Sentencing/Post Conviction

Former partner sentenced to five years in prison for scheme to bribe Alabama lawmaker

A former partner at Balch & Bingham has been sentenced to five years in prison for a scheme to bribe an Alabama state legislator to oppose expansion of a site designated for an environmental cleanup. U.S. District Judge Abdul Kallon sentenced lawyer Joel Gilbert, 46, on Tuesday, report AL.com, WBRC…

Oct 26, 2018 6:30 AM CDT

Suspended West Virginia justice is convicted for false statements, misuse of state vehicles

A suspended justice on the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals was convicted Friday on 11 of 22 counts in a federal trial in the state capital of Charleston. Suspended Justice Allen Loughry was convicted after more than two days of deliberations, report the Charleston Gazette-Mail, West Virginia Metro News…

Oct 15, 2018 9:20 AM CDT

Former BigLaw partner is sentenced to five years in prison in $7.8M scheme

A former partner at Hunton & Williams and Willkie Farr & Gallagher has been sentenced to five years in prison for a phony invoice scheme that bilked her firms out of about $7.8 million. Keila Ravelo, 52, of Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, was sentenced on Wednesday, nearly a year after…

Oct 11, 2018 3:00 PM CDT

Washington Supreme Court strikes down state death penalty as racially biased

The Washington Supreme Court has ruled the state’s death penalty violates the state constitution because it is "imposed in an arbitrary and racially biased manner."

Oct 11, 2018 12:34 PM CDT

Sotomayor expresses ‘deeply troubling concern’ about solitary confinement in cert denial

Justice Sonia Sotomayor on Tuesday expressed “deeply troubling concern” about solitary confinement conditions that deny prisoners “even a moment in daylight for months or years.”

Oct 9, 2018 10:40 AM CDT

Alaska governor to propose legislation after offender receives lenient plea deal for sex crime

Alaska Gov. Bill Walker says he plans to propose legislation that would make unwanted contact with semen a sex crime following an outcry over a plea deal for a man accused of choking a woman to unconsciousness and masturbating on her face. Justin Schneider was sentenced last week to two…

Sep 27, 2018 6:00 AM CDT

Tampon ban for Virginia prison visitors is suspended

Updated: Officials in Virginia have suspended an announced policy that would have banned most women who visit the state’s prisons from wearing tampons or menstrual cups. The tampon ban, which had been slated to take effect next month, was intended to stop women from smuggling contraband, report the Associated Press,…

Sep 26, 2018 7:48 AM CDT

Chemerinsky: Another blockbuster Supreme Court term is ahead

At this point, review has not been granted in any cases involving abortion rights, affirmative action, campaign finance law, or gay and lesbian rights. But there are potentially important rulings about many different areas of law.

Sep 26, 2018 6:00 AM CDT

Bill Cosby is sentenced to up to 10 years in prison, denied bail pending appeal

A Pennsylvania judge declared Bill Cosby a sexually violent predator on Tuesday and sentenced him to three to 10 years in prison. Judge Steven O’Neill sentenced the 81-year-old Cosby for the sexual assault of Andrea Constand, a Temple University employee who said actor and comedian had drugged her before the…

Sep 25, 2018 2:30 PM CDT

Netflix’s new series ‘First and Last’ accurately details many aspects of county jail life

Viewers have to remember that Gwinnett County Jail is just that: a county jail. That means almost all the inmates are coming in off the streets. Don’t get this confused with a prison. You can think of county jail as a kind of lockup purgatory.

Sep 20, 2018 6:00 AM CDT

Judge says ex-lawyer lived a ‘diabolical secret life’ and sentences him in wife’s 1973 murder

An Illinois judge wasn’t swayed during a sentencing hearing Thursday when former lawyer Donnie Rudd denied involvement in his wife’s 1973 murder. Judge Marc Martin of Cook County sentenced Rudd to 75 to 150 years in prison, report the Chicago Tribune and the Daily Herald. He was sentenced under 1973…

Sep 14, 2018 7:50 AM CDT

ABA president asks House committee to reauthorize Second Chance Act

A bill that funds anti-recidivism work has the support of the American Bar Association, writes ABA President Bob Carlson.

Sep 12, 2018 4:08 PM CDT

Second murder trial against former Blackwater guard results in mistrial

The retrial of a former Blackwater Worldwide security guard, convicted of first-degree murder for starting a mass shooting more than a decade ago in Iraq, resulted in a hung jury on Wednesday. Nicholas A. Slatten was accused of firing the first shots that lead to the shooting of 31 unarmed…

Sep 6, 2018 12:42 PM CDT

Reality Winner given record federal sentence for media leak

Former government contractor Reality Winner has been sentenced to five years and three months in prison for leaking to the media a top-secret report about Russian hacking attempts. Winner, 26, was sentenced Thursday in federal court in Augusta, Georgia, after pleading guilty in June to transmitting national security information, report…

Aug 23, 2018 12:41 PM CDT

Nationwide prisoner strike makes demands for better treatment, justice reform

In at least 17 states, prisoners began a 19-day strike Tuesday to protest prison conditions and call for criminal justice reform.

Aug 22, 2018 12:48 PM CDT