Missouri
Court to hear challenge to gun ballot measure
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Missouri Supreme Court will hear a challenge to an Aug. 5 ballot measure that would enhance the state’s constitutional right to keep and bear arms.
The court scheduled arguments for July 14 in a case that tests whether it is too late for a judge to order changes to the measure’s ballot summary.
Cole County Circuit Judge Jon Beetem had dismissed the legal challenge as moot, citing a state law that says courts have no authority to order issues to be placed on the ballot less than six weeks before an election.
An attorney representing those who challenged the measure contends that law should not apply, because the gun measure already is on the ballot.
The lawsuit contends the summary fails to note several substantive parts of the measure.
Arkansas
Lawyers in gay marriage lawsuit must wait on fees
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A Pulaski County judge says lawyers who challenged Arkansas’ gay marriage ban must wait until the state Supreme Court decides the case before they can ask that the government pay their fees.
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports that Circuit Judge Chris Piazza on Wednesday amended his order from last week that denied the payment of at least $352,000 sought by Cheryl Maples and Jack Wagoner. Piazza said the two may refile their motion for fees within 30 days after the case is resolved.
Piazza ruled in May that the state’s ban on gay marriage is unconstitutional and same-sex marriages were legal in Arkansas for a week until the state Supreme Court halted them while the case is on appeal.
No briefing schedule on the appeal has been set.
California
Amazon vows to fight FTC on kids in-app purchases
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Amazon says that it is prepared to go to court against the Federal Trade Commission to defend itself against charges that it has not done enough to prevent children from making unauthorized in-app purchases.
The FTC alleged in a draft lawsuit released by Amazon that unauthorized charges by children on Amazon tablets have amounted to millions of dollars.
Seattle-based Amazon.com Inc. said in a letter to FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez that it had already refunded money to parents who complained. It also said its parental controls go beyond what the FTC required from Apple when it imposed a $32.5 million fine on the company in January over a similar matter.
Amazon’s Kindle Free Time app can limit how much time children spend on Kindle tablets as well as require a personal identification number for in-app purchases, said Amazon spokesman Craig Berman.
“Parents can say — at any time, for every purchase that’s made — that a PIN is required,” he said.
By not agreeing to a settlement with the FTC, the company faces a potential lawsuit by the FTC in federal district court.
Apple complained when the FTC announced its settlement with the company in January.
CEO Tim Cook explained to employees in a memo that the settlement did not require the company to do anything it wasn’t doing already but he added that it “smacked of double jeopardy” because Apple had already settled a similar class-action lawsuit in which it agreed to refunds.
The FTC wouldn’t comment on whether it is investigating Amazon’s in-app purchase policies, but said in a statement: “The Commission is focused on ensuring that companies comply with the fundamental principle that consumers should not be made to pay for something they did not authorize.”
In the FTC’s draft complaint, the commission said that after Amazon began billing for in-app purchase in November 2011, an Amazon Appstore manager described the level of complaints about unauthorized purchases by children as at “near house on fire” levels.
It said Amazon began requiring password entry for in-app charges above $20 in March 2012, and then for all purchases in early 2013. However, for smaller purchases, entering a password once left open a billing window of 15 minutes to an hour in which new charges wouldn’t require a password, the FTC said in the complaint.
Prompts from kid-targeted games like “Pet Shop Story” would sometimes not give a price for purchases, the FTC said. Sometimes the purchase prompts from games like “Tap Zoo” were easily mistaken for those using “coins,” “stars,” and other virtual currency, it said.
New York
Judge sues over caught-by-camera bad ticket claim
NEW YORK (AP) — A motorist is suing New York City over a traffic-camera ticket he says was unjust. As it happens, he’s a judge.
Manhattan state Supreme Court Justice Geoffrey Wright sued last week in the same court. City lawyers said they would review the suit upon receiving it.
Wright says his family got a notice saying a camera caught his car being driven in a Manhattan bus lane last October.
He says it wasn’t.
He later took his own photographs that he says back him up. They’re based on where certain street features were located in respect to his car.
He contested the violation and appealed an administrative law judge’s ruling against him. His suit seeks to get the violation thrown out.
It’s unclear which judge will be assigned to handle the case.
Indiana
Judge sets fall trial in newborn infant’s death
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — A northern Indiana judge has set a September trial date for a woman charged in the death of her newborn, whose body was found in a restaurant trash bin.
The South Bend Tribune reports that 32-year-old Purvi Patel appeared Wednesday before a St. Joseph County judge who set her jury trial for Sept. 29. She’s pleaded not guilty to neglect charges in the infant’s July 2013 death.
Court documents say the Granger woman took drugs she obtained from Hong Kong to induce an abortion, but an autopsy found that the baby was born alive about 12 weeks premature.
Police say the infant’s body was found in a trash bin outside a Mishawaka restaurant after Patel went to a hospital.
