Government

Racing Ahead of Applicable Law, Scientist Creates ‘Synthetic Cell’

In a move that has raised new legal, ethical and public policy concerns, scientists have announced the creation of what they are calling the first synthetic cell. The bacterium, which is controlled by genetic instructions created by humans and can reproduce itself, is expected to lead to further artificial life…

May 20, 2010 10:47 PM CDT

Detroit Debate: Was Removal of High-End Graffiti a Criminal Act or Art Rescue?

The owner of a derelict commercial building in Detroit apparently isn’t complaining. But the community is fiercely debating whether the removal of a high-end work of graffiti art—or vandalism, as some see the piece—was laudable art conservation or a second criminal act, reports the Detroit Free Press. Depending on your…

May 19, 2010 10:46 PM CDT

Google in Potential Showdown Over Wi-Fi Data Debacle; ‘No Harm, No Foul,’ Says CEO

Google is the subject of apparently conflicting global demands in a potential showdown over the giant Internet company’s admitted inadvertent collection of some 600 gigabytes of unsecured Wi-Fi data in recent years. Because of a programming error, the data was accidentally collected from millions of homes and businesses by vehicles…

May 19, 2010 12:21 AM CDT

Would-Be AG Is Knocked Off Ballot, Lacks Legal Experience, Top Conn. Court Finds

A Connecticut lawyer lacks the legal experience to seek election as attorney general even though she has served for years as secretary of state. Today’s ruling by the Connecticut Supreme Court almost certainly ends Susan Bysiewicz’s hard-fought legal ballot to get on the ballot for the attorney general’s race, reports…

May 18, 2010 9:42 PM CDT

Retired Art Teacher Sentenced to Jail for Refusing to Remove Pointed Art Display

A retired art teacher has been sentenced to 20 days in jail after he refused a judge’s order to clean up an art display on his property deemed to be unsafe to young children. Lewis Greenberg, 66, argues that the city of Ballwin, Mo., wants him to remove his art…

May 18, 2010 2:49 PM CDT

Blago Lawyer: ‘He’s a Celebrity Idiot’; Judge: Juror IDs Secret Until After Trial

To reduce the potential pressure on jurors to consider Internet material sent to them by outsiders about Rod Blagojevich, a federal judge in Chicago today said that juror identities will be kept secret from the public until after the former Illinois governor’s upcoming corruption-in-office trial is completed. At this point,…

May 17, 2010 10:13 PM CDT

A New Short List, This One for SG: Washington Gov. Said to Be a Possibility

Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire is on a short list to replace Elena Kagan as solicitor general, but she isn’t saying whether she’d take the job if it is offered. A White House official confirmed on Wednesday that Gregoire is under consideration, but didn’t disclose the names of any others on…

May 13, 2010 11:46 AM CDT

New UK Justice Secretary Surprised by His Appointment

Kenneth Clarke says he was surprised when he learned he was being appointed as Justice Secretary in the new coalition government of incoming prime minster David Cameron. Clarke was shadow business secretary for Cameron before the election, but he told BBC Radio 4 that his experience as a criminal defense…

May 12, 2010 3:46 PM CDT

Fla. AG Defends $120K Payment to Expert Now Embroiled in Rentboy Scandal

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum is defending the state’s payment of more than $120,000 for expert witness testimony by an anti-gay psychologist now caught up in the so-called Rentboy scandal. The state had originally planned to pay George Rekers $60,900, but when he exceeded his contracted hours, the total fee…

May 12, 2010 1:40 PM CDT

Fighting Crier with Ire, Anti-Panhandler Parades Own Sign: Keep Your Change!

Angered by what apparently struck him as blatant hypocrisy—a panhandler claiming in a sign, day after day, that he needed another $18 to afford a bus ticket to Mesa, Ariz.—John Fisher struck back. The 49-year-old Washington state man paid for his own double-sided sign—“Stop the Panhandlers Keep Your Change”—and began…

May 11, 2010 9:07 PM CDT

‘Shortcuts’ by NYPD Lab Tech Could Put Thousands of Cases in Doubt

The alleged sloppy work habits of a longtime New York City police lab technician has reportedly put thousands of criminal cases in doubt. The technician, who has been suspended without pay, is accused in one instance of slapping a positive label on a 39th drug sample, which initially tested negative,…

May 11, 2010 7:28 PM CDT

Law Firms Hire Physicians to Help Defend Medical Billing Cases

It isn’t just plaintiffs lawyers who are looking to hire professionals with medical expertise to help point the way toward high-value tort claims. A number of well-known law firms have recently hired nonlawyer physicians to bolster their defense practices, the On the Docket blog of Forbes magazine reports. Among them…

May 11, 2010 5:09 PM CDT

A ‘Sleeper Issue’? Kagan Urged Clinton to Support Ban on Late-Term Abortions

Elena Kagan’s stance on the hot-button issue of abortion could be a new issue in her confirmation hearings, now that documents have surfaced in which she urged then-President Clinton to support a ban on late-term abortions. The Associated Press has dislosed the documents written by Kagan in 1997 when she…

May 11, 2010 12:10 PM CDT

Airline, Law Firm on Hot Seat in Discovery Debacle & Collapse of Big Price-Fixing Trial

A well-known law firm is on the hot seat along with its client airline over a belatedly produced 2005 e-mail that reportedly undermined a high-profile criminal cartel trial against four present and former British Airways executives. The four were exonerated today after the United Kingdom’s Office of Fair Trading said…

May 10, 2010 9:51 PM CDT

Student’s Prizewinning Law Review Article Ignites Texas Tax Debate

Nikki Laing is no ordinary law student. And her upcoming Baylor Law Review article is more than a bit unusual, too. At 35, she is the mother of an 11-year-old and has already put together a successful small business. Plus, she is not only an accountant but last year scored…

May 10, 2010 8:21 PM CDT