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Justiceline: January 20, 2012

Welcome to Justiceline, ThinkProgress Justice’s morning round-up of the latest legal news and developments. Remember to follow us on Twitter at @TPJustice.

  • At last night’s CNN debate, the Republican presidential contenders all denounced controversial internet piracy bills in the House and Senate (SOPA and PIPA) that would let the government block websites with copyrighted material.
  • The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Washington state’s open primary system, in which the top two vote-getters advance to the general election regardless of their party affiliation. It replaces a closed primary, in which each party chooses a candidate for the general election. California has also recently moved to a “top two” system.
  • Yesterday the Justice Department shutdown Megaupload.com, a popular file-sharing site, and charged seven of its employees with criminal copyright infringement and other violations.
  • The Obama administration’s new deportation standards were recently put to the test in Denver, where a review of all 7,900 deportation cases before the immigration court identified 1,300 immigrants who posed no security threat and will be allowed to stay in the U.S.
  • A Wisconsin judge weighing one of the three lawsuits against the state’s new Voter ID law has said he needs more time to consider arguments before ruling.
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