ABA Journal

Court Administration

227 ABA Journal Court Administration articles.

Federal appeals judge, 96, suspended after refusing to cooperate in mental fitness probe

A 96-year-old federal appeals judge who may be experiencing “significant mental problems” has been suspended from case assignments for a year after she refused to cooperate in a probe of her fitness for the bench, according to a Sept. 20 order.

Montana attorney general accused of flouting top state court’s authority, insulting justices

Republican Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen has been accused of undermining confidence in the justice system by evading the authority of the state’s top court and assaulting the integrity of individual justices.

Weekly Briefs: MoFo changes DEI fellowship; X reacts to BigLaw partner at Burning Man festival

MoFo expands DEI fellowship after suit

Morrison & Foerster has changed the eligibility criteria for a diversity, equity and inclusion fellowship after being sued by a conservative activist who…

Judges’ educational trips look more like ‘luxury vacations,’ Fix the Court says

Dozens of U.S. federal appeals court judges have attended judicial education seminars that closely resemble “luxury vacations” in recent years, a court transparency group said in a new report.

Religious act may protect Jehovah’s Witness who refused psychiatric meds before trial, 5th Circuit says

A federal judge should consider the religious claims of a defendant who has refused to take psychiatric medications to become competent for trial on a charge of threatening a New Orleans judge, a federal appeals court has ruled.

‘Judge shopping’ in federal courts should end, House urges

Federal judges should be assigned to cases randomly to prevent the appearance of litigants picking districts and judges offering the most likely path to victory, the House of Delegates agreed on Monday at the ABA Annual Meeting in Denver.

Prosecutor ‘literally ran in high heels’ through courthouse hallway to save overdosing woman

A quick-thinking prosecutor is being credited with helping save a woman who was overdosing in the Will County, Illinois, courthouse outside Chicago.

Supreme Court strikes down student loan forgiveness; Roberts warns of ‘disturbing’ feature of some opinions

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday overturned the Biden administration’s student loan forgiveness plan, holding that it was not authorized by a law allowing modification of student-aid programs during national emergencies.

Clerk was properly ousted for rear-end dial to magistrate, other transgressions, court says

Updated: A state appeals court has upheld the permanent removal of an elected court clerk in Franklin County, North Carolina, partly for her use of the F-word during a call that she inadvertently made to a magistrate.

Florida courthouses are generally required to provide lactation spaces under new law

Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill last week that requires county courthouses in the state to have private, clean lactation rooms with at least one electrical outlet.

Federal judge reminds lawyers that ‘this proceeding is not the playground’

Updated: A federal judge in Colorado has warned lawyers for litigants in a business dispute that he will not “sit idly by in the face of further mudslinging.”

Law school introduces hologram witnesses in mock trial

The William & Mary Law School in Virginia has spent the past four months experimenting with hologram witnesses—and recently brought them before judges in the courtroom.

Montana judge gets unpaid suspension for courthouse hallway comments

A Montana judge is getting a public reprimand and a 30-day unpaid suspension as a result of remarks that he made about a witness while in a courthouse hallway.

Judicial committee advances proposal to regulate the use of visual aids at federal trials

A proposed rule that would regulate the use of visual aids during federal trials has won approval from the U.S. Judicial Conference’s Advisory Committee on Evidence Rules.

Alito says he has ‘a pretty good idea’ who leaked Dobbs, complains that organized bar isn’t defending justices

Justice Samuel Alito says he personally has “a pretty good idea who is responsible” for the May 2, 2022, leak of the U.S. Supreme Court’s abortion decision, “but that’s different from the level of proof that is needed to name somebody.”

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