Kentucky

Law student is charged with flying drone at stadium during U of Kentucky football season opener

A University of Kentucky law student was charged with wanton endangerment on Friday after allegedly flying a drone at Commonwealth Stadium just before the season opener game against Louisiana-Lafayette kicked off on Saturday. Peyton Wilson, 24, is accused of crashing the drone, which was equipped with a high-powered camera, into…

Sep 11, 2015 2:30 PM CDT

Judge frees county clerk from jail, orders her not to interfere with same-sex marriage licensing

Noting that Rowan County, Kentucky, court employees have been issuing same-sex marriage licenses while the county clerk served time for contempt for refusing to do so, a federal judge on Tuesday released clerk Kim Davis from jail. In doing so, U.S. District Judge David Bunning ordered Davis not to interfere…

Sep 8, 2015 2:00 PM CDT

Civil RICO suit says lawyers took fees from immigration clients who couldn’t legally stay in US

A Kentucky lawyer and his associate have been named as defendants in a civil racketeering suit. It accuses them of exploiting an apparent loophole in federal immigration law and obtaining fees from clients living here illegally who didn’t qualify for the U.S. employment authorization they obtained. Brought last month in…

Sep 8, 2015 11:35 AM CDT

This group is defending Kentucky clerk and others who refuse to issue gay-marriage licenses

The Kentucky clerk who refuses to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, Kim Davis, may be the most high-profile government official currently represented by Liberty Counsel. But there are others. The nonprofit religious rights law firm also represents a former North Carolina magistrate, an Alabama probate judge, and a Texas…

Sep 3, 2015 8:52 AM CDT

Defiant county clerk refuses to issue marriage licenses despite SCOTUS action

Updated: A county clerk in Kentucky who objects to gay marriage on religious grounds is continuing to refuse to issue marriage licenses, despite Supreme Court action on Monday. The order by the U.S. Supreme Court refused to stay a federal judge’s injunction requiring the clerk, Kim Davis, to issue marriage…

Sep 1, 2015 7:36 AM CDT

Defendant overpowers bailiff, fatally shoots himself with bailiff’s gun in courthouse elevator

A Kentucky courthouse was closed for most of the day Wednesday, after a defendant overpowered a bailiff in a courthouse elevator and shot himself to death with the bailiff’s service weapon, state police said. Erik Barnett, 25, had been in a drug court hearing at the Bell County Courthouse at…

Aug 27, 2015 3:20 PM CDT

6th Circuit nixes stay for clerk appealing federal court order requiring her to perform marriages

Since the U.S. Supreme Court recognized a constitutional right to same-sex marriage in June, a Kentucky county clerk is not likely to win an appeal of a federal court’s order requiring her to perform same-sex marriages, a federal appeals court said Wednesday. So the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals…

Aug 27, 2015 11:55 AM CDT

Mentally ill man gets 20 years in slaying of prominent defense attorney

A mentally ill man was sentenced Monday to 20 years in prison for shooting to death a prominent Kentucky defense attorney as he arrived at work at his law office, across the street from the defendant’s home. Clinton Inabnit, 41, pleaded guilty but mentally ill in the June 27, 2014…

Aug 25, 2015 8:25 AM CDT

Clerk’s office defies federal judge’s order to issue same-sex marriage licenses

Setting the stage for a showdown, a county clerk in Rowan County, Kentucky, has apparently defied a federal judge’s Wednesday order to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples despite her personal religious objections. Clerk Kim Davis filed an appeal and plans to seek a stay of the trial court’s…

Aug 13, 2015 2:55 PM CDT

Suit claims painful shackling of school kids with ADHD violates Constitution and disability law

A lawsuit filed on behalf of two children in Kentucky claims a sheriff’s deputy handcuffed them in a painful position for misbehavior at school, violating their constitutional rights and the Americans with Disabilities Act. The suit (PDF), filed on Monday in federal court in Covington, Kentucky, alleges the children were…

Aug 4, 2015 8:14 AM CDT

Prosecutor is fired after his apology for alleged flippant remarks is found to be lacking

An assistant county attorney in Kentucky was fired on Monday after he failed to sufficiently apologize for alleged inappropriate and flippant remarks about gays, immigrants and the disabled. The assistant prosecutor, Karl Price, was offered a chance to apologize and keep his job with the Jefferson County Attorney’s office, given…

Jul 23, 2015 5:45 AM CDT

Suspect pleads guilty but mentally ill in slaying of attorney

Clinton Inabnit had reportedly warned Kentucky attorney Mark Stanziano that people wanted the lawyer dead and that he had been asked to kill him. But Stanziano didn’t take the warning seriously. He did take Inabnit to lunch and offer to pay if he got treatment, the lawyer’s widow said last…

Jun 30, 2015 10:55 AM CDT

Lawyer is suspended for 2 years over wine-shoplifting incident and the way he handled it

An attorney was admitted to a diversion program after being criminally charged in a supermarket wine-shoplifting incident in 2012. However, Rodger Moore was suspended from practice for two years by the Ohio Supreme Court over the incident, in part because he was determined to be untruthful and uncooperative with disciplinary…

Jun 29, 2015 10:40 AM CDT

Judge suspended, accused of threatening ‘bullet in the head’ for cops

A Kentucky judge has been temporarily suspended pending resolution of ethics charges, including claims he made harassing phone calls and threatened a “bullet in the head” for the next police officer who pulled him over. Judge Steven Combs of Pike County was suspended with pay on Tuesday, report the Associated…

Jun 18, 2015 7:40 AM CDT

Judge jails woman who refused to testify; prosecutors, 2 other judges help win her release

When a Kentucky woman refused last week to testify against her boyfriend in a domestic violence case, she wound up in handcuffs. Jefferson District Judge Sheila Collins questioned Jasmine Stone, 21, who did not have a lawyer, then ordered her jailed for filing a false report. She was released, about…

Jun 17, 2015 10:30 AM CDT