Promoting Fair and Impartial Courts

Budget cuts and other challenges undermine an independent judiciary

Mar 2, 2009 4:20 AM CST

Wells Boosts Legal Corps

Just three days after the in­auguration of President Barack Obama, ABA Presi­dent H. Thomas Wells Jr. was meeting with new White House Counsel Greg Craig about some of the association’s…

Mar 2, 2009 2:30 AM CST

Mass. Clerk Accused of Courtoom Sex, Promising Leniency to Defendant

A state-court clerk in Massachusetts has been accused of having courtroom sex with a defendant and promising her leniency in exchange.

James “Jim” Burke, 41, was arrested this morning by…

Feb 27, 2009 8:54 PM CST

Wife’s Death Put Judge Kent in Downward Spiral, His Lawyer Says

A federal district court judge in Texas who has pleaded guilty to obstruction and faces a likely prison sentence went into a downward spiral after the death of his first…

Feb 27, 2009 7:56 PM CST

Gag Order Lifted in Judge Kent Case; Congressman Opposes ‘Disability’ Plan

Over the objections of an attorney representing U.S. District Judge Samuel Kent in a criminal case, the federal jurist hearing the case today lifted an unusual gag order that had…

Feb 27, 2009 12:22 AM CST

Posner Writes Book Questioning His Free-Market Views, and Keeps on Writing

Judge Richard Posner has written a new book questioning his own free-market views, but he’s finding it difficult to let go of the project.

Posner, a judge…

Feb 26, 2009 4:15 PM CST

Judge Kent’s Disability Entitling Him to Retirement Pay Remains Secret

Details of retirement remain secret for a Texas federal judge who agreed to plead guilty to obstruction of justice on the eve of his trial for sexual abuse of two…

Feb 25, 2009 1:58 PM CST

Judge Who Ruled in Milberg Fee Case Gets Job with Firm

A New York judge who allowed jailed lawyer Melvyn Weiss to keep future legal fees from the Milberg law firm has landed a new job.

The judge, Herman Cahn, will…

Feb 25, 2009 12:58 PM CST

Glass Ceiling Shatters in Palestine: 2 Women Become Islamic Court Judges

Women have been police officers, candidates for top political office and even suicide bombers in Palestine. But, until now, they’ve never served on the bench in the territories’ Islamic courts.

Feb 24, 2009 9:10 PM CST

Another Federal Judge Allows Twitter Coverage of Trial

Another federal judge—this one in Wichita, Kan.–will allow a reporter to cover a trial using the micro-blogging service Twitter.

U.S. District Judge J. Thomas Marten said Wichita Eagle reporter Ron…

Feb 24, 2009 4:59 PM CST

Ginsburg Was First Questioner in Two Supreme Court Arguments Yesterday

The first justice to ask questions in Supreme Court oral arguments yesterday was Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who was back on the bench less than three…

Feb 24, 2009 3:43 PM CST

Legal Group Proposes Term Limits for U.S. Supreme Court Justices

Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court should be encouraged to step down after 18 years of service, suggests a group of prominent law professors and judges.

While they have lifetime…

Feb 23, 2009 9:55 PM CST

Continuing Luzerne, Pa., Court Probe: Were Auto Accident Cases Fixed?

Was the deck stacked against defense attorneys in uninsured and underinsured motorists cases in Luzerne County, Pa.?

That is the issue on which investigators are now focusing in the latest…

Feb 23, 2009 8:04 PM CST

Tinkering With DWI Evidence Costs NY Judge and Law Prof Their Jobs

Asked by a friend who is a lawyer to write a statement saying that she wasn’t drunk when she left a bar, New York Supreme Court Justice Joseph Makowski reportedly…

Feb 23, 2009 6:33 PM CST

Judge Kent Pleads Guilty to Obstruction

U.S. District Judge Samuel Kent has pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice in a plea deal that avoids a trial scheduled to begin today.

Feb 23, 2009 4:09 PM CST