Suit by Public Defenders Over Restricted Client Access Revived
The Second Circuit on Friday revived a lawsuit by public defenders in Brooklyn over restricted access to their imprisoned clients.
Read moreAttorneys
Regional Appeals Courts Differ in Responses to COVID-19
As the number of coronavirus cases grows, so does the impact on courtrooms across the country. And with the recent link of 50 cases to one New York lawyer, that impact is starting to become more visible.
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Trump FEC Pick Grilled Over Record on Voting Rights
A controversial nominee picked by President Donald Trump to fill one of three empty seats on the Federal Election Commission was met with heavy fire Tuesday from Democrats accusing him of past schemes to roll back voting rights.
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Solicitor General’s Outsize Influence at High Court Draws Scrutiny
Aside from those who wear robes, U.S. Solicitor General Noel Francisco may have the biggest role to play this term in some of the Supreme Court’s most closely watched cases, Yale Law students suggest in a new article on the evolving stature of amicus oral argument.
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Privilege Waived, Ex-Flynn Lawyers Must Answer to Feds
As former national security adviser Michael Flynn tries to withdraw his guilty plea, a federal judge agreed Friday to let prosecutors interview the lawyers Flynn says provided him ineffective assistance.
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Congress Sounds Alarm as Prison Lockdown Stretches to Week 2
Inmates of the scandal-plagued Metropolitan Correctional Center can expect to go at least another week without hearing from their family or lawyers, officials said Thursday, as a lockdown of the federal prison drags on.
Read moreSue the Courts
A former assistant public defender sued the Judicial Conference of the United States, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, et al., in federal court, claiming they conspired to violate her civil rights after she truthfully complained of sexual harassment, but “punished” and “intimidated” her for reporting it.
Read moreAttorney Sentenced
San Diego attorney William David Turley, 61, was sentenced Monday to 46 months in federal prison for “enticing a female to engage in prostitution,” including an underage victim, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said Monday.
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R Kelly Accuser Wins Default Judgment in Civil Case
R&B star R. Kelly lost one of his many court battles Tuesday, with a Cook County judge granting a default judgment in a civil sexual assault case against him.
Read moreAnti-Chevron Lawyer Steven Donziger Gets Blessing for Return of His Law License
ow more than a half a year into his house arrest, environmental attorney Steven Donziger received a passionate recommendation to receive his law license back on Monday from the officer presiding over his bar proceedings in New York.
Read moreForty Years Ago, They Changed How Hate Groups Are Sued
On the night of April 19, 1980, a group of three Klansmen went on a shooting spree in a black neighborhood of Chattanooga. They used gasoline to set fire to a cross made of 2x4s where train tracks crossed over the road.
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Alabama Judge Quits Amid Ethics Case Over Son’s Appointment
A long-serving Alabama judge is stepping down after being accused of violating judicial ethics rules by appointing his son to handle cases.
Read moreSandusky Prosecutor
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court suspended for one year the law license of Frank Fina, who investigated and prosecuted former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky. The court agreed with the Office of Disciplinary Counsel that Fina had improperly obtained grand jury testimony from Penn State’s then-general counsel Cynthia Baldwin.
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Iowa Court Tosses Challenges to Judicial Nominating Law
The Iowa Court of Appeals handed down two rulings Wednesday dismissing lawsuits over changes in the way state appellate judges are picked, finding the plaintiffs lack standing to challenge lawmakers’ actions.
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Michael Avenatti Found Guilty of Extorting Nike
The first of three criminal trials for celebrity attorney Michael Avenatti has ended with a New York jury convicting him of extorting Nike for millions of dollars at the threat of exposing a corruption scandal.
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Still Tweeting, Trump Asserts Right to Intervene in Criminal Matters
President Donald Trump asserted in a tweet Friday morning that his presidential powers empower him to intervene in Department of Justice matters.
Read moreInsufficient Assistance
The California Supreme Court granted a habeas petition for a potential retrial of a man convicted of murdering a police officer, finding that his counsel committed serious errors during his trial. The man’s death sentence has already been vacated because of counsel’s deficient assistance during the penalty phase.
Read moreJudge Orders Restoration of Immigration Detention Hotline
A free hotline used by immigrants held in detention facilities to connect them with legal resources or family members was ordered to be restored by a Los Angeles federal judge after federal officials blocked a nonprofit from operating the service.
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Mediation Likely for Suit Over Counsel Interference at Brooklyn Jail
A year after an electrical fire cut off power and forced a Brooklyn detention center into lockdown, the Second Circuit appeared inclined Tuesday to let the parties mediate a suit over access to public defenders.
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