Judiciary

New Call for Reinstatement of Pakistan Appellate Judges

After parliamentary elections that appear likely to result in the ouster of Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, there have been renewed calls for the reinstatement of dozens of appellate judges he removed from office last year. However, it is far from clear that this will actually happen, reports the Washington Post.…

Feb 22, 2008 1:57 AM CST

2nd Circuit: Lawyer ‘Failed Spectacularly’ in Immigration Case

Like too many other immigrants, Garfield Livern St. Valentine Aris was not well-served by a number of lawyers, the New York City-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals says in an opinion yesterday. In fact, his initial counsel “failed spectacularly,” a three-judge appellate panel writes, after a paralegal misinformed him…

Feb 21, 2008 9:03 PM CST

Ex-Inmate Opposes Judgeship for Corrections Official

A former inmate is leading a campaign against the judicial nomination of Gustavus Puryear, the chief lawyer for the private prison company that incarcerated him for six years. Alex Friedmann is a longtime opponent of the Corrections Corporation of America, having sued the company for a civil rights violation in…

Feb 21, 2008 4:18 PM CST

Trent Lott Investigated in Scruggs Judicial Influence Probe

Federal authorities are investigating whether former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott was involved in an alleged conspiracy to influence a Mississippi judge to deliver a favorable ruling on behalf of plaintiffs lawyer Richard “Dickie” Scruggs, the Wall Street Journal reports (sub. req.). The case is one of two in which…

Feb 21, 2008 12:05 PM CST

Leniency Pleas for Judge Who Jailed 46 Over Ringing Cell Phone

A state commission on judicial conduct has recommended removal from office for a New York municipal jurist who jailed 46 people in what it terms “two hours of inexplicable madness” over a ringing cell phone. But amicus briefs from legal, judicial and civic groups are piling up in the case,…

Feb 20, 2008 8:07 PM CST

Restrictions Eased on High-Profile Pakistan Lawyer; Protest Planned re Judges

Initially jailed and then held under house arrest for months, a high-profile Pakistan lawyer has been able to speak out again after the country’s recent parliamentary elections. Attorney Aitzaz Ahsan, president of the country’s Supreme Court Bar Association, has been held virtually incommunicado for months after President Pervez Musharraf’s suspension…

Feb 20, 2008 7:20 PM CST

Vote to End Jury Deadlock May Cost Attorney His Law License

A San Francisco attorney is facing potential disbarment because while serving on a jury in 2004, he reportedly cast the deciding vote to end a deadlock simply so that he could return to his law practice. Earlier this month, a State Bar Court judge in California recommended that Francis Fahy…

Feb 19, 2008 4:02 PM CST

Judges Flunk Story Problem Test, Showing Intuitive Decision-Making

Researchers who asked 295 Florida trial judges to solve three story problems have concluded their wrong answers help show judges rely primarily on intuition when making decisions. Nearly a third of the judges failed to answer a single question correctly and a similar number got just one answer right. The…

Feb 19, 2008 3:20 PM CST

Bankruptcy Judge Resigns Following Unusual DWI Publicity

A federal bankruptcy judge in Boston has resigned after his no-contest plea to driving while intoxicated. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Somma was charged with the offense after a Feb. 6 accident in which Somma’s Mercedes-Benz rear-ended a pickup, the Union Leader reports. Anonymous sources told the Union Leader in a…

Feb 19, 2008 1:10 PM CST

TV’s Judge Alex Defends Testimony Based on Real-Life Judging

The Florida Supreme Court criticized television’s “Judge Alex” in an opinion released yesterday, saying he should not have testified for a Miami man who survived torture and kidnapping. But the judge, Alex Ferrer, told the Miami Herald the court was unaware his 1999 testimony was compelled by a subpoena. “They…

Feb 15, 2008 2:31 PM CST

Judge Joseph Sneed Dies at 87; Respected Conservative on Liberal 9th Circuit

Services will be held tomorrow in San Francisco for a longtime federal judge and former dean of Duke University School of Law who served for more than 20 years as a respected conservative voice on the liberal 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Joseph Sneed, who took senior status in…

Feb 15, 2008 12:17 AM CST

Recusal Effort Irks Judge in Case Involving DA’s Deleted E-Mail

Although a politically sensitive federal civil rights trial in Texas still hasn’t gotten started as scheduled, the case this month has nonetheless been action-packed. First, the Harris County District Attorney admitted he’d accidentally deleted some 2,500 e-mails that he was supposed to produce as evidence. And now, as the jury…

Feb 14, 2008 11:37 PM CST

Grand Jurors Sue for OK to Talk About Texas Supreme Court Justice’s Case

In a highly unusual move, six members of a 12-person grand jury that indicted a Texas Supreme Court justice are suing the county prosecutor and the state for permission to talk about the evidence they considered in the controversial case. Ordinarily, grand jury proceedings are secret. But the grand jurors…

Feb 14, 2008 7:07 PM CST

Las Vegas Family Court Judge Accused of Sexual Misconduct

A Las Vegas judge who hears adoption and domestic violence cases has been charged in an ethics complaint with sexually harassing an employee he first sexually abused when she was about 14 years old. The complaint against Nicholas Del Vecchio also alleges he used racial slurs, made sexually suggestive comments…

Feb 13, 2008 3:52 PM CST

Judge Denies Motion Citing Torture Policy Involvement as Reason for Recusal

A federal appeals judge has denied a motion that seeks his recusal in an excessive-force case on the ground that he cannot be fair because of his involvement in developing torture policy for the Bush administration. The motion contends that Judge Jay Bybee of the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit…

Feb 13, 2008 3:14 PM CST