WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Wal-Mart Stores Inc pushed back on Wednesday against suggestions that its lobbyists tried to scale back a U.S. anti-bribery law while the company was aware it may have violated the law.

The company said it “never lobbied on” possible changes to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the law that makes it a crime for U.S. companies to pay bribes overseas.

WASHINGTON, April 25 (Reuters) – Wal-Mart Stores Inc pushed
back on Wednesday against suggestions that its lobbyists tried
to scale back a U.S. anti-bribery law while the company was
aware it may have violated the law.

The company said it “never lobbied on” possible changes to
the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the law that makes it a crime
for U.S. companies to pay bribes overseas.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A conservative group that promotes legislation in state capitals is mainly a lobbying organization and should not benefit from a special tax status meant for charities, a liberal group says in a complaint to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service.

The complaint, released on Monday, challenges the tax-law status of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) as a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) charity. That status lets ALEC avoid paying taxes and lets its supporters deduct their contributions.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Now that Mitt Romney is the presumptive Republican nominee for president, the names of people he might appoint to the U.S. Supreme Court are starting to roll off the tongues of conservative activists, lawyers and former Republican administration aides.

While conservatives caution that talk is mere guesswork, an examination of Romney’s record as Massachusetts governor and statements he made on the presidential campaign trail can help shape an early list of frontrunners should he defeat President Barack Obama in the November 6 election, and should he be given the chance to fill a vacancy on the nine-member bench.

WASHINGTON, April 17 (Reuters) – A conservative group under
pressure for spreading “stand your ground” self-defense laws in
the United States said on Tuesday it is abandoning that part of
its work to focus on the economy.

The decision by the American Legislative Exchange Council
(ALEC) came after a months-long public lobbying campaign that
successfully persuaded large U.S. corporations, including the
Coca-Cola Co, Kraft Foods Inc and PepsiCo Inc
, to cut ties to the organization.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has become the latest big-name financial supporter to back away from a group that pushes conservative and corporate priorities in U.S. state capitals.

The foundation said it would not award another grant to the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) in the face of criticism of the council’s involvement in voting laws and in “stand your ground” gun laws such as one under scrutiny in the Trayvon Martin shooting in Florida.

WASHINGTON, April 6 (Reuters) – A New York nonprofit that
advocates for the mentally ill cannot sue on their behalf for
better housing because of how the organization is structured, a
U.S. court said on Friday.

The decision by a federal appeals court sweeps aside a trial
judge’s finding that the State of New York discriminated against
thousands of people living in adult homes.

WASHINGTON, April 6 (Reuters) – A U.S. appeals court on
Friday showed few signs that it was prepared to support a
request by Apple Inc to block immediately the sale of
some Samsung Electronics smartphones and tablets.

In a high-stakes patent dispute, the court heard arguments
about whether a federal t rial j udge acted c orrectly i n December
when she ruled that Apple failed to provide enough evidence to
support an injunction of Samsung’s Galaxy pro duct line.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Obama administration’s healthcare law continues to be a stronger rallying point for Republicans than for Democrats, according to a Reuters/Ipsos online poll released on Friday.

The poll found a partisan split in how closely people are following a Supreme Court case about the two-year-old law: 80 percent of Republicans are aware of the legal fight, compared to 62 percent of Democrats.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – An overhaul of the U.S. healthcare system remains popular even though Americans are not enamored with the law that President Barack Obama signed in 2010, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Wednesday.

The poll found that 44 percent of respondents favor the law, and that an additional 21 percent oppose it because it doesn’t go far enough – for a total of 65 percent.