, 2014 6:00 PM CDT

New federal courthouse looks like ‘a gigantic air conditioner compressor’

Architects are exuberant about the new federal courthouse that opened in Salt Lake City last week. But a lot of city residents aren’t pleased with the structure, which is widely known as “the Borg cube,” the Salt Lake Tribune reports. The moniker refers to a Star Trek alien race and…

Apr 21, 2014 1:40 PM CDT

Facial recognition database leads feds to fugitive 37 years after prison escape

A man who escaped from federal prison in Kansas in 1977 while serving a 23-year sentence for a premeditated murder and aggravated assault committed while he was a U.S. Army private was arrested in Florida on Thursday. James Robert Jones was tracked down, nearly 37 years later, after the Army…

Mar 14, 2014 4:45 PM CDT

Jailed based on mistaken identity, some who did nothing wrong are held days, weeks or months

At least 100 people have been wrongfully jailed in St. Louis over the past seven years, sometimes for lengthy periods, based on mistaken identities. Yet, through the use of technology, such as fingerprinting, it should have been relatively easy to verify the claims of those wrongfully incarcerated that they were…

Oct 29, 2013 7:05 PM CDT

Swiss bank exec faces US extradition in $20B tax case, due to vacation in Italy

After he was indicted by a federal grand jury in 2008 in a $20 billion U.S. tax fraud conspiracy case, Swiss banking executive Raoul Weil declined to be extradited and his legal counsel said he had done nothing wrong. That put the criminal case against him on hold, since Switzerland…

Oct 22, 2013 4:15 PM CDT

Appeals court rules for Abercrombie in headscarf case

A federal appeals court has vacated a lower court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on its claim that Abercrombie & Fitch failed to provide a reasonable religious accommodation for a prospective employee who wears a hijab, or headscarf, for religious reasons. The…

Oct 4, 2013 9:57 PM CDT

10th Circuit says judge erred in denying payment to lawyer who challenged execution method

An Oklahoma lawyer who mounted an unsuccessful legal challenge to the method of execution eventually used on his client in a death-penalty case is entitled to be paid for his time, a federal appeals court has ruled. Reversing a federal district court’s decision not to award attorney fees to James…

Sep 4, 2013 7:55 PM CDT

Judge says 2 cities can maintain pit bull bans that accommodate service animals

Two Colorado cities have done enough to accommodate the disabled owners of pit bull dogs that are also service animals, a federal judge in Denver has ruled. After a 2011 federal court decision that found flat-out bans of the entire breed violated the Americans with Disabilities Act, the city of…

Aug 5, 2013 8:45 PM CDT

Law prof files discrimination charge, alleges ‘stark inequality’ in pay for men and women

A law professor has filed a federal administrative complaint against the University of Denver, contending that she has been a victim of gender discrimination and is paid less than comparable male faculty. Lucy Marsh alleges in her Tuesday complaint that the university’s Sturm College of Law pays full professors who…

Jul 10, 2013 11:30 AM CDT

Federal judge sequesters 19 lawyers in jury room, tells them to ‘identify genuine issues’ by 2 pm

A federal judge put 19 lawyers in his Salt Lake City jury room on Monday morning and told them he hoped they would “identify genuine issues” in a nearly 40-year-old case over the prosecution of crimes on an Indian reservation by the time he returns to the bench at 2…

Jun 24, 2013 6:50 PM CDT

Federal judge OKs suit over ‘shocking’ claim 911 operator told harassed man to return to crime scene

Disagreeing with a recommendation by a magistrate that a civil rights case should be dismissed, a federal judge in Denver gave a green light on Monday to a family’s lawsuit over the death of a Sudanese refugee. Soon-to-be victim Jimma Reat, 25, and others called 911 in April 2012 reporting…

Jun 18, 2013 10:15 PM CDT

Man can challenge constitutionality of state’s ‘rain god’ license plate, 10th Circuit

An Oklahoma man can sue the state over its Indian ‘rain god’ license plate on First Amendment grounds, a federal appeals court has held. Keith Cressman, a Bethany pastor, claims that the license plate violates his religious rights as a Christian. U.S. District Judge Joe Heaton had dismissed the suit…

Jun 14, 2013 8:18 PM CDT