http://www.abajournal.com/news/ en Copyright 2013 2013-06-17T23:40:31-06:00 http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/ex-nfl_star_chad_johnson_says_sorry_to_judge_for_pat_on_lawyers_posterior_w/ Updated: A former NFL star who angered a South Florida judge by playfully slapping his lawyer's backside in court last week and wound up in jail has apologized and been released, after serving seven days, according to the Associated Press and CBS Miami. Broward… Criminal Justice, Sentencing/Post Conviction, Judiciary, Trials & Litigation, States, Florida Mon, 17 Jun 2013 10:30:36 -0500 44663.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/which_stocks_are_scotus_justices_picking/ Ruth Bader Ginsburg is the wealthiest U.S. Supreme Court justice, with a reported net worth of up to $18.1 million. Rather than holding individual stocks, Ginsburg has most of her money in mutual funds and retirement accounts, the Center for Public Integrity reports. But a… Judiciary, U.S. Supreme Court Mon, 17 Jun 2013 08:56:03 -0500 44661.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/a_convicted_killers_gift_spurs_a_federal_judge_to_remember_balance/ Sure, virtue is its own reward. But a briefcase from a convicted killer has special meaning for a federal judge who once helped the inmate. Senior U.S. District Judge Richard Kopf of Nebraska writes about the gift at his blog Hercules and the Umpire. Before… Criminal Justice, Sentencing/Post Conviction, Judiciary Mon, 17 Jun 2013 06:15:11 -0500 44646.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/will_an_easy-to-pronounce_name_get_you_a_better_shot_at_partnership/ Does your name matter in your career? How about the descriptive words used in court? The answer, apparently, is yes and yes. New York University marketing professor Adam Alter explains in the New Yorker. One of his findings: Lawyers in U.S. law firms with easy-to-pronounce names rise… Careers, Judiciary, Law Firms, Partners, Law in Popular Culture, Trials & Litigation Mon, 17 Jun 2013 05:40:32 -0500 44639.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/okla._man_can_challenge_states_rain_god_license_plate_court_rules/ An Oklahoma man can sue the state over its Indian 'rain god' license plate on First Amendment grounds, a federal appeals court has held. Keith Cressman, a Bethany pastor, claims that the license plate violates his religious rights as a Christian. U.S. District Judge Joe Heaton had dismissed the suit… Constitutional Law, First Amendment, Executive Branch, Government Law, Judiciary, Religious Law, Trials & Litigation, 10th Circuit Court, States, Oklahoma Fri, 14 Jun 2013 15:18:42 -0500 44652.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/obama_leads_by_a_mile_in_women_judicial_picks_study_says/ President Barack Obama has successfully appointed more women to the federal bench than any president in history, a new study shows. Forty-two percent of Obama's judicial appointees have been women, according to a study (PDF) by the liberal-leaning Alliance For Justice. That's a rate almost double that of… Careers, Women in the Law, Executive Branch, Judiciary, Supreme Court Nominations Fri, 14 Jun 2013 13:15:57 -0500 44650.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/newly_appointed_judge_is_arrested_and_suspended_without_pay/ A New Jersey judge has been suspended without pay following her arrest in Middlesex County on a charge of hindering the apprehension of another. Superior Court Judge Carlia Brady, 41, only recently began work as a jurist, assuming the bench in that county in April, according to the Criminal Justice, Judiciary, Legal Ethics, States, New Jersey Thu, 13 Jun 2013 13:15:55 -0500 44624.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/judge_creates_a_stir_by_developing_a_dress_code_for_female_attorneys/ A Tennessee judge has caused a commotion by developing a dress code for female attorneys in Rutherford County. The rumor that it will require pantyhose is false, Circuit Court Judge Royce Taylor told the Tennessean. However, suggestive, revealing or otherwise inappropriate clothing worn by some women lawyers is… ABA Journal Production, Weekly Newsletter Stories, Business of Law, Careers, Women in the Law, Judiciary, Trials & Litigation, States, Tennessee Thu, 13 Jun 2013 12:40:10 -0500 44634.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/chief_justice_roberts_orders_dc_circuit_to_review_rare_public_complaint_aga/ The chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court has put the wheels in motion for a review of a complaint concerning a federal appeals court judge. The June 12 letter from Chief Justice John Roberts does not name the judge or describe the complaint, but says the transfer was made… Appellate Practice, Judiciary, Legal Ethics, U.S. Supreme Court, 5th Circuit Court, States, Louisiana Thu, 13 Jun 2013 11:40:29 -0500 44631.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/car_bomb_kills_17_injures_39_outside_afghanistans_top_court_taliban_says_ju/ A car bomb detonated Tuesday outside the Afghanistan Supreme Court killed at least 17 people and injured 39. Most of the victims are believed to be civilian court workers getting ready to board buses outside the court's entrance and head home. However, in written statements emailed to news organizations, the… Constitutional Law, Criminal Justice, International Law, Judiciary, Court Security, Terrorism, International Courts/Tribunals, International, Asia Tue, 11 Jun 2013 13:50:51 -0500 44599.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/cuffed_murder_defendant_bolts_from_courthouse_is_captured_judge_says_trial_/ Already serving a 54-year federal sentence over prior robberies, Keith Lauchon Jackson apparently felt he had little to lose by bolting Monday afternoon from the North Carolina courthouse where he is being tried on a first-degree murder charge. After a lunch break, the 24-year-old defendant slipped out of his leg… Criminal Justice, Criminal Procedure, Judiciary, Court Security, Trials & Litigation, Juries, States, North Carolina Tue, 11 Jun 2013 12:12:13 -0500 44596.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/judge_nixes_no-jail_plea_deal_after_ex-nfl_star_chad_johnson_pats_his_lawye/ Playfully swatting a teammate on the backside is a common move on the football field. But when former NFL wide receiver Chad Johnson patted his lawyer, Adam Swickle, on the posterior Monday, in response to a question from the judge about whether he was satisfied with his attorney, the gesture… Celebrities, Criminal Justice, Sentencing/Post Conviction, Entertainment & Sports Law, Judiciary, Trials & Litigation, States, Florida Mon, 10 Jun 2013 11:55:28 -0500 44528.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/sotomayor_has_earned_more_than_3m_for_memoir_sales/ Writing a memoir has been a lucrative endeavor for Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Sotomayor has earned more than $3 million in royalties for the book My Beloved World, according to The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times. Disclosure forms released on Friday show… Judiciary, U.S. Supreme Court Mon, 10 Jun 2013 06:24:28 -0500 44519.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/jurors_not_tainted_by_watching_movie_calif._supreme_court_rules/ The California Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence of a convicted murderer, despite evidence that two holdout jurors on a deadlocked jury were urged by the foreman to watch a movie about prison violence during a break in deliberations. The court, in a 5-2 ruling last week, said there… Criminal Justice, Death Penalty, Sentencing/Post Conviction, Judiciary, States, California Fri, 07 Jun 2013 14:14:23 -0500 44517.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/judge_who_angrily_lectured_appellate_counsel_in_death-penalty_case_is_suspe/ A senior Kentucky judge has been suspended with pay after threatening last year, as a figure of speech, to strangle a lawyer who was making an appellate argument in a high-profile death-penalty case if he ever again called the jurist's cellphone. (The lawyer had done so with opposing counsel's permission,… Appellate Practice, Constitutional Law, Criminal Justice, Sentencing/Post Conviction, Judiciary, Legal Ethics, Trials & Litigation, States, Kentucky Thu, 06 Jun 2013 16:40:19 -0500 44506.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/judge_gives_man_who_didnt_carry_idiot_sign_90_more_days/ An Ohio judge has imposed a 90-day jail term on a defendant who failed to comply Monday with a March order to carry an "idiot" sign in front of a Cleveland police station. And once he gets out, Cleveland Municipal Judge Pinkey Carr told Richard Dameron he will comply with… Criminal Justice, Sentencing/Post Conviction, Judiciary, States, Ohio Wed, 05 Jun 2013 17:00:51 -0500 44491.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/federal_judge_clashes_with_prosecutors_over_seeking_info_that_could_extend_/ A former federal prosecutor now serving as a federal judge has clashed with federal prosecutors in Iowa over information she has sought in several cases that could be used to extend defendants' sentences. Already under appeal is a sentence in a weapons case imposed on convicted drug dealer Bryan Holm… Appellate Practice, Constitutional Law, Criminal Justice, Prosecutors, Sentencing/Post Conviction, Judiciary, Trials & Litigation, Evidence, 8th Circuit Court, States, Iowa Wed, 05 Jun 2013 15:00:27 -0500 44489.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/federal_appeals_judge_accused_of_racial_bias_for_alleged_comments_on_crimin/ Judge Edith Jones of the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is back in the news because of a Federalist Society speech in which she allegedly said certain racial groups are predisposed to crime, and the death penalty helps inmates make peace with God. A coalition of civil-rights… Judiciary, Legal Ethics Wed, 05 Jun 2013 08:33:14 -0500 44477.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/was_judge_senile_in_death_penalty_case_9th_circuit_dissenter_sees_painfully/ A federal appeals court has discounted allegations that a judge who sentenced a triple murderer to death was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease at the time. The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated the death sentence for Ronald Deere, convicted of murdering three family members of his ex-girlfriend… Criminal Justice, Death Penalty, Sentencing/Post Conviction, Judiciary, 9th Circuit Court, States, California Wed, 05 Jun 2013 06:25:48 -0500 44470.abajournal.com http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/disbarred_lawyer_gets_30_years_in_attempted_prosecutor_hit_plus_8_for_racke/ A disbarred Florida lawyer had a busy day in court on Monday. First James Tipler, 62, was sentenced to 30 years in prison after his conviction last month by an Okaloosa County jury on two counts of solicitation to commit first-degree murder, according to WJHG and the Criminal Justice, Prosecutors, Sentencing/Post Conviction, Judiciary, Court Security, Legal Ethics, States, Florida Tue, 04 Jun 2013 17:10:00 -0500 44475.abajournal.com