Local Government

DA fires prosecutor for alleged racist social media posts under ‘Southern Appalacholic’ username

An assistant prosecutor in Knoxville, Tennessee, has been fired because of his alleged social media posts and reposts that praised Nazis and disparaged Black people and immigrants.

May 6, 2025 11:41 AM CDT

Prosecution policy allowing consideration of race in plea deals leads to DOJ probe

A new policy in Hennepin County, Minnesota, that allows prosecutors to consider racial identity in plea deals has led to a probe by the U.S. Department of Justice.

May 6, 2025 8:31 AM CDT

Law grad settles First Amendment suit against town that objected to her repurposed skeleton displays

A Tennessee woman who repurposed her outdoor Halloween skeletons for other holidays has settled her First Amendment lawsuit against a Memphis, Tennessee, suburb that gave her a citation for refusing to take them down.

May 1, 2025 11:58 AM CDT

Trump executive order calls for pro bono help for law enforcement officers; will BigLaw firms be tapped?

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday intended to empower law enforcement and provide legal resources to officers who “unjustly incur expenses and liabilities” for performing their official duties.

Apr 30, 2025 10:14 AM CDT

3 Eric Adams prosecutors won’t confess ‘wrongdoing when there was none,’ their resignation letter says

Three federal prosecutors who worked on the dropped corruption case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams have submitted their emailed resignation letter, saying they won’t accept a requirement to “express regret and admit some wrongdoing” by their office when it refused to dismiss the case.

Apr 23, 2025 11:12 AM CDT

‘Stay out of my shorts,’ other discourteous comments led to censure for New York judge

Updated: A New York judge who didn’t want to transition to new case-tracking systems has agreed to a censure for gratuitous and discourteous remarks that he made while expressing his displeasure to colleagues and to officials who transferred him to a new court.

Apr 10, 2025 2:11 PM CDT

New York judge plans to retire after facing allegations of misconduct

A New York judge who was under investigation for allegedly engaging in discourteous behavior and other alleged misconduct has decided to step down from the bench.

Mar 18, 2025 8:59 AM CDT

Judge resigns for second time after he’s accused of staging fake proceeding

A New York judge has resigned for a second time for allegedly staging a sham proceeding, but this time, he won’t be returning to the bench.

Feb 6, 2025 11:23 AM CST

Who won election to top North Carolina court? Case belongs in state court, for now, 4th Circuit says

A federal court shouldn’t decide lawsuits over a contested election for a seat on the North Carolina Supreme Court, at least not yet, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at Richmond, Virginia, ruled Tuesday.

Feb 5, 2025 3:03 PM CST

Protect domestic violence survivors by protecting their pets, ABA House says

At the ABA Midyear Meeting in Phoenix on Monday, the ABA House of Delegates considered how to best meet the needs of pet owners in family law and civil protection order proceedings.

Feb 3, 2025 6:42 PM CST

Better education can combat discrimination against Jewish community, ABA House says

The ABA House of Delegates on Monday overwhelmingly adopted a resolution urging K-12 public schools and teachers to provide age-appropriate Holocaust and antisemitism education to their students.

Feb 3, 2025 4:15 PM CST

Danger of doxing for governmental officials has to be addressed, says ABA House

Government entities should adopt legislation and policies to prevent the disclosure of personally identifiable information of active and former officials and employees as well as the family members who live in their homes, the ABA House of Delegates says.

Feb 3, 2025 12:10 PM CST

Judges Without JDs: In the United States, judges are not always required to be lawyers

More than half of states allow nonlawyers to serve as judges in lower-level local courts. Nonlawyers can be justices of the peace, magistrates, municipal judges or probate judges. The types of cases over which they preside can include eviction, probate and civil disputes with limits on the financial stake.

Feb 1, 2025 2:20 AM CST

Northern Star: John Choi is leading efforts to redefine justice in Minnesota

When John Choi became the city attorney for St. Paul, Minnesota, he didn’t have much experience with criminal law. “What I found was that a lot of times, the things that happened in these cases didn’t really produce an outcome that I think would have made the public proud,” Choi says.

Feb 1, 2025 1:00 AM CST

Push by Corrections Committee leads to ABA opposing investments in private prisons

Within the ABA Criminal Justice Section, there is a group dedicated to studying sentencing, correctional institutions and the experiences of incarcerated people. It was through the work of this group that the ABA recently agreed to oppose investments in private prison systems.

Jan 30, 2025 9:08 AM CST