7th Circuit Court

7th Circuit Upholds Gun Ban, Agrees with Sotomayor

Critics have called Judge Sonia Sotomayor an “anti-gun radical” for joining in a federal appeals court decision holding that U.S. Supreme Court precedent does not restrict state and local laws banning the possession of some weapons. Now a panel of 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that includes two leading…

Jun 3, 2009 4:42 PM CDT

To Help Reduce Crime, Hire Ex-Cons, US Atty Urges Chicago Businesses

In a rare public speech today, a high-profile Illinois prosecutor didn’t address a number of hot topics, such as the ongoing prosecution of impeached former Gov. Rod Blagojevich. But U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald did offer a suggestion about reducing crime in the Windy City, reports Chicago Public Radio. The city’s…

May 21, 2009 11:11 PM CDT

Male Judges Advise Women Lawyers to Lose the Distracting ‘Ally McBeal’ Look

Women lawyers tempted to go to court looking like Ally McBeal should take note: Male judges find the look distracting. At a panel session during the Seventh Circuit Bar Association, two male judges confessed that they can’t help but look. A National Law Journal reporter attended the session and reported…

May 21, 2009 1:46 PM CDT

Judge Diane Wood in D.C., Ostensibly to Attend a Judicial Conference

Judge Diane Wood of the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is in Washington, D.C., today to attend a judicial conference. Or is she? The Legalities blog wonders if the real purpose of Wood’s visit is for an interview with Barack Obama. Wood is one of three finalists for…

May 20, 2009 3:10 PM CDT

Judge Posner Blames ‘People Like Me’ for the Economic Crisis

Judge Richard Posner says he probably misspoke when he advocated less government intervention in the private sector. Posner, a judge with the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, tells U.S. News & World Report that he should have added a qualifier. “I’ve always been a strong supporter of deregulation,…

May 13, 2009 4:47 PM CDT

Betting Website Lists Sotomayor as Favorite for Supreme Court Seat

Judge Sonia Sotomayor is the front-runner for the U.S. Supreme Court, according to a gambling website. The Irish website Paddy Power lists odds for Sotomayor at 13-8 and odds for Judge Diane Wood at slightly higher than 2-1, FOX News reports. Sotomayor is a judge on the 2nd U.S. Circuit…

May 11, 2009 1:01 PM CDT

Accused al-Qaida Agent Pleads Guilty, May Not Have to Serve Much Time

Ali al-Marri, an accused al-Qaida sleeper agent and legal United States resident who was held more than five years in an American military brig without charges as an alleged “enemy combatant,” has pleaded guilty in federal court in Illinois. His plea today to one count of conspiring to provide material…

Apr 30, 2009 10:36 PM CDT

Fake Lawyer Taught Real CLE Class

A presenter at a 2007 continuing legal education course on sentencing issues in Milwaukee did indeed have a certain amount of criminal experience. But it wasn’t the criminal experience claimed on his resume. Rather than being a lawyer and former congressional aide, as stated on biographical information for a seminar…

Apr 27, 2009 7:27 PM CDT

Eliot Spitzer Climbs Back on the Soapbox in Slate Column

Former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer isn’t finished with his crusading ways, despite a prostitution scandal that forced him from office. Spitzer addresses excessive executive compensation and high mutual fund fees in a Slate column that focuses on a federal appeals court judge’s dissent in a case that is now…

Apr 15, 2009 3:15 PM CDT

Obama Displays ‘Considerable Degree of Cautiousness’ in Court Picks

President Obama quietly announced his first choice for a federal appeals seat in a press release, a stark contrast to President Bush’s 2001 Rose Garden ceremony where he announced 11 appeals court nominees. Now Obama has announced three nominees for federal appeals courts, and all appear to be cautious picks,…

Apr 15, 2009 2:18 PM CDT

Ex-Gov of Illinois, 5 Others, Charged in Alleged Obama Senate Seat Scam

Federal prosecutors in Chicago today unveiled a much-awaited indictment not only against impeached former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich but his brother and four other aides and associates. Among other allegations, the indictment in the political corruption case accuses Blagojevich of attempting to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by now-President…

Apr 2, 2009 10:20 PM CDT

Republicans Protest Speedy Hearing for 7th Circuit Nominee

Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans boycotted Wednesday’s confirmation hearing of David Hamilton of Indiana to serve on the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Hamilton is President Obama’s first nominee to an appellate court. While previously seen as a pick that would draw bipartisan support, Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter, the…

Apr 2, 2009 3:30 PM CDT

‘Whack! Ow!’ Spanking Whistle-Blower Wins $200K in Discrimination Suit

News of a $200,000 federal jury verdict in a unusual employment discrimination suit is gathering traction on the blogosphere. Filed by a municipal worker who says she was fired after she blew the whistle on a relative spanking a child in a Chicago Park District restroom, the case started with…

Mar 24, 2009 9:54 PM CDT

Posner Dresses Down Prosecutor in Salad Dressing Dispute

Judge Richard Posner has blasted a federal prosecutor in an appellate opinion tossing the conviction of a businessman who relabeled and sold bottles of salad dressing. Posner, a judge on the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, identified the prosecutor by name and called for sanctions, the Chicago Tribune…

Mar 17, 2009 3:52 PM CDT

Progressive Originalism: ‘Way More Liberal Than Conservative’

After a summer in which gun violence in Chicago claimed more American lives last year than the war in Iraq, the National Rifle Association has gained an unlikely ally in its effort to overturn firearms ownership restrictions in Chicago and nearby Oak Park, Ill. The Constitutional Accountability Center, described by…

Mar 16, 2009 9:01 PM CDT