The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York denied Steven Donziger’s motions to disqualify all of the judges in the district from presiding over his case, disqualify the special prosecutors, and dismiss the six criminal contempt charges he’s facing in a dispute arising from his role in obtaining a multibillion-dollar judgment against Chevron in Ecuador for dumping oil waste in the Amazon rainforest.
Read more
The Texas Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the release of a jailed Dallas salon owner, hours after Republican Governor Greg Abbott amended his Covid-19 executive orders to remove jail penalties for business owners who violated the rules.
Read moreA federal court in Texas found two people involved in an alleged multi-million dollar digital currency investor fraud scheme in contempt of court and ordered them jailed until they comply with the court’s previous orders. The defendants claimed in court documents that the Securities and Exchange Commission is “illegitimate,” and “actively resisted” the commission’s pre-litigation investigation.
Read more
Steven Donziger got a head start on home confinement when a federal judge ordered criminal charges that prosecutors declined to bring.
Read more
A Trump-appointed judge said Monday there is a strong likelihood that the Russian firm charged with funding interference in the 2016 presidential election has failed to comply with a government subpoena, a legal botch likely to trigger a contempt-of-court finding.
Read more
Joe Arpaio, self-proclaimed “America’s toughest sheriff,” struck out with the Ninth Circuit on Thursday in his bid to toss a criminal contempt conviction after President Donald Trump pardoned him in 2017.
Read moreThe Ninth Circuit affirmed a contempt sanction against Ocwen Loan Servicing in a case brought by debtors who claim they suffered severe emotional distress by receiving letters and phone calls from the company about the home they had abandoned to foreclosure before filing for bankruptcy. A bankruptcy court had concluded the company violated the debtors’ discharge injunction.
Read moreThe Ninth Circuit refused to reverse a contempt order against the Arizona Department of Corrections for failing to improve a derelict prison health care system that caused needless pain and suffering and multiple inmate deaths.
Read more
Delivering a victory for Wisconsin liberals and voting rights advocates, the state appeals court on Tuesday stayed two rulings ordering elections officials to immediately purge over 200,000 people from the voter rolls.
Read more
A Wisconsin judge held the state elections board in contempt Monday in the latest stage of a closely watched legal battle over voter rolls, which has potentially stark implications for 2020 elections in the key battleground state.
Read more
A conservative group asked a Wisconsin judge Thursday to find the state’s elections board in contempt for refusing to update voter rolls and remove thousands of people who may have moved in the critical battleground state.
Read moreA 10th Circuit panel on Friday declined a Utah contractor’s request to be severed from litigation against Paragon, a company with ties to a Mormon sect that was fined by the U.S. Department of Labor and found in contempt of a court order for using child workers to harvest pecans.
Read more
The judge in former Dallas cop Amber Guyger’s murder trial was blocked Friday from presiding over a contempt case against the district attorney accused of violating a gag order by giving a TV interview on the eve of trial.
Read moreA Dutch journalist was released from jail Friday after being held in contempt of court for refusing to answer questions about a source.
Read moreA federal judge on Thursday ordered the U.S. Department of Education to pay $100,000 in contempt fines for making defrauded students repay loans in violation of a preliminary injunction.
Read moreArizona’s Joe Arpaio, the self-proclaimed toughest sheriff in America, returned to court via attorneys Wednesday, complaining to the Ninth Circuit that a criminal contempt conviction dismissed two years ago is still hanging over his head.
Read moreA Utah company asked a 10th Circuit panel Wednesday to reject a judge’s finding that it is a successor to Paragon Contractors, a company with numerous Department of Labor violations and ties to Mormon sect leader Warren Jeffs.
Read moreAn attorney for a Florida businessman who served as CEO of a company that defrauded customers in a precious metals investment scheme asked an 11th Circuit panel Tuesday to overturn an order finding him in contempt for not paying restitution.
Read moreIn the U.S. justice system, federal prosecutors typically have the exclusive power to charge people with crimes, but unknown to most of the public, there are a vanishingly small number of exceptions.
Read more