Government

Outraged Congress Mulls Special AIG Bonus Law: Tax Could Be 100%

There’s growing public outrage over news that some $165 million of a taxpayer-funded $180 billion bailout of American International Group is being paid out in bonuses to those who helped drive the insurer into its near-demise. But as some federal officials suggest litigation as a possible taxpayer recovery option, others…

Mar 17, 2009 9:35 PM CDT

Panel Says La. Should Pay Katrina Doc’s $450K Defense Costs

As one member called a Louisiana doctor who at one point was accused of criminally euthanizing patients in her care a hero, a panel today recommended that the state should pay some $450,000 in legal defense costs for Dr. Anna Pou. After working at Memorial Medical Center in New Orleans,…

Mar 17, 2009 9:06 PM CDT

Red-Light Cameras Could Soon Catch Insurance Scofflaws, Too

It wouldn’t be difficult for government officials to tweak red-light camera operations so that they also check violators’ license plates against automobile insurance records, says an official of a company seeking to sell an insurance-check service to the City of Chicago. And, eager to increase revenue in tough times, officials…

Mar 17, 2009 12:01 AM CDT

Big Bank Files Mortgage Racketeering Suit Against Individual Borrowers

A major international bank has filed an unusual federal civil racketeering lawsuit in Seattle against a mortgage broker, an escrow agent–and 10 couples. It contends that they conspired to defraud ING Bank of $6 million by falsifying mortgage applications, reports the Seattle Times. However, the couples say that they, too,…

Mar 16, 2009 7:11 PM CDT

N.M. Lawmakers Repeal Death Penalty

The legislature of New Mexico voted today to repeal the state’s death penalty, replacing it with a sentence of life without possibility of parole. The bill now goes to the governor for his signature, reports the Associated Press. Although Gov. Bill Richardson has previously said he would oppose such legislation,…

Mar 14, 2009 12:09 AM CDT

3rd Pa. Judge on Hot Seat; Will Juvenile Convictions Be Reversed?

In the latest developments in an expanding scandal over corruption in the Luzerne County, Pa., court system, a third judge there is now on the hot seat. Relying on unnamed sources, the Legal Intelligencer reports that the judge is being investigated over an allegation that he may have received a…

Mar 13, 2009 9:02 PM CDT

11th Circuit Weighs In on Controversy Over Crime Registries

Another federal appeals court has been heard from in an ongoing controversy over the constitutionality of crime registries, weighing in on the side of the proponents. Deciding an appeal over a criminal case brought under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (otherwise known as the Adam Walsh Act), the…

Mar 13, 2009 8:04 PM CDT

‘Devious’ MySpace Mood Destroys N.Y. Cop’s Jury Testimony

In a case that has made international headlines, a legal aid lawyer in New York used a cop’s Internet information to defeat a criminal case against his client. Police officer and amateur bodybuilder Vaughan Ettienne made the mistake of setting his MySpace mood to “devious,” on the day before a…

Mar 13, 2009 6:49 PM CDT

NJ Sues Multiple Lawyers in Alleged $18M Mortgage Racketeering Scam

A disbarred lawyer who lives in Montvale, N.J., and his son, as well as four other licensed attorneys have been accused of participating in an $18 million mortgage racketeering scam in a lawsuit filed by the state attorney general. The case concerns a claimed straw-buyer scam allegedly operated through Casey…

Mar 13, 2009 5:53 PM CDT

Texas DA Blasts Prosecution & Defense for Wrongful Rape Conviction

In a rare public rebuke, District Attorney Pat Lykos of Harris County, Texas, has blasted both prosecution and defense lawyers in a wrongful conviction case. She also blames police and a dysfunctional police crime lab, for “a cascading, systemwide breakdown” that caused an innocent man to be convicted and sentenced…

Mar 12, 2009 7:22 PM CDT

New Focus on Fraud Prosecutions

Under the Obama administration, there is going to be a new focus on prosecuting more financial fraud cases. In fact, it has already begun. The president’s proposed budget “hints” at a planned spending increase on federal prosecution, and those who have met with Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. say he…

Mar 12, 2009 12:23 AM CDT

Alabama AG is ‘Shocked’ By Federal Probe of His Office

The chief of staff for Alabama’s state attorney general says his boss is “shocked” by news that the attorney general’s office is being federally investigated. At least six former employees of Attorney General Troy King, including three investigators, were called last week before a federal grand jury in Montgomery, reports…

Mar 10, 2009 3:04 AM CDT

New Texts Give Insider Litigation Peeks as Ex-Mayor of Detroit Seeks $100M

Ever wondered what was in former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s mind during the infamous text-message debacle? His oversight of a now-former city police official’s complaint of unfair treatment was, of course, handled in a manner that eventually put the mayor himself in jail for a short time. Some 6,000 newly…

Mar 10, 2009 2:24 AM CDT

Check With AG Before Following Bush Signing Statements, Obama Tells Officials

In an initially little-known practice, President George W. Bush not infrequently signed federal legislation but then, in effect, countermanded some provisions in so-called signing statements. Now President Barack Obama is telling federal officials not to rely on them. In a memo today, he sets forth the principles he intends to…

Mar 9, 2009 9:54 PM CDT

Most Sept. 11 Lawsuits Settle; Total Payout is $500M, Mediator Says

A mediator reportedly has settled all but three of the more than 90 wrongful death and personal injury lawsuits brought against airlines and related companies concerning the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Mediator Sheila Birnbaum said in a report today that the total payout on these claims is $500 million,…

Mar 6, 2009 12:07 AM CST