Weekly Briefs: Bias suit against Trump lawyer resolved; Montana no longer defies court order over birth certificates
Former President Donald Trump. Photo from Shutterstock.
Trump lawyer resolves rap-music bias suit
Alina Habba, a lawyer for former President Donald Trump, has resolved a race- and gender-bias lawsuit largely based on the rap music that she was accused of loudly playing in the office. The case filed by legal assistant Na’Syia Drayton claimed that the music had racially derogatory and sexually explicit lyrics, including the N-word. The suit also contended that Habba once referred to New York Attorney General Letitia James as “that Black b- - - -.” The parties have dismissed the case with prejudice. A lawyer for the legal assistant would not use the word “settlement” when talking to the Daily Beast. “We reached a resolution, but I cannot comment on the details,” said the lawyer, Jacqueline L. Tillmann. (The Daily Beast)
Switching course, Montana says it will comply with birth-certificate ruling
Montana has changed course after initially defying a judge’s order to allow transgender people to change their birth certificates. After Judge Michael Moses of Yellowstone County, Montana, called the state’s argument against compliance “demonstrably ridiculous,” the state health department said it would comply with the order, despite disagreeing with it. (Montana Public Radio)
State attorney suspended by Florida governor allowed to sue
A federal judge in Florida has refused to reinstate an elected state attorney who was suspended by Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis while allowing the prosecutor’s First Amendment lawsuit to go forward. DeSantis had suspended State Attorney Andrew Warren of the 13th Judicial Circuit on Aug. 4 for neglect of duty stemming from his “woke” public positions on abortion and transgender medical care. U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle of the Northern District of Florida said Monday Warren should remain suspended pending trial because the public wouldn’t be served by “yo-yoing” prosecutors. (Law.com, Florida Politics)
Judge tosses ethics case against top Texas attorney general aide
A Texas judge has dismissed an ethics lawsuit filed by the State Bar of Texas against a top aide for Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. The suit had alleged that the aide, Brent Edward Webster, made “dishonest” assertions in a U.S. Supreme Court case claiming that voting machines had switched votes. Judge John Youngblood of Milam County, Texas, who was specially assigned to the Williamson County case, said the separation of powers doctrine barred him from limiting the power of the Texas attorney general’s office to file lawsuits. Paxton is facing a similar ethics case in another county. (The Texas Tribune, Reuters, Texas attorney general press release)
Drop ‘Marshall’ from law school name, committee says
The Cleveland-Marshall College of Law at Cleveland State University should drop the word “Marshall” from its name because it refers to U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall, who bought, owned and sold slaves, according to a recommendation by an ad hoc committee. Marshall is known for the landmark decision Marbury v. Madison, which held that it is the courts’ job “to say what the law is.” The committee recommendation was recently forwarded to the university’s board of trustees, which is expected to make a decision in November. A second law school, the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law, has already removed a Marshall reference in its name. (Reuters, WKSU, the report)
