Government

ABA President: Ariz. Immigration Law Is ‘Draconian’ and ‘Likely Unconstitutional’

The president of the American Bar Association strongly criticized a controversial new Arizona immigration law in a written statement today. The law, which requires police to seek proof of an individual’s immigration status if they have a reasonable suspicion that the person is in the country illegally, is seen by…

Apr 30, 2010 10:54 PM CDT

Judge Nixes Former Ill. Gov’s Motion to Subpoena President Obama

Saying that a defense motion fell “very short” of establishing a need to subpoena the president of the United States to testify in the upcoming political corruption trial of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, a federal judge in Chicago has nixed a defense motion to require Obama’s testimony. Although the…

Apr 30, 2010 7:35 PM CDT

‘River of Oil’ from Gulf Spill Hits La. Shore, Could Dwarf Exxon Valdez Damage

Updated: The blowout of an oil well being dug by a British Petroleum rig in the Gulf of Mexico has resulted in a massive spill that could dwarf the environmental damage done in 1989 when the Exxon Valdez ran aground in Alaska. The “river of oil” that began washing onto…

Apr 30, 2010 12:17 AM CDT

Pistol-Packing Texas Gov Isn’t Sorry He Shot Coyote, Despite Legal Questions

When a coyote threatened his labrador retriever puppy during an early morning jog in the Austin area, Texas Gov. Rick Perry reportedly killed it with a single shot from his laser-sighted pistol. He says he has no regrets about using his .380 Ruger pistol, loaded with hollow-point bullets, to take…

Apr 28, 2010 5:37 PM CDT

Ex-Head of US Special Counsel Office Pleads Guilty to Criminal Contempt

The former chief of the U.S. Office of Special Counsel has agreed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of criminal contempt of Congress for withholding information from a U.S. House of Representatives committee investigating his deletion of files from four government computers, reports the Blog of Legal Times. Onetime…

Apr 27, 2010 11:55 PM CDT

‘Tip of Iceberg’: Inspector Never Tested 200 Properties for Lead & Asbestos

A guilty plea yesterday in Manhattan federal court by a 68-year-old safety inspector who reportedly never looked at more than 200 properties he certified to be free of asbestos and/or lead contamination is only “the tip of the iceberg,” an unidentified “official” tells the New York Times. Authorities are now…

Apr 27, 2010 10:46 PM CDT

‘Trial From Hell’: Prosecutor Posts on Facebook; Jurors Text; Bailiff Chats in Deliberations

A recent trial in a Florida felony gun case sounds like a fact pattern out of a law school exam problem: Jurors admittedly were texting and making cell calls during deliberations. A bailiff chatted with members of the deliberating panel during a smoke break, according to St. Lucie County Sheriff’s…

Apr 22, 2010 6:49 PM CDT

Wife of Ex-Mayor of Detroit Sues County DA, Says Her Money Was Spent on Hubby’s $1M Restitution

As the disgraced former mayor of Detroit faces a possible jail term for having violated his probation in a political corruption case by not making required payments toward his $1 million restitution, his wife has filed a federal lawsuit in Texas contending that Wayne County and its district attorney took…

Apr 22, 2010 5:15 PM CDT

Longtime Justice of Peace Resigns Over Claimed Crude Comments to Court Workers

For years, an Oregon justice of the peace allegedly commented to clerks and parties in cases at Central Lane Justice Court about their sex lives, among other objectionable topics. But it wasn’t until five female clerks complained together to Lane County officials in December that an investigation began into the…

Apr 20, 2010 11:32 PM CDT

Report: Spitzer Request to Bank to Limit Payment Info Led to Then-Gov’s Resignation

A prostitution scandal that eventually led to former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s resignation from office in 2008 was reportedly sparked by the former state attorney general’s request to a private banker Aug. 6, 2007 to leave his name and account number off of a $5,000 wire transfer to a…

Apr 20, 2010 7:15 PM CDT

Justices Grapple with Technology in Cop’s Privacy Suit Involving Steamy Text Messages

U.S. Supreme Court justices had some questions about pager technology in a suit that contends a police officer’s Fourth Amendment rights were violated when supervisors read his steamy text messages sent on a department-issued device. What happens, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wanted to know, if the officer “is…

Apr 20, 2010 2:35 PM CDT

Former White House Counsel Is Advising Goldman Sachs

President Obama’s first White House counsel, Gregory Craig, is advising Goldman Sachs as it fights a civil fraud suit filed Friday by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Craig is a lawyer at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom who is assigned to represent the investment bank, according to Bloomberg and…

Apr 20, 2010 11:42 AM CDT

Lawyer in Hot Water for Helping Newspaper Reporter Write About Prison Sex

A Kansas attorney could have his law license suspended for helping a newspaper reporter interview inmates for a story about alleged illegal sex and the trafficking of contraband within the Topeka Correctional Facility. An investigator with the state’s office of attorney discipline has recommended a six-month suspension for Keen Umbehr,…

Apr 19, 2010 9:11 PM CDT

Former Blackwater Gen’l Counsel, 4 Other Ex-Execs Indicted in Weapons Case

Five former executives of a private security company that made headlines over its involvement in a 2007 Baghdad shooting incident that left 17 Iraqi civilians dead are now under indictment, facing apparently unrelated charges that they illegally stockpiled automatic weapons at Blackwater Worldwide’s headquarters in North Carolina and filed false…

Apr 17, 2010 12:06 AM CDT

Shock Waves at Manhattan DA’s Office as Veteran Lawyers Are Laid Off

Faced with a 25 percent budget cut, the newly elected Manhattan District Attorney has made layoffs. Although the total number of positions Cyrus Vance Jr. cut was under 10, the action sent shock waves through the office because all the lawyers asked to resign were said by unidentified prosecutors to…

Apr 16, 2010 6:52 PM CDT