Family Law

Judge accused of signing her own lawyer’s name on divorce filing fights suspension recommendation

A Michigan family court judge accused of signing her own lawyer’s name, without permission, on a personal divorce filing and lying under oath is fighting a recommendation by the state Judicial Tenure Commission that she be suspended for 180 days. The divorce case for Wayne County Circuit Judge Deborah Ross…

Apr 11, 2013 5:15 PM CDT

Plan to impress girlfriend with phony divorce decree backfires for man charged with forgery

In an apparent attempt to please his girlfriend, a man allegedly forged his current wife’s signature on a false divorce decree. Edward Brown, 45, has been divorced at least once. He allegedly used the divorce decree from the prior marriage to create a falsified divorce decree for his current marriage,…

Apr 8, 2013 5:33 PM CDT

‘Divorce from hell’ began with $5,400 monthly alimony offer, ended with $1,500 installments

A month after their 2008 divorce case was filed in Pinellas County, Fla., Terry Power offered to pay his wife of nearly 20 years $5,400 per month in alimony until he retired, and $50,000 in cash. He also was willing to give Murielle Marie Helene Fournier half of the contents…

Apr 8, 2013 4:37 PM CDT

Family lawyer gets life in murder of ex-client and baby; judge calls him a ‘facade’ and a ‘fraud’

An Illinois family law attorney was sentenced to life in prison Thursday in the murders of his former client, Nova Henry, and her 10-month-old daughter. The government said Fredrick Goings, who had represented Henry in a child-support case against a professional basketball player, shot her in January 2009 at her…

Apr 4, 2013 7:10 PM CDT

‘Pregnant man’ can’t divorce, judge rules

As the U.S. Supreme Court mulls arguments in a landmark case over the right under federal law of same-sex couples to marry the same way that heterosexual couples do, a ruling last week by an Arizona judge illustrates the difficulties nontraditional couples face under the patchwork of state laws now…

Apr 4, 2013 4:40 PM CDT

Would a gay-rights victory on DOMA include a ‘constitutional Trojan horse’?

A federalism argument that almost killed the Obama administration’s health care law is being pressed in the Supreme Court as the justices consider a challenge to the statute barring federal benefits for same-sex married couples. A decision on states’ rights grounds in United States v. Windsor would succeed in overturning…

Apr 4, 2013 12:53 PM CDT

Capital murder trial begins for man accused of slaying bystander in shooting outside courthouse

Jury selection began Tuesday in the Galveston, Texas, capital murder trial for a man accused of slaying a bystander when he also shot family members outside the Jefferson County courthouse in Beaumont last year. Investigators say Bartholomew Granger shot Minnie Ray Sebolt, 79, outside the courthouse door as he was…

Apr 2, 2013 10:44 PM CDT

Judge admits sex with witness in chambers, but says it didn’t affect his decision-making

A lawyer for an embattled Michigan judge who is facing an ethics complaint has said he doesn’t believe the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission will be able to prove charges that Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade McCree made a false report of a felony, made misrepresentations to the commission and engaged…

Mar 29, 2013 3:55 PM CDT

Polo mogul’s adoption of girlfriend, 42, is nixed by appeals court

John Goodman’s adoption of his girlfriend, Heather Anne Hutchins, who was then 42 years old, came at a time when he was facing a criminal trial over a fatal auto accident, a wrongful death suit and a dispute over the management of a trust fund for his two children. But…

Mar 28, 2013 7:30 PM CDT

GLAD lawyer is credited for legal strategy advancing gay marriage

Lawyer Mary Bonauto has been likened to the Thurgood Marshall of the gay-rights world for her work on same-sex marriage cases. The chief civil rights lawyer for Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, Bonauto “is a quiet celebrity” in the world of gay legal advocacy, the New York Times reports.…

Mar 27, 2013 7:09 PM CDT

Oral arguments suggest DOMA will be overturned, SCOTUSblog’s Goldstein says

A tweet by SCOTUSblog founder Tom Goldstein sums up his prediction of how the Supreme Court will rule on the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act, which bans federal benefits for same-sex married couples. “Final update,” Goldstein tweeted after oral arguments on Wednesday. “#scotus 80% likely to strike down…

Mar 27, 2013 4:50 PM CDT

Kennedy is considered tie-breaker in DOMA case; is a Roberts ruling possible?

Court watchers will be following the remarks of Justice Anthony M. Kennedy when the U.S. Supreme Court takes up gay marriage again today, this time in a challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act banning federal benefits for same-sex married couples. The plaintiff, Edith Windsor, had to pay an estate…

Mar 27, 2013 1:03 PM CDT

Will the Supreme Court ‘stay its hand’ on gay marriage? SCOTUSblog’s Goldstein thinks so

Oral arguments on the constitutionality of a California ban on gay marriage received widespread attention today, but the justices’ comments suggest the Supreme Court won’t reach the merits, according to SCOTUSblog founder Tom Goldstein. Justice Anthony M. Kennedy is considered the swing voter on the case. Writing at SCOTUSblog, Goldstein…

Mar 26, 2013 5:15 PM CDT

Meet Charles Cooper, the lawyer who will support Prop 8 in arguments today

The lawyer who will be arguing on behalf of gay marriage today in the U.S. Supreme Court is well known. He’s Ted Olson of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, a conservative who joined with former opponent David Boies in the case. Less well known is the lawyer defending California’s Proposition 8…

Mar 26, 2013 1:43 PM CDT

Chief justice’s cousin, a lesbian, is optimistic he will ‘go in a good direction’ on gay marriage

Jean Podrasky has no actual knowledge of her cousin’s views on gay marriage. But the lesbian woman is optimistic that Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. “will go in a good direction,” according to the Los Angeles Times blog L.A. Now. Podrasky is attending oral arguments in the first of…

Mar 25, 2013 12:28 PM CDT