ABA Journal

Rhode Island

117 ABA Journal Rhode Island articles.

Supreme Court reinstates witness requirement for mail-in ballots in South Carolina

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday reinstated a South Carolina requirement for voters who use mail-in ballots to obtain the signature of a witness.

Afternoon Briefs: Godmother feels betrayed after law firm money theft; state AG staffer probed over BLM buttons fuss

Bookkeeper accused of embezzling $740K from godmother’s law firm

A former bookkeeper and office manager accused of embezzling $740,000 from a Rhode Island law firm has agreed to plead guilty…

Supreme Court allows eased voting requirements in Rhode Island and notes state support

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday refused to interfere with a consent decree that allowed Rhode Island voters to use mail-in ballots without having to get two witnesses or a notary to verify their signature.

Students have a right to a basic minimum education, 6th Circuit rules

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at Cincinnati ruled Thursday that Detroit students at five lower-performing schools have a fundamental right to a basic minimum education.

Pandemic power plays: Civil liberties in the time of COVID-19

The power to respond to a public health crisis exists in the U.S. Constitution, state constitutions, regulations and case law. But the way they fit together is not always clear, especially in the wake of a modern-day global crisis.

COVID-19 checkpoints at state and local borders bring lawsuit, ACLU warning

Some states and local communities are instituting checkpoints at their borders, either to warn drivers that they must quarantine or to keep out nonresidents. The checkpoints are raising constitutional questions.

Afternoon Briefs: Lawyer threatened jail time for people with unpaid 911 bills; R. Kelly indicted on new charges

Lawyer threatened jail to people with unpaid 911 responder bills

After a debt collection attorney allegedly threatened more than 800 people with imprisonment for not paying money owed to Trinity…

Afternoon Briefs: Trump’s ‘clemency blitz’ helps Blago; federal judges to discuss Roger Stone case

President Trump goes on a ‘clemency blitz,’ and the list is long

President Donald Trump has pardoned junk bond king Michael Milken, former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik…

Afternoon Briefs: Pelosi prepares impeachment articles for Senate; lawyer faces charges over deceased father’s pension

Pelosi plans to send impeachment articles to Senate next week

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a letter to House Democrats on Friday that she is preparing to send the…

Criminal cases that involved lawyers’ spitting and shoving match are resolved

Two cases brought by a personal injury lawyer and the father of another attorney after they got into a spitting and shoving match are no longer sitting in criminal court…

New York legislature OKs ban on gay and trans ‘panic defenses’

New York is poised to join the increasing number of states that are banning gay and trans “panic defenses” in murder cases. As the ABA Journal reported in January, legislatures have increasingly considered this type of ban.

Advocates sue Rhode Island to require civics ed for students

Students and their parents are suing Rhode Island, alleging the state has failed to prepare young people for the rigors of citizenship.

How the Americans with Disabilities Act could change the way the nation’s jails and prisons treat addiction

Before Geoffrey Pesce got on methadone, his addiction to heroin and oxycodone nearly destroyed him: He lost his home, his job, custody of his son—and his driver’s license. So even after he began to rebuild his life, Pesce relied on his parents to drive him to a methadone clinic for his daily dose. One day last July, his mother was unexpectedly unavailable, and desperate not to relapse, he drove himself.

See the video: Lawyer arrested for allegedly spitting on father of former colleague

Updated: A personal injury lawyer in Providence, Rhode Island, was arrested on Monday for allegedly shoving and spitting on the father of a onetime colleague.

The lawyer, 59-year-old Stephen Dennis,…

Democrats pepper Kavanaugh with written questions, including if he had a gambling problem

Some Democrats are sending Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh extensive written follow-up questions after his more than 20 hours of testimony during Senate Judiciary Committee hearings last week.

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