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Ohio's governor and attorney general said Sunday the state is asking the U.S. Supreme Court for a ruling that Ohio's protocol for carrying out the death penalty is constitutional.

Gov. John Kasich and Attorney General Mike DeWine said in a statement that the state wants the high court to reverse a federal appeals court decision to delay the Wednesday execution of Charles Lorraine.

Lorraine was condemned to death in the 1986 slaying of an elderly Trumbull County couple. But the federal appeals court said Friday his execution should be delayed to review changes Ohio has made in carrying out the death penalty.

Lorraine argued that Ohio broke its promise to adhere strictly to its execution procedures. But the state said that deviations from the procedures during the last execution were minor and that an inmate's rights would not be violated by changes, such as which official announces the start and finish times of an injection.

A federal appeals court is hearing arguments in a case that challenges the planned use of reclaimed water for snowmaking at an Arizona ski resort.

The 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals is scheduled to hear the case Monday morning in San Francisco.

The Save the Peaks Coalition and a group of citizens want the U.S. Forest Service to do a more thorough environmental analysis on the health and safety risks of using treated wastewater for artificial snow.

A lower court has ruled that the Forest Service adequately considered the impacts of the snowmaking plan and that the record supported the agency's decision to allow it.

More than a dozen tribes consider the mountain sacred. American Indian tribes argued unsuccessfully in a separate case that the plan violated religious freedom.

Nevada's Supreme Court has reached a milestone this week after hitting its 60,000th case.

Court officials say Monday that the distinction went to an appeal in a complex homeowner's association case with 74 defendants.

Supreme Court officials say that filings at the Nevada's only appellate court have been growing rapidly as the state's population has increased.

It took 112 years of statehood for the court to hit 10,000 cases. That milestone came Aug. 12, 1977.

But it took just more than four years to accrue the most recent 10,000 cases. The court hit 50,000 cases in August 2007.

Chief Justice Nancy Saitta says the number of cases is memorable, but also points to a backlog that delays resolving the legal matters.

Posted on : breakinglegalnews.com