Court: Broad protection for whistleblowers

The Supreme Court says whistleblower protections in a federal law passed in response to the Enron financial scandal apply broadly to employees of publicly traded companies and contractors hired by the companies.

The justices ruled 6-3 Tuesday in favor of two former employees of companies that administer the Fidelity family of mutual funds. The workers claimed they faced retaliation after they reported allegations of fraud affecting Fidelity funds.

The case involved the reach of a provision of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, passed in 2002 in response to the Enron scandal, that protects whistleblower activity. The measure was intended to protect people who expose the kind of corporate misdeeds that arose at Enron.

No mistrial for LA man who threw chair in court

A Los Angeles County judge has refused to declare a mistrial for a man who threw a chair and injured a police detective during his murder trial.

Superior Court Judge Ronald H. Rose also rejected a defense attorney's request Thursday for mental competency tests for Jesus Mendez.

But City News Service reports Mendez must be secured to a chair with handcuffs and restraining belt for the remainder of his trial.

Rose says the restraints must not be visible to the jury. Mendez had been appearing in court in civilian clothes without handcuffs to avoid prejudicing the jury.

Mendez threw the chair just after entering court Wednesday, hitting the detective in the head. She was hospitalized and in good condition.

Mendez is charged with fatally shooting a man during a robbery.

California appeals court upholds plastic bag ban

A California appeals court has upheld San Francisco's ban on single-use plastic bags that can serve as a precedent for other cases.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports the 1st District Court of Appeal issued its ruling last month and published it Friday as precedent binding on lower courts. The ordinance was passed in February 2012 and prohibits plastic bags that can be used only once and requires stores to charge 10 cents for recyclable plastic or paper bags.

A lawsuit by Save the Plastic Bag Coalition said plastic bags took more energy to produce than plastic and take up more space in landfills.

Similar measures have been adopted in about 50 cities and counties in California and have survived legal challenges. The state Supreme Court upheld a plastic-bag ban in 2011.

Va. court: Hookah lounge exempt from smoking ban

A divided Virginia Court of Appeals has ruled that a Blacksburg hookah lounge is exempt from the state's restaurant smoking ban.

In a 6-3 ruling Tuesday, the court said the She-Sha Cafe and Hookah Lounge is not subject to the ban because it's a retail tobacco store as well as a restaurant. She-Sha says most of its revenue comes from customers' use of hookahs - tall water pipes that are used to smoke flavored tobacco.

The state law regulating indoor public smoking covers restaurants but specifically exempts tobacco retailers. The court's majority cited that exemption in ruling in She-Sha's favor.

The decision reverses a three-judge panel's ruling that She-Sha is covered by the ban because it also serves food.

Federal appeals court halts horse slaughterhouses

A federal appeals court on Monday temporarily halted plans by companies in New Mexico and Missouri to begin slaughtering horses, continuing on-again, off-again efforts to resume domestic equine slaughter two years after Congress lifted a ban on the practice.

The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver issued a temporary injunction barring the Department of Agriculture from inspecting the plants, which were gearing up to open in the coming days after a federal judge in Albuquerque on Friday dismissed a lawsuit by The Humane Society of the United States. The Humane Society and other animal protection groups alleged the department failed to conduct proper environmental studies when it issued permits to the slaughterhouses.

The Humane Society filed an immediate appeal and won an emergency injunction.

"Horse slaughter is a predatory, inhumane business, and we are pleased to win another round in the courts to block killing of these animals on American soil for export to Italy and Japan," said Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The Humane Society of the United States. "Meanwhile, we are redoubling our efforts in Congress to secure a permanent ban on the slaughter of our horses throughout North America."

Blair Dunn, who represents Valley Meat Co. of Roswell, N.M., and Rains Natural Meats of Gallatin, Mo., emphasized the order was temporary.

Man pleads guilty in bus stop crash that kills 4

A 24-year-old man has pleaded guilty to five felony driving under the influence counts stemming from a crash at a Las Vegas bus stop that killed four people last year.

Gary Lee Hosey Jr. awaits sentencing Nov. 1 after accepting a plea agreement with prosecutors Friday in Clark County District Court. He originally faced nine DUI counts.

The deal calls for his sentence to range from 24 to 80 years in prison.

Four people waiting at the bus stop were killed in the Sept. 13 crash. Hosey, four passengers in his car and three other people at the bus stop were injured.

A criminal complaint alleges Hosey's blood-alcohol level exceeded the legal limit of 0.08 percent when his car plowed into the bus stop.

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