Appeals court: Minnesota sex offender program constitutional

Minnesota's program for keeping sex offenders confined after they complete their prison sentences is constitutional, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday, reversing a lower-court judge who said it violates offenders' rights because hardly anyone is ever released. A three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the state, which argued that the program is both constitutional and necessary to protect citizens from dangerous sexual predators who would otherwise go free.

Irish based Medtronic must face revived US lawsuit over Infuse

A federal appeals court on Wednesday revived a lawsuit accusing Medtronic Plc of defrauding shareholders by covering up negative side effects from its Infuse bone growth product for nearly a decade. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Paul, Minnesota said a lower court judge erred in finding that the plaintiff shareholders sued too late, by waiting more than two years after learning information that could suggest an intent to defraud.

It’s Entirely Reasonable For Police To Swipe a Suspicious Gift Card, Says Court

An anonymous reader quotes Ars Technica: A U.S. federal appeals court has found that law enforcement can, without a warrant, swipe credit cards and gift cards to reveal the information encoded on the magnetic stripe . It's the third such federal appellate court to reach this conclusion.

Judge tosses suit over police tactics in Ferguson

A federal judge has tossed out a $40 million civil rights lawsuit that alleged police used excessive force against protesters in Ferguson after the 2014 police shooting death of Michael Brown. U.S. District Judge Henry Autrey, in a 74-page ruling Friday in St. Louis, found that the nine plaintiffs "completely failed to present any credible evidence" proving crowd-control tactics by police in the days following Brown's August 2014 death in the St. Louis suburb involved malice or bad faith.

Missouri appeals court order to reveal execution drug source

Missouri is appealing a federal court's decision that requires the state to break one of its most-guarded secrets and reveal the name of any supplier of its lethal injection drug. Calling the matter "a question of exceptional importance," the state on Wednesday asked the full 8th Circuit Court of Appeals to urgently upend a ruling last week by a three-judge panel of that court in a case brought by two death-row inmates in Mississippi.

Court backs jail time for Iowa egg executives in salmonella case

The U.S. will slow the pace of its troop drawdown in Afghanistan, leaving 8,400 troops there when President Barack Obama completes his term, IOWA CITY, Iowa - A federal appeals court has upheld jail sentences for two egg industry executives whose Iowa company caused a nationwide salmonella outbreak in 2010. In a long-awaited decision, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday backed the three-month jail sentences issued last year to Austin "Jack" DeCoster and son Peter DeCoster.

Court vacates $1.8M Ventura award in ‘American Sniper’ caseabout 1 hour ago

A federal appeals court on Monday threw out a $1.8 million judgment awarded to former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura, who says he was defamed in the late author Chris Kyle's bestselling book "American Sniper." The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the jury's 2014 award of $500,000 for defamation and $1.3 million for unjust enrichment against Kyle's estate.