Government

Pillow Fight Organizer in Vt. is Charged With Disorderly Conduct

Some 50 individuals briefly pummeled each other with pillows in a staged—and videotaped—event in Burlington, Vt., on Friday. But only 21-year-old Darin Cassler has been criminally charged over the incident, apparently because he allegedly blew a whistle that signaled those involved in the fluffy and apparently good-natured free-for-all to start…

Apr 21, 2009 5:31 PM CDT

Another Teen ‘Sexting’ Peril: Charges (Now Dismissed) Against School Official

When Ting-Yi Oei heard rumors that students at his high school were sending revealing photos to each other on their cell phones, the Loudoun County, Va., assistant principal felt it was his job to investigate this obviously undesirable behavior. In consultation with the school principal and security specialist, he interviewed…

Apr 21, 2009 5:04 PM CDT

Once Courted by BigLaw, Lawyers Find Government Job Search Is Demoralizing

Laid-off BigLaw lawyers are sending a flood of resumés to U.S. agencies, only to learn that advertised jobs aren’t available or computers are winnowing out their applications. Lawyers sending their resumés “into the murky depths of Washington’s alphabet soup” are being stymied by hiring freezes and computer programs selecting applicants…

Apr 20, 2009 12:11 PM CDT

N.C. Law Firm’s Claimed Role in Serving Warrants on Witnesses Sparks Mistrial

A judge in Alamance County, N.C., has declared a mistrial, after attorneys at a local defense firm were accused of playing a role in persuading the sheriff’s office to serve warrants from several years previously on two government witnesses who were testifying in a kidnapping and attempted rape case. In…

Apr 15, 2009 10:42 PM CDT

Baseball Fan Sues, Says Call of Nature Trumped ‘God Bless America’

A baseball fan who says he was ejected from a New York Yankees game after answering the call of nature rather than staying in his seat for the singing of “God Bless America” has sued over the alleged violation of his First Amendment rights. Bradford Campeau-Laurion contends that he was…

Apr 15, 2009 7:13 PM CDT

Mortgage Fraud Is Rarely Prosecuted

Although bank robbers steal less, they’re a lot more likely to be prosecuted criminally than those who commit mortgage fraud and deed thefts. Lacking staff and resources to pursue such complex real estate cases, prosecutors in New York have tended to treat them as civil matters even as they proliferated…

Apr 15, 2009 5:51 PM CDT

DOJ Revs Up Prosecutor Training, Ponders Discovery Policy

Following blistering criticism by a federal judge who last week appointed a special prosecutor to investigate the government’s handling of a high-profile criminal corruption case against former Sen. Ted Stevens, U.S. Attorney Gen. Eric Holder is cleaning house at the Department of Justice. Holder is setting up a training program…

Apr 15, 2009 4:53 PM CDT

Boy, 9, is Too Young for Shotgun, Rules Wash. Judge

A judge in eastern Washington state has sided with the divorcing mother of a 9-year-old boy who is contending in court that he is too young to be given access to a shotgun by his father. Although he had earlier given his son access to the gun without incident, Sean…

Apr 14, 2009 9:22 PM CDT

EPA & Lawmakers Focus on New Environmental Issue: Bedbugs

In a summit today near the nation’s capital, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is putting a new emphasis on a growing environmental issue: A proliferation of bedbugs. The increasing plague of the tiny insects, which notoriously lurk in mattresses waiting to feed on humans as they sleep, apparently has been…

Apr 14, 2009 7:53 PM CDT

Fla. City Manager Fired Over Sex Change Gets New Job—and a Pay Raise

A little over two years ago, when it became public that a longtime city manager in Largo, Fla., planned to undergo a sex change, he was immediately fired from his $140,000-a-year job. A number of people supported ousting him, but others said the incident could be a wake-up call for…

Apr 9, 2009 10:22 PM CDT

Alaska Seeks Hatch Act Probe in Stevens Case, Supports Possible Tort Claim

Opening a new chapter in the ongoing debacle over the federal government’s stunningly unsuccessful prosecution of then-Sen. Ted Stevens for corruption, the legislature of his home state of Alaska today overwhelmingly passed a resolution calling for further investigation of potential election law violations and demanding that the federal government give…

Apr 9, 2009 12:24 AM CDT

Double-Dipping Government Lawyer Gets 36 Months of Probation

Two government agencies were pleased with the work that attorney Richard David Wyss did for them. But because Wyss told both the Utah Department of Public Safety and the federal Transportation Security Administration that he was working exclusively for that government agency, he was sentenced yesterday by a federal judge…

Apr 8, 2009 5:35 PM CDT

Texas Judge Tells Medical Examiner to Help Mom Get Dead Son’s Sperm

Nikolas Colton Evans always wanted three sons. So, when he died after being punched and falling in a March 27 street assault in Austin, Texas, his mother, Marissa Evans, decided to try to harvest the 21-year-old’s sperm and arrange a posthumous pregnancy with the help of a surrogate mother. Now,…

Apr 8, 2009 4:58 PM CDT

After Quack, Mack and Jack, Now Pack is Latest Bronze Duckling Stolen in Boston

Adding a new episode to a saga of unsolved crimes in Boston’s Public Garden, another one of the eight bronze ducklings replicating a famous contingent raised by Mrs. Mallard in a beloved children’s book has been stolen. Following earlier thefts of Quack, Mack and Jack, this time Pack has been…

Apr 7, 2009 11:29 PM CDT

Some Long-Haul Truckers Linked to Serial Killings, FBI Says

The job is solitary, albeit with long hours. It’s highly mobile. And there’s little supervision. Hence, some serial killers and others who prey on women may be attracted to work as long-haul truckers, federal agents tell the Los Angeles Times. After making the connection about five years ago concerning the…

Apr 7, 2009 10:01 PM CDT