A state lawmaker wants to repeal a law that allowed a Dearborn judge last week to briefly jail a Quran-burning pastor who wanted to demonstrate outside the nation’s largest mosque. “Not that I agree with the things Pastor Terry Jones has said or done, but people on the left and the right are furious about [...]

OLYMPIA – Gov. Chris Gregoire vetoed most of a ground-breaking expansion of the state’s medical marijuana law Friday, saying the bill would have put state workers at risk of arrest by federal authorities. Gregoire crossed out sections that would have legalized marijuana dispensaries and had state health and agricultural employees regulating the quality and potency [...]

The Rev. Michael Pfleger is in big trouble. And there is a madness and sadness to it all. Last week, Chicago Cardinal Francis George publicly suspended Pfleger for what amounts to insubordination. Pfleger is being punished for pushing back against the cardinal’s control and authority as George tries to move him out of St. Sabina [...]

A new state law gives civil and criminal immunity to business people and their employees who use deadly force in the face of life-threatening criminals. But the law may not protect corporate owners from lawsuits, and at least one large local business is telling its employees to leave their guns at home anyway. Gov. Mary [...]

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Mitt Romney offered a tepid defense of the Massachusetts health care law, suggesting to an audience last night at the Granite State’s first forum of the 2012 presidential campaign that he would sign it again if given the chance. “I went to work to try and solve a problem,’’ Romney said. “It [...]

HONOLULU The Hawaii Legislature has passed a two-year extension of a law protecting journalists from having to reveal sources or unpublished information in court. The House of Representatives unanimously approved the bill Thursday, sending it to Gov. Neil Abercrombie for his consideration. The measure previously passed the Senate. The measure extends the journalist shield law [...]

In the year since Republican Gov. Jan Brewer signed the nation’s toughest immigration measure into law, Arizona has been besieged by protests, boycotts and a barrage of negative headlines — not to mention a lawsuit from the Obama administration. But that hasn’t deterred a handful of other states from following Arizona’s lead. The Justice Department [...]

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Florida House has voted to repeal a Florida law that makes it a crime for two or more people to combine to “levy war against any part of a people” of the state. The chamber unanimously voted Wednesday for a bill (HB 7139) to remove the 1868 law from state statutes. [...]

MEXICO CITY — Mexico’s Senate on Thursday approved changes in the country’s competition law that will give the regulator greater powers and increase penalties for companies and individuals found engaging in monopolistic practices. The Senate voted 91-0 in favor of the bill, which was also unanimously approved two weeks ago by the lower house of [...]

The big firms in American Lawyer’s rankings are changing their business models. Even partners aren’t safe now. In boom times, law firms bill tons of hours advising companies on mergers and acquisitions. When things go bust, they rake in fees presented by bankruptcies, reorganizations, and shareholder lawsuits. Yet the billable-hours set was hit especially hard [...]