10th Circuit Court

US Appeals Court Rules Roadside Crosses for Fallen Cops Violate Constitution

A federal appeals court has ruled that roadside crosses erected to honor fallen highway patrol officers in Utah violate the establishment clause. The Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday in a suit filed by an atheists group, according to stories in the Salt Lake Tribune, the Christian…

Aug 19, 2010 3:14 PM CDT

Prosecutor Can Be Personally Sued Over Search of Journalist’s Home, 10th Circuit Rules

Qualified immunity does not apply to protect a former deputy district attorney from being personally sued for approving a search warrant of a student journalist’s home due to a professor’s unhappiness over a parody in a University of Northern Colorado community newspaper, a federal appeals court has ruled. Although the…

Jul 21, 2010 7:02 PM CDT

Must SEC Disclose IDs & Discipline for Porn-Watching Lawyers?

The Securities and Exchange Commission nixed a newspaper’s Freedom of Information Act request for the names of some 33 employees and contractors—many of them attorneys—determined by an Office of Inspector General report to have been watching porn on their government computers, on government time. But now a Colorado lawyer has…

Jun 10, 2010 11:02 PM CDT

Workers File Massive $100M Wage Suit Against Bank of America

In a lawsuit that could eventually include some 180,000 plaintiffs, current and former workers at the Bank of America are seeking compensation for allegedly unpaid wages and overtime. In a lawsuit filed Friday in federal court in Kansas City, Kan., they seek to consolidate complaints filed in five states and…

Jun 7, 2010 7:26 PM CDT

Dad Troubled by 10th Circuit Decision Against Right to Determine Son’s Cancer Care

A federal appeals court has ruled that a Utah couple is not entitled to pursue damages against state officials who sought to force their son to undergo chemotherapy for Ewing’s sarcoma. The Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held in a May 5 opinion (PDF) that the state officials…

May 6, 2010 4:16 PM CDT

U of Wyo. Must Let Controversial 1960s Radical Bill Ayers Speak, Federal Judge Rules

A federal judge has countermanded the University of Wyoming’s decision not to let 1960s radical Bill Ayers speak on campus today. The state-funded institution had cited safety concerns, but U.S. District Judge William Downes held yesterday that protesters’ threatened violence was too vague to justify excluding Ayers, reports the Associated…

Apr 28, 2010 11:57 PM CDT

Gardner to Face Firing Squad for Murdering Lawyer During Botched Utah Courthouse Escape

After nearly 25 years of appeals, a Utah prison inmate is now scheduled to face a firing squad in June for murdering an attorney during a botched 1985 escape from a Salt Lake City courthouse, according to the Salt Lake Tribune. Ronnie Lee Gardner, who is now 49, was found…

Apr 23, 2010 9:16 PM CDT

Courthouse Cooler Warned of Explosion But Actually Contained Phone Books

A note on a soft-sided cooler outside the federal courthouse in downtown Kansas City, Mo., today said its contents would explode. But after the building was evacuated and a number of employees were sent home for the day, investigators determined that the cooler contained phone books, Fox News and the…

Apr 5, 2010 5:33 PM CDT

Federal Judge Green-Lights Suit Over Inmate’s 27-Year Solitary Confinement

A federal judge has given the green light to litigation being pursued by University of Denver law students on behalf of an inmate held in solitary confinement since 1983. District Judge Philip Brimmer this week rejected a motion by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons to dismiss inmate Tommy Silverstein’s constitutional…

Mar 25, 2010 4:34 PM CDT

Pol Denies Brother Nominated to 10th Circuit to Secure Health Care Vote

An article suggesting a possible link between an appeals court nomination and a health care vote is prompting denials from the congressman whose brother was tapped for the judgeship. The Weekly Standard noted that President Obama is trying to woo U.S. Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, to switch his vote to…

Mar 4, 2010 3:26 PM CST

Making Herstory

U.S. Circuit judge encourages the next steps toward equality

Mar 1, 2010 9:00 AM CST

Do Lawyers Have 1st Amendment Right to Interview Jurors? 10th Circuit Says Maybe

In a novel case sure to catch the attention of trial lawyers and researchers, the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals says that attorneys may have a First Amendment right to interview jurors involved in trials in which they did not participate. But the right may extend only to…

Feb 11, 2010 1:44 PM CST

10th Circuit Dismisses Libel Suit Against John Grisham

A federal appeals court has upheld the dismissal of a libel suit filed by an Oklahoma prosecutor and other state officials against best-selling author John Grisham. The Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Grisham and other defendants were protected by an Oklahoma statute imposing high burdens on libel…

Feb 2, 2010 3:08 PM CST

10th Circuit Chief Surprises Colleagues, Resigns to Head University

Robert H. Henry, chief judge of the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, stunned colleagues, friends and staff Thursday when he announced that he’ll give up his lifetime federal appointment to become head of Oklahoma City University. A Clinton appointee, Henry has been on the 10th Circuit for nearly…

Dec 11, 2009 1:20 PM CST

DOJ Sues Attorney, Says Law Office Banned Service Dog, Violating ADA

The U.S. Department of Justice announced today that it has filed a disability discrimination lawsuit against a Colorado attorney for allegedly barring a woman from giving a deposition in his law office because she was accompanied by her service dog. The animal, an Australian shepherd, is trained to help the…

Nov 3, 2009 11:19 PM CST