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Five regional legal offices the state has created to represent poor defendants in special circumstances can stay open, the Florida Supreme Court ruled Thursday [March 13]. The justices reversed a judge’s ruling that the offices, which opened their doors in January, were unconstitutional because they are headed by appointed rather than elected officials. The…

Sun-Sentinel, http://www.sun-sentinel.com, Feb. 8, 2008.Florida’s rules designed to prevent racial discrimination in jury selection will stand after a sharply divided state Supreme Court refused Thursday [Feb. 7] to change them. The 4-3 decision let stand a 1996 Supreme Court decision on peremptory challenges of prospective jurors. Those challenges typically are when prosecutors and defense…