Government

Supreme Court to Consider Request to Display ‘Seven Aphorisms’

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Wednesday in a case that asks whether a public park is required to display a monument donated by a small religious group called Summum, a name that refers to the sum of all creation. The Utah park already contains a Ten Commandments…

Nov 11, 2008 5:23 PM CST

Pa. Lawyer Chained Pregnant Girlfriend to Couch, Authorities Charge

A defense lawyer in Blair County, Pa., has been charged with chaining his pregnant girlfriend to a sofa. Mark Zearfaus, 40, allegedly restrained the 28-year-old woman at her home by attaching her ankle to the couch with a 31-foot chain and a couple of padlocks, after the two argued Friday…

Nov 10, 2008 10:15 PM CST

Amish Families to Sue N.Y. Town Over Building Code Enforcement Issues

Contending that their First Amendment right to religious freedom is being abridged by too-zealous enforcement of a New York municipality’s building codes, a group of Amish families plans to file a federal suit against Morristown. “Lori H. Windham, an attorney for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty of Washington, D.C.,…

Nov 10, 2008 7:58 PM CST

Obama to Bring Gitmo Detainees to US Courts, Associated Press Says

In a potential move that could change the landscape of the nation’s criminal justice system, president-elect Barack Obama reportedly has asked his advisers to put together a plan to close the U.S. military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and bring detainees who are not released here for trial. While…

Nov 10, 2008 7:28 PM CST

Personnel Board Upholds Firing of Calif. Lawyer Who Questioned Labor Regs

A California state employment lawyer who criticized emergency regulations on employee meal and rest breaks says he’s considering a lawsuit after he failed to win his job back. The State Personnel Board ruled last week that lawyer Miles Locker had undermined the trust essential to the attorney-client relationship and upheld…

Nov 10, 2008 2:53 PM CST

Want ‘Bailout Love’ from Treasury? Strict Conflicts Rules Apply

Two law firms have to be happy about hefty contracts awarded by the U.S. Treasury Department in exchange for helping as many as 2,500 financial firms apply for a share of $750 billion being spent as part of a taxpayer-funded bailout plan. However, there’s one catch, reports the Am Law…

Nov 8, 2008 12:14 AM CST

Conn. Lawyer Apologizes for Posing as Parking Lot Attendant

Facing potential discipline for allegedly violating attorney ethics rules, a Connecticut lawyer has apologized to a hearing panel for posing as a parking lot attendant to make an anonymous complaint about her boss. Maureen Duggan worked as a staff counsel for the State Ethics Commission when she wrote a 2004…

Nov 7, 2008 8:51 PM CST

Illinois ‘Choose Life’ License Plates Not Required, 7th Circuit Says

Overruling a federal trial judge, the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has held that the state of Illinois is not required to issue “Choose Life” license plates sought by individuals who oppose abortion. “The three-judge panel said a decision by Illinois lawmakers not to authorize the ‘Choose Life’…

Nov 7, 2008 5:51 PM CST

Tell-It-Like-It-Is Calif. Judge is Reprimanded for Rudeness

A retired Orange County, Calif., judge who apparently told litigants and counsel what he really thought of their case during a 2006 hearing has been reprimanded for rudeness. The Commission on Judicial Performance found that John Watson’s critical and sarcastic comments during a 2006 hearing in a case that that…

Nov 6, 2008 11:54 PM CST

Feds Won’t Charge Eliot Spitzer, Ex-New York Governor and AG

Eliot Spitzer, whose law-and-order image was tarnished earlier this year when his reported use of high-class prostitutes made international headlines, won’t be federally prosecuted. Michael Garcia, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, announced today that federal prosecutors won’t file criminal charges against the former New York governor and ex-attorney general of…

Nov 6, 2008 9:16 PM CST

‘Barack Effect’ May Spur Law Students to Seek Government Jobs

The head of a nonprofit group that promotes public interest law sees parallels between John F. Kennedy and Barack Obama. David Stern, executive director of Equal Justice Works, told the National Law Journal that Kennedy was a charismatic lawyer who encouraged public service, and Obama is of the same mold.…

Nov 6, 2008 3:27 PM CST

Better Question: Who Isn’t a Lawyer on Obama’s Transition Team?

President-elect Barack Obama and his VP-elect Joe Biden wasted no time assembling their transition team, which features a number of attorneys. (Graduates of Harvard Law School, Obama’s alma mater, also proliferate.) Among the lawyers on the list, Valerie Jarrett, described by the New York Times as a once-unhappy attorney who…

Nov 5, 2008 9:10 PM CST

UK Community Council Bans Smoking By Foster Parents

Citing the health risks posed by secondhand smoke, a community council in London has banned the placement of foster children with foster parents who smoke, unless exceptional circumstances apply. The action yesterday by Redbridge Council will take effect in 2010, which gives current foster parents who smoke a chance to…

Nov 5, 2008 5:28 PM CST

Federal Judge Overturns Jury Conviction of Georgia Magistrate Judge

A federal judge has overturned a jury verdict against a former part-time magistrate judge in Clinch County, Ga., finding that there wasn’t enough evidence to convict her of perjury and making false statements. “U.S. District Judge Hugh Lawson ordered an acquittal of Linda C. Peterson on charges that she lied…

Nov 5, 2008 5:06 PM CST

Treasury Offers $11M ‘Bailout Love’ to Hughes Hubbard and Squire Sanders

Economic crisis has brought big-bucks government contracts to two well-known law firms. Hughes Hubbard & Reed and Squire Sanders & Dempsey have each been awarded $5.5 million contracts to help approximately 2,000 financial firms apply for a share of the money being spent by the U.S. Treasury Department under a…

Nov 5, 2008 12:56 AM CST