• Gas Industry Sues Colorado City over Fracking Ban
• Source: Denver Post   |   Longmont, Colo.   |   December 19, 2012
• The oil and gas industry hit Longmont with a lawsuit to kill voters' recent ban on fracking within city limits.

• Georgia Debuts New Tax Court
• BY: McClatchy News   |   Georgia   |   December 18, 2012
• Created last year by the Legislature, the specialized court is intended to resolve tax disputes in a more efficient and predictable manner.

• Gun Bill to Get 'Extra Consideration' by Michigan Gov. Snyder in Wake of Connecticut Shooting
• Source: AP/Lansing State Journal   |   Michigan   |   December 18, 2012
• Gov. Rick Snyder pledged to take a close look at legislation that could allow concealed weapons in schools and churches following the massacre at a Connecticut elementary school that evoked painful, personal memories of a fatal shooting at his college dormitory more than three decades ago.
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• Ohio Gov. Kasich to Sign Gun Bill Despite Calls for Veto
• Source: Cleveland Plain Dealer   |   Ohio   |   December 18, 2012
• Gov. John Kasich said he intends to sign a new concealed carry law allowing guns into the Statehouse parking garage, rejecting a call to veto the bill in the wake of last week's shootings in Connecticut.
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• Report: Most Executions Occur in Only a Few States
• Source: AP/Houston Chronicle   |   Nation   |   December 18, 2012
• Just four states carried out more than three-fourths of the executions in the United States this year, while another 23 states have not put an inmate to death in 10 years, an anti-capital punishment group reports.

• Newtown Debates Gun Rights, Controls
• Source: Reuters   |   Newtown, Conn.   |   December 17, 2012
• In Newtown, an anguished debate has broken out: how to protect the rights of responsible gun owners, including hunters, while working to prevent another massacre.
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• Gun Rights Battle May Reach Supreme Court
• Source: AP/Sacramento Bee   |   Nation   |   December 17, 2012
• The next big issue in the national debate over guns -- whether people have a right to be armed in public -- is moving closer to Supreme Court review.

• Texas' Death Row Population at Its Lowest Since 1989
• BY: The Texas Tribune   |   Texas   |   December 14, 2012
• The population on Texas' death row is at its lowest in more than 20 years, and the state has seen a 75 percent drop in death sentences since 2002.

• Ban on Loud Car Music Struck Down by Florida Supreme Court
• Source: Miami Herald   |   Florida   |   December 14, 2012
• The Florida Supreme Court has struck down a law that made it illegal for music coming from a car to be “plainly audible” from 25 feet or more.
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• 2 NYC Police Get Higher Pensions in Claims of 9/11-Related Cancer
• Source: New York Times   |   New York   |   December 14, 2012
• The state’s highest court awarded enhanced pension benefits to two retired New York City police officers who said they were sickened by their work at the World Trade Center site, overturning a pension board’s ruling that their cancers were not related to ground zero.

• Illinois Supreme Court OKs Prison Closures
• BY: McClatchy News   |   Illinois   |   December 12, 2012
• The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees had sued to prevent the closures, arguing they would worsen prison overcrowding and put employee's lives in danger.

• Federal Court Rules Illinois' Concealed-Carry Ban Unconstitutional
• BY: McClatchy News   |   Illinois   |   December 11, 2012
• In a 2-1 decision that is a major victory for the National Rifle Association, the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals said the state's ban on carrying a weapon in public is unconstitutional.
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• Judge: North Carolina Can't Offer Only Pro-Life License Plates
• Source: Raleigh News & Observer   |   North Carolina   |   December 11, 2012
• A federal judge has ruled that North Carolina cannot issue “Choose Life” license plates without offering a choice of plates with alternate viewpoints.
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• Los Angeles Schools Win Key Court Battle with Charters
• BY: McClatchy News   |   Los Angeles   |   December 7, 2012
• An appeals court struck down a ruling that could have opened up vast numbers of classrooms for charters, while also creating potential hardships for traditional neighborhood schools.

• Entire El Paso School Board Stripped of Authority After Cheating Scandal
• BY: The Texas Tribune   |   El Paso, Texas   |   December 7, 2012
• The move comes in the wake of accusations that the trustees failed to catch a scheme tied to former Superintendent Lorenzo Garcia that either removed or advanced students who were not passing.