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Howard Mintz

FILE - In this Feb. 7, 2012, file photo, supporters of gay marriage react outside the James R. Browning United States Courthouse after a federal appeals court declared California's ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional in San Francisco. A federal appeals court refused Tuesday, June 5, 2012, to reconsider a landmark ruling by two of its member judges that struck down California's ban on same-sex marriages. Backers of the ban, known as Proposition 8, petitioned the full 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in February to review the decision instead of appealing directly to the U.S. Supreme Court. (AP Photo/San Francisco Chronicle, Lea Suzuki, File)

California gay marriage case headed to Supreme Court

Last updated Tuesday, June 5, 2012 - 2:21pm

SAN FRANCISCO - The three-year legal showdown over California's voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage is headed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Gay Marriage, U.S. Supreme Court, National Read more Comments

Downloading porn could bring lawsuit

Howard Mintz San Jose Mercury News

Last updated Thursday, August 25, 2011 - 2:25pm

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- In mid-July, Yolanda P. opened her mailbox in Visalia, Calif., to find a letter that has been landing in tens of thousands of mailboxes across the country -- she was being sued by an adult film company for illegally downloading porn on her computer.

These allegations of porn piracy are now part of a torrent of legal battles unfolding coast-to-coast in an explosion of copyright lawsuits filed over the past year. From Silicon Valley to Washington, D.C., adult filmmakers are unleashing their lawyers in federal courts to sue John and Jane Does for stealing porn and sharing it on an increasingly porn-happy Internet.

Business, Courts, Lawsuits, Pornography Read more Comments

Supreme Court to hear arguments on drug overcharges

Howard Mintz, San Jose Mercury News

Last updated Tuesday, January 18, 2011 - 11:33am

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- For the past six years, Santa Clara County, Calif., has led a quiet legal fight to force the drug industry to reimburse local governments across the country allegedly gouged by hundreds of millions of dollars per year on prescription drug prices at public hospitals and clinics devoted to serving the poor.

But the pharmaceutical companies have struck back with a vengeance, unleashing their lawyers to keep the courthouse doors slammed on the legal claims.

Wednesday, local governments and the drug industry will square off over the issue in the U.S.

Business, Drug companies, U.S. Supreme Court Read more Comments

Cop faces charges of feeding information to Hells Angels

Howard Mintz, San Jose Mercury News

Last updated Tuesday, December 28, 2010 - 11:16am

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Deepening his legal troubles, a California police officer now faces federal criminal charges for allegedly supplying confidential information to a member of the Hells Angels to pay off a debt.

In an indictment unsealed on Monday in federal court in San Jose, Clay H. Rojas, a five-year veteran of the Santa Clara police department, is charged in fraud and conspiracy counts with furnishing inside information to William "Billy" Bettencourt, a suspected member of the Hells Angels Santa Cruz chapter. Rojas, the indictment alleges, provided the confidential information, such as criminal and DMV records, to Bettencourt.

Crime, Hells Angels, Police, Gangs Read more Comments

Supporters of same-sex marriage ban seek judge's disqualification

Howard Mintz, San Jose Mercury News

Last updated Thursday, December 2, 2010 - 10:34am

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Backers of California's ban on same-sex marriage moved Wednesday to disqualify the most liberal appeals court judge on the panel hearing the legal challenge to Proposition 8.

In court papers, sponsors of Proposition 8 asked 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Stephen Reinhardt to disqualify himself because his wife, Ramona Ripston, is the longtime executive director of the Southern California chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU has been actively involved in trying to invalidate the state's voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage.

Courts, Gay Marriage, National Read more Comments

The immigration debate / ARIZONA: How liberal is the appeals court that will hear case?

Howard Mintz, San Jose Mercury News

Last updated Tuesday, August 3, 2010 - 6:41pm

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- The epic legal struggle over Arizona's immigration crackdown has landed in a San Francisco-based federal appeals court that is all too familiar with being the center of the nation's attention -- and its inevitable label as the nation's most liberal court.

Politics, Immigration Read more Comments