State Government

Justice Department is investigating NY attorney general who has targeted Trump

The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into real estate transactions involving New York Attorney General Letitia James, according to a person familiar with the case—the first known criminal probe of a law enforcement official who took action against President Donald Trump.

May 9, 2025 10:00 AM CDT

California Supreme Court orders return to Multistate Bar Examination, lowers bar pass score

The State Bar of California, still reeling from the disastrous February launch of its bar exam written in conjunction with Kaplan, was recently hit with California Supreme Court orders mandating the return to the Multistate Bar Examination in July and lowering the bar pass score for the February examinees.

May 6, 2025 1:45 PM 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

Trump’s first judicial pick of second term has clerked ‘for a full third’ of Supreme Court’s justices

President Donald Trump has announced his first judicial nominee of his second term.

May 5, 2025 3:34 PM CDT

Chief justice appears to be ‘pivotal vote’ in challenge to state-funded religious school in Oklahoma

Does the First Amendment allow or require Oklahoma to fund a Catholic charter school? Chief Justice John Roberts emerged as “a pivotal vote" on that question during oral arguments Wednesday, Bloomberg Law reports.

Apr 30, 2025 3:44 PM CDT

Judge who wanted parking discount should be ousted for faking document with colleague’s stamp, ethics board says

A part-time judge in King County, Washington, should be removed from office for using a fraudulent document and the “accoutrements of another judge’s judicial status” in a failed attempt to get a parking discount, according to a judicial ethics commission.

Apr 30, 2025 2:31 PM CDT

Wisconsin judge suspended over charges she helped migrant evade arrest

The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Tuesday suspended a county judge from performing her duties after she was charged with helping a migrant from Mexico briefly evade arrest.

Apr 30, 2025 10:46 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

California delays releasing results from troubled February bar exam

The State Bar of California will not be able release the much-anticipated results of the problem-plagued February bar exam on Friday as initially intended.

Apr 30, 2025 8:47 AM CDT

Some of California’s troubled bar exam was drafted by nonlawyers with help from artificial intelligence

Updated: Despite a multimillion dollar contract with Kaplan to create its new bar exam, the State Bar of California recycled some questions and had its independent psychometrician draft portions of its new bar exam’s multiple-choice questions with help from artificial intelligence, according to a news release.

Apr 24, 2025 10:00 AM CDT

White-collar attorneys see acute changes under Trump administration

Amid a flurry of shifts and shakeups in the U.S. Department of Justice, uncertainty shrouds the future of white-collar enforcement. “This administration is sea changes,” says one expert. “So, all the ways someone who may not be involved in white-collar crime thinks an election may matter, they matter in spades right now.”

Apr 23, 2025 12:45 PM CDT

Magistrate who used slur has ‘shown no aptitude for self-improvement,’ top state court says in removal order

The Iowa Supreme Court has ousted a judicial magistrate accused of using a racial slur to refer to a Hispanic defendant and labeling a male youth’s sexual assault claim as “absurd.”

Apr 22, 2025 9:44 AM CDT

Former Wisconsin Supreme Court justice agrees to license suspension for alleged election-review misconduct

Former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael J. Gableman has agreed to the suspension of his law license to resolve an ethics complaint that stems from his investigation of the 2020 election for the Wisconsin State Assembly.

Apr 11, 2025 11:00 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

Dialogue on Deregulation, Politicization: Arizona vice chief justice discusses innovation, retention elections

Bold. Innovative. Visionary. At a time when many courts are losing the battle to provide access to justice, especially in low-income communities, the Arizona Supreme Court has brought fresh ideas to bridge the justice gap.

Apr 10, 2025 10:06 AM CDT