Government

Crime Labs in Disarray Nationally; Reform, Independence Needed, Report Says

Problems including conflicts of interest and a lack of appropriate scientific standards require a wholesale overhaul of crime labs throughout the country, to be sure that the guilty are convicted in criminal cases and the innocent are not, a scientific think tank has recommended. The report released today the the…

Feb 18, 2009 11:27 PM CST

$75B Mortgage Bailout Detailed, as Foreclosures Clog Courts

As President Barack Obama today announced a $75 billion federal mortgage bailout plan intended to help up to 9 million homeowners avert foreclosure, courts are already busy dealing with a deluge of pending foreclosure cases for which such measures appear to have come too late. And the Homeowner Affordability and…

Feb 18, 2009 10:43 PM CST

Where is Billionaire Defendant, Following SEC Lawsuit?

Where is a 58-year-old Texas billionaire accused by securities regulators in civil litigation yesterday of operating a massive investment fraud? The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed the federal lawsuit in Dallas over $8 billion in certificates of deposit sold under dubious representations by a bank affiliated with his Stanford…

Feb 18, 2009 5:45 PM CST

Cheney Lobbied Furiously for Libby Pardon

In his last days in office, Vice President Dick Cheney lobbied hard for a pardon of his former chief of staff, I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, convicted of lying and obstructing an investigation into the leaked identity of CIA officer Valerie Plame. The New York Times describes Cheney’s pleas as “a…

Feb 18, 2009 1:22 PM CST

Lawyer Loses Briefcase—and Sensitive Iraq War Documents

In the latest of a series of embarrassing incidents concerning the British government’s loss of confidential information, a solicitor with a well-known United Kingdom law firm apparently had his briefcase stolen as he was riding a commuter train to work yesterday. In the stolen case was a set of highly…

Feb 17, 2009 11:59 PM CST

2 Pa. Judges, 2 Lawyers and Others Sued in $2.6M Jail-for-Pay Case

Two Pennsylvania judges accused by federal prosecutors of accepting $2.6 million in kickbacks to jail juveniles in privately owned detention facilities are now being sued for damages. In the first of several expected lawsuits seeking class-action status, a federal complaint was filed yesterday contending that juveniles incarcerated under the scheme…

Feb 13, 2009 7:17 PM CST

Failed US-Led Drug War Harms Foreign Judicial Systems, Report Says

Escalating violence in Mexico and Latin America from a failed U.S.-led war on drugs is putting democratic governments and their judicial systems and police forces at risk, says a report by the Latin American Commission on Drugs and Democracy. Headed by three former Latin American heads of state, the group…

Feb 13, 2009 12:42 AM CST

Pakistan Charges 8 in Mumbai Terror Attacks in November

In a significant step toward dismantling what the Indian government has described as the “infrastructure of terrorism in Pakistan,” the government of Pakistan filed terrorism and cybercrime charges today against eight suspects. They are accused of helping 10 gunmen attack hotels and other targets in Mumbai in November, killing 165…

Feb 12, 2009 8:55 PM CST

Feds to Target Lawyers in Fraud Cases

Lawyers and other “gatekeepers,” such as mortgage and real estate brokers, should be prime targets in upcoming criminal prosecutions of widespread fraud underlying the current economic crisis, officials said at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing today. “They have the most to lose, they’re the most likely to flip, and they…

Feb 11, 2009 11:54 PM CST

As Bernard Madoff Arrest Loomed, His Wife Withdrew $15.5M, Regulator Says

On the day before Bernard Madoff was to be arrested in a federal securities fraud case, in the midst of bombshell accusations that he had masterminded a record-breaking $50 billion Ponzi scheme, his wife withdrew $10 million from a brokerage account at a firm he co-owned, a top Massachusetts securities…

Feb 11, 2009 9:42 PM CST

Working at the Car Wash Can Be Criminal, LA City Attorney Says

Dozens of Los Angeles employees aren’t singing the praises of working at the car wash. In fact, it’s a sweatshop situation for many that resembles indentured servitude, says City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo. He has filed criminal charges against three men, accusing two brothers, Benny and Nissan Pirian, of systemic labor…

Feb 11, 2009 6:11 PM CST

Case Dropped Against Texas Girl, 12, Accused of Police Assault

A Texas girl, then 12, who was allegedly accused by Galveston police of being a prostitute and assaulted when she stepped outside her family home has herself escaped conviction on a criminal charge in the 2006 incident. A jury split 5-1, with all but one refusing to convict Dymond Larae…

Feb 10, 2009 11:15 PM CST

VA to Pay $20M to Settle Case Over Stolen—and Recovered—Laptop

Seemingly taken in a routine burglary at an employee’s home, a laptop computer stolen from a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs analyst in 2006—and recovered later that year, apparently without any of its data being misused—is costing taxpayers a $20 million settlement. A federal judge in Washington, D.C., approved the…

Feb 10, 2009 9:50 PM CST

What Is a Weed? Mich. Judge Decides, Upholds $100 Lawn Ticket

In a hard-fought municipal ordinance case pitting a Michigan man, supported by local environmental groups, against his township’s governing officials, a local judge has weighed in against the flourishing so-called weeds growing in his yard. “Central to the case is what it means to ‘cultivate,’ and to a lesser degree,…

Feb 10, 2009 8:59 PM CST

Scruggs II: Once-Renowned Trial Lawyer Pleads in Another Court Corruption Case

Already serving a five-year prison term for his role in a scheme to bribe a Mississippi judge concerning a dispute over Hurricane Katrina legal fees, once-renowned trial attorney Richard “Dickie” Scruggs pleaded guilty today in a federal mail-fraud case. “According to prosecutors, Scruggs was involved in a scheme ‘to deprive…

Feb 10, 2009 8:28 PM CST