Federal Government

Obama judicial nominee can’t win confirmation, Leahy says

The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee says a Georgia appeals court judge does not have enough votes to win confirmation to a federal judgeship. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said on Monday that the nomination of Judge Michael Boggs should be withdrawn, report the Associated Press, the Daily Report (sub.…

Sep 23, 2014 8:46 AM CDT

Prosecutor says claimed White House intruder was free on bail in weapons case, had 800 rounds in car

A man accused of scaling a fence and entering the executive mansion at the White House with a knife Friday is a decorated U.S. Army veteran who served in Iraq. But Omar Gonzalez, 42, was also clearly troubled, the Los Angeles Times (sub. req.) reports. He told a Secret Service…

Sep 22, 2014 5:20 PM CDT

BakerHostetler withdraws from House GOP suit against Obama

BakerHostetler is no longer representing House Republicans in their suit alleging President Barack Obama overstepped his powers by taking executive actions said to revise the health-care law. The new firm handling the case is Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, report the New York Times, Politico and the Washington Examiner. The…

Sep 22, 2014 8:03 AM CDT

SEC spent $8.6M collecting $3.7M from former corporate raider in $62M case

Once a high-profile corporate raider, Paul Bilzerian was convicted of fraud in 1989 and served 13 months. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission won a $62 million judgment in a subsequent civil suit. Now, more than 20 years later, the SEC is winding up its efforts to collect. The final…

Sep 18, 2014 1:25 PM CDT

Democratic appointees are now in the majority on nine federal appeals courts

A change in filibuster rules has helped President Barack Obama rebuild the federal appeals courts to give Democratic appointees an edge. Excluding senior judges, judges appointed by Democratic presidents outnumber GOP-appointed judges on nine out of 13 federal appeals courts, the New York Times reports. Active Democratic appointees on those…

Sep 16, 2014 5:45 AM CDT

US threatened $250K daily fine to get Yahoo to turn over users’ email information

When the U.S. government sought user information from Yahoo in 2007 about email in its customers’ accounts, the company resisted what it viewed as an unconstitutionally broad demand. But Yahoo’s challenges to the controversial National Security Agency PRISM program in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court and the Foreign Intelligence Court…

Sep 12, 2014 9:55 AM CDT

Padilla gets new 21-year sentence after 11th Circuit says original 17-year term was too lenient

Told by a federal appeals court that the 17-year sentence she had given a convicted terrorism plotter was too lenient, a federal judge in Miami on Tuesday resentenced Jose Padilla to a 21-year term. The Atlanta-based 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held that U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke had…

Sep 9, 2014 1:00 PM CDT

DOJ releases redacted 2004 legal memos OKing warrantless NSA searches of US citizens

The Justice Department has released redacted versions of May 2004 and July 2004 legal memos about the powers claimed by officials in then-President George W. Bush’s administration to conduct warrantless wiretap and email surveillance on U.S. citizens. The memos discuss the National Security Agency’s so-called Stellar Wind program, which focused…

Sep 8, 2014 12:55 PM CDT

After stalemate between rancher, armed militia and feds, Nevada prosecutor not rushing to bring case

Corrected: Faced with potential violence in a standoff earlier this year between authorities and a Nevada rancher and armed militia supporters over cattle grazing on federal land, law enforcement officers backed off on a plan to round up trespassing cattle. But in the aftermath of the April incident questions remain…

Sep 2, 2014 5:30 PM CDT

Iconic monarch butterfly needs protection as endangered species, advocacy groups say in US petition

An iconic American butterfly needs protection as an endangered species because of climate change, the widespread use of a herbicide that has eliminated much of its food supply, and other factors, advocacy groups contend. Joined by scientist Lincoln Brower, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Center for Food Safety and…

Aug 26, 2014 5:20 PM CDT

BakerHostetler to represent the House in its suit against Obama; contract pays $500 an hour

The U.S. House of Representatives has hired BakerHostetler to sue President Obama for allegedly overstepping his powers by taking executive actions said to revise the health-care law. The lead lawyer named in the contract is BakerHostetler partner David Rivkin, who outlined the legal theory supporting a lawsuit in a Wall…

Aug 26, 2014 2:39 PM CDT

State Department tells ambassadors not to participate in ‘ice bucket’ fundraising for ALS group

Lawyers for the U.S. Department of State have banned American diplomats from participating in a high-profile “ice bucket” fundraising effort for the ALS Association that has brought in more than $41 million in less than a month. Raising funds to benefit victims of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, popularly known as Lou…

Aug 21, 2014 8:20 PM CDT

Louisiana Supreme Court settles ADA probe by DOJ over mental-health queries on bar application

The Louisiana Supreme Court has agreed to settle a U.S. Department of Justice probe over claims that some mental-health questions on the state’s bar application could violate the Americans with Disabilities Act. Specifically, the DOJ found that those involved in evaluating bar applications have been making admission recommendations focused on…

Aug 18, 2014 8:40 PM CDT

Obama says he needs a Democratic Senate because ‘we’re going to have Supreme Court appointments’

An anonymous White House official is downplaying President Obama’s statement on Monday suggesting there will be upcoming Supreme Court vacancies. Politico has Obama’s statement, made at a Massachusetts fundraiser for the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee. “What’s preventing us from getting things done right now is you’ve got a faction within…

Aug 13, 2014 12:02 PM CDT

Ensuring immigrant detainees have lawyers also benefits court system, DOJ official says

Immigration detainees face an uphill battle to avoid deportation, and oftentimes they have to face government lawyers without representation of their own. A Saturday panel that took place during the ABA Annual Meeting explored some of the reasons why so many immigrants are forced to go pro se, and spoke…

Aug 9, 2014 10:37 PM CDT