The failure of the three pathologists to all agree on the cause of Mr Tomlinson's death led to the director of public prosecutions ruling that the policeman in question would not face any charges.
In state after state, polls make clear that the American public understands the Kelo ruling is a disaster: 82 percent of Ohioans oppose using eminent domain to take property for economic development, 91 percent of Minnesotans, 92 percent of Kansans, 95 percent of Coloradans, and 86 percent of Missourians.
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Just what is the positive outcome that these judges, or the public, expect with this ruling, and more like it to come?
Under a 1984 Supreme Court ruling, a public-safety exception allows investigators to question suspects for an unspecified period without giving them a Miranda warning.
So on the face of it the impact of the ruling, made public on January 27th but unlikely to be enforced until next year, hardly looks drastic.
But Grutter's longevity has been in doubt since its author, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, was succeeded by Justice Samuel Alito, who joined the court's four other conservatives in a 2007 ruling that forbade public-school districts from promoting diversity through race-conscious pupil-assignment plans.
The appellate court expressly sidestepped these public policy issues, but its ruling nicely advances those interests.
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Teacher Teresa Meredith, the main plaintiff in the lawsuit and vice president of the Indiana State Teachers Association, called the ruling a setback for public education.
Stanton Glantz, a longtime anti-tobacco advocate and director of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California, San Francisco, said the RICO ruling is what the public health community should use in its fight against the tobacco industry.
The reshuffle comes with polls expected in coming months and the ruling DPJ hit by low public support.
True, Welfare's willingness to let civil servants wear head-scarves in public offices contravenes a high-court ruling on the subject.
While the Supreme Court justices may not consult Facebook as they consider the case before them, they will make their ruling on a rapidly changing public landscape.
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This ruling set off the chain of public disclosures that led the accuser to drop out.
Earlier this week, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki demanded that al-Sadr disband the Mehdi Army or see his supporters -- who hold seats in Iraq's parliament and once backed the prime minister's ruling coalition -- barred from public office.
Ultimately, the ruling will likely be more of a public relations disaster than a financial one.
But a considerable portion of British public opinion abhorred the notion of a self-ruling Catholic Ireland.
That satisfied global-warming sceptics in the ruling party but failed to address rising public concern over the environment and climate change.
The U.S. Supreme Court held in a 2003 ruling that sex offender registration is a public safety tool not intended to punish offenders.
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On Tuesday, the head of Egypt's ruling military council, in a rare public address, vowed to hold presidential elections by mid-2012 and suggested he was willing to hold a referendum on the military's role in public life.
Authorities are asking for the public's help in their investigation, while not ruling out that this might conceivably be tied to a larger plot.
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Because the only way the public is likely to find out about a private letter ruling request is if the taxpayer behind the request announces it, it is quite possible that there are other requests in process.
Even if Chevron never has to pay, the ruling could worsen what has already been a public relations nightmare for the oil giant when all oil companies are under added scrutiny in the wake of last year's oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
Mr Andreotti took a public anti-Mafia stance from 1980 onwards, the written ruling said.
The vote comes with polls expected in coming months and the ruling Democratic Party (DPJ) hit by low public support.
Sir Albert said the city council was not the only authority in that situation, and that the Abdulla ruling had "implications for many more in the public and private sector".
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The ruling does not bar observers from sitting in the public gallery, but the limited number of seats, available on a purely first-come-first-served basis, means that access to the courtroom is not guaranteed.
The federal government says authorities can use electronic surveillance to track vehicles on public roads without a warrant, citing a 1983 Supreme Court ruling that declared there is no reasonable expectation of privacy there.
Microsoft moved quickly to appeal Judge Jackson's ruling--to Congress and to the court of public opinion--and it seemed to be working.
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