States

Rev. Billy Preaches Free Speech

A faux preacher who uses a megaphone to rail against consumerism outside Manhattan businesses is running into trouble with the law. The man who calls himself the Rev. Billy shouts that Mickey Mouse is the Antichrist and warns that Wal-Mart is part of a consumer axis of evil, the Los…

Jul 10, 2007 7:24 PM CDT

Catfight Over Neutering Bill

A bill requiring Californians to spay or neuter their pets has produced more response than any other measure before the state legislature this year. The Senate committee considering the bill has heard from nearly 20,000 pet owners and other interested parties, with slightly more favoring passage, the Los Angeles Times…

Jul 10, 2007 7:03 PM CDT

Mark Geragos Removed from CIA Case

Updated: A federal judge in San Diego has removed Mark Geragos from representing a defense contractor in a CIA fraud case, because the high-profile California defense lawyer refused to submit to background checks to obtain a security clearance. U.S. District Judge Larry Burns said yesterday that it was necessary to…

Jul 10, 2007 6:35 PM CDT

Lawyers’ ‘Blue Flu’ Slows Chicago Courts

Criminal courts in the Chicago area are expected to operate in slow motion today, as up to two-thirds of the 520 prosecutors in Cook County’s felony courtrooms take the day off. The prosecutorial “blue flu” is intended to send a message to county administrators about a claimed 12 percent discrepancy…

Jul 10, 2007 6:00 PM CDT

Celebrities Support Convicted Killer

The upcoming execution of a man who says he was wrongly convicted of killing a police officer has drawn international attention. Courts have refused to allow death-row inmate Troy Anthony Davis to present new evidence, even though seven of nine prosecution witnesses who implicated him have renounced much of their…

Jul 10, 2007 5:26 PM CDT

Judge to Mob Trial Lawyer: Chill Blogging

It isn’t just defendants and jurors who have been pushing their luck lately by blogging about their case while it is at trial. An attorney representing an alleged mobster in an ongoing Chicago trial has reportedly been told in chambers by the judge to stop discussing his views of the…

Jul 10, 2007 1:06 AM CDT

John Hill, Former TX Chief Justice, Dies

John Luke Hill Jr., a Houston trial lawyer who went on to become Texas attorney general, secretary of state and chief justice of the state supreme court, died today of a heart condition. He was 83. A 1947 graduate of the University of Texas School of Law, Hill seemingly fulfilled…

Jul 10, 2007 12:07 AM CDT

Atlanta Foreclosures Up, Values Down

In the latest chapter of a sad story that could soon be commonly told throughout the country, an increasing rate of mortgage foreclosures in and around Atlanta is creating a business boom for lawyers and others involved in the litigation process. But meanwhile, it is apparently depressing home values. Because…

Jul 9, 2007 11:22 PM CDT

CA’s Asset Seizure Policy is Changing

In recent years, the California officials have increased the amount of money they spend to locate dormant assets that the government can seize. But they’ve decreased the amount of money they spend to notify owners first—to almost zero. As a result, even when owners could be located with relative ease,…

Jul 9, 2007 10:28 PM CDT

Case Over for NJ Man Jailed 22 Years

A New Jersey man jailed for 22 years after being convicted of murdering his former girlfriend’s two children has been freed and will not face new charges after a DNA test linked another man to the crimes. A state prosecutor announced today that Byron Halsey, 46, will not be recharged…

Jul 9, 2007 9:15 PM CDT

Grads: School’s Not Out for Summer

After three years of hard work, the nation’s newly graduated law students aren’t done with their studies yet. The vast majority are still buried in the books as they put in long hours preparing for the next major hurdle in their lives—the bar exam, typically held in July. That’s certainly…

Jul 9, 2007 8:27 PM CDT

First Banana Workers Get US Court Trial

It has been some 30 years since thousands of banana workers in Central America claim to have been exposed to carcinogenic pesticides on plantations there. Intended to kill worms infesting the roots of banana trees, the pesticides dripped from the leaves onto unprotected workers and leached into the water supply…

Jul 9, 2007 6:00 PM CDT

Fearful Witnesses Protect Gangs

Police fighting gang crimes in Trenton, N.J., are stymied by witnesses who are too afraid to come forward. At least 20 people were present during a gang gunfight more than a year ago that injured an innocent bystander: 7-year-old Tajahnique Lee who was struck in the face by a bullet…

Jul 9, 2007 5:29 PM CDT

N.Y.P.D. Will be Watching

New York is installing a surveillance system designed to capture terrorists that rivals the one used in London. The city plans to install more than 100 live-transmission cameras by the end of the year and 2,900 more by the time the $90 million project is complete, the New York Times…

Jul 9, 2007 3:30 PM CDT

Lawyer Accused of Co-Worker Spying

A former legal aid lawyer in New York has been charged with using secret cameras to spy on five female co-workers in their offices, taping one woman who was undressing. Peter Barta has pleaded not guilty, the New York Law Journal reports. An investigation was launched after a lawyer from…

Jul 9, 2007 3:11 PM CDT