State Government

Judge faces potential discipline for allowing secretary to work remotely

An ethics complaint alleges that a New Jersey judge abused the power of his office by allowing his secretary to work remotely in violation of office policy.

Feb 8, 2024 9:55 AM CST

Law prof presses male sex-bias allegations in new suit after federal judge tosses his Title IX claim

Updated: A professor at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law has filed a new lawsuit against the school stemming from a former associate dean’s alleged comments in 2016 that she didn’t want to see white men teaching anymore in the trial advocacy program that he headed.

Feb 7, 2024 10:42 AM CST

Lawyer censured after calling governor ‘tyrant’ and lawmakers ‘spineless tools’ in COVID-19 litigation

A New Mexico lawyer has received a public censure partly for “inflammatory and misleading statements” in litigation opposing COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, including a claimed right to disqualify judges who had received COVID-19 vaccines.

Feb 6, 2024 3:55 PM CST

Florida Supreme Court tells state bar to stop funding diversity initiatives

The Florida Supreme Court has directed the state bar to stop funding diversity and inclusion initiatives in its new budget.

Feb 6, 2024 8:21 AM CST

Do state abortion bans conflict with federal Medicare funding law? Delegates take a position

Resolution 507 opposes all legislation, regulations, administrative interpretations and litigation that restrict the right of health care providers or hospitals that receive Medicare funding to provide patients with abortions in emergency situations.

Feb 5, 2024 6:03 PM CST

‘Prisons Are Often Horrible Places’: How can Death in Custody Reporting Act be better enforced?

The House of Delegates addressed the national “deaths in custody crisis” during the ABA Midyear Meeting in Louisville, Kentucky, on Monday.

Feb 5, 2024 5:34 PM CST

Amber Alert system is not working for missing Native Americans, but there may be fixes

At the ABA Midyear Meeting, the House of Delegates acknowledged the disproportionate risks of abduction and violence experienced by members of Alaska Native and Native American communities.

Feb 5, 2024 1:40 PM CST

Judge dismisses Disney suit against DeSantis over special tax district

In a legal victory for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), a federal judge in Tallahassee dismissed on Wednesday a lawsuit filed by the Walt Disney Co. over the state’s dismantling of the entertainment giant’s special taxing district. Disney sued DeSantis last year, claiming that the Republican governor had violated the…

Feb 1, 2024 10:15 AM CST

Accusation that naked ‘idiot’ lawyer injured Phish fan while rushing stage leads to legal discipline for writer

A Colorado lawyer’s “demeaning and unprofessional language” and threats of disclosure in a demand letter seeking $50,000 for her client’s injuries at a Phish concert have led to a public censure.

Jan 30, 2024 2:38 PM CST

Texas AG seeks transgender records in Georgia as part of his wider probe

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has requested medical records from a Georgia telehealth clinic that provides gender-affirming care, a newly discovered move that shows the Republican official is looking in multiple states for information about transgender youths. Paxton requested transgender youths’ medical records from QueerMed—which is based in Decatur, Ga.—late…

Jan 30, 2024 12:25 PM CST

‘Even judges are not immune to theft,’ state AG says in announcing charges against former court clerk

A former court clerk in Wayne County, Michigan, has been charged with embezzling more than $60,000 from the judge for whom he worked.

Jan 24, 2024 11:11 AM CST

2020 Supreme Court decision offers ‘dangerous’ path for stealing election, legal scholars say

A 2020 U.S. Supreme Court decision on faithless electors appears to allow state legislatures to pursue a “dangerous strategy” for overturning election results, according to an op-ed in the New York Times by two legal scholars.

Jan 24, 2024 10:13 AM CST

SCOTUS will hear death row inmate’s wrongful-conviction claim supported by state attorney general

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to decide whether Oklahoma death row inmate Richard Glossip is entitled to reversal of his conviction because the state suppressed evidence that a co-defendant who implicated Glossip had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

Jan 22, 2024 1:04 PM CST

North Carolina Supreme Court justice drops lawsuit against ethics body investigating her diversity comments

Judicial ethics regulators in North Carolina have dropped their investigation of a state supreme court justice who told a legal publication that her newly elected colleagues have an allegiance “to their ideology, not to the institution.”

Jan 22, 2024 8:55 AM CST

Lawyer who went for ambulance joyride, former BigLaw partner among those disciplined in Illinois

Updated: Among the attorneys disciplined by the Illinois Supreme Court on Wednesday are a lawyer who led police on a 60-mile chase in an ambulance and a former Polsinelli shareholder who was temporarily barred from a courthouse.

Jan 19, 2024 9:08 AM CST