Appellate Practice

Illinois Bishop Writes of Fears of Unfair Treatment in the Courts

A Catholic bishop has written a letter to Central Illinois parishes that questions the motives of lawyers representing priest abuse victims and expresses fear that the church is being treated unfairly in the courts. The letter by Bishop Daniel Jenky of Peoria also takes aim at the news media, the…

Feb 9, 2009 4:09 PM CST

Timothy Cole, Who Died in Prison in 1999, Exonerated Today in Texas Rape

In what is apparently the first posthumous DNA exoneration in the history of Texas, a state court judge today ordered that Timothy Cole’s rape conviction should be reversed and removed from his record. Convicted in 1986 of raping a student at Texas Tech University the previous year, he died in…

Feb 7, 2009 12:36 AM CST

Sentenced to Life for Rape at 13, Man Now Seeks Chance for Parole

In the entire world, only eight people reportedly are serving life terms for rape that were imposed for crimes committed when the defendant was 13 years old. All are in the United States. One is Joe Sullivan, now 33, whose lawyers are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear their…

Feb 2, 2009 9:59 PM CST

Suspended Pa. Judge Now at Issue in $3.4M Legal Malpractice Judgment

Accusations that two now-suspended Pennsylvania judges accepted $2.6 million in kickbacks in exchange for incarcerating juveniles at specific detention facilities have spilled over into another multimillion-dollar case. A law firm seeking to overturn a $3.4 million legal malpractice award says in a motion for a new trial yesterday that it…

Jan 30, 2009 8:20 PM CST

NY Appeals Court Affirms Jailing of State’s ‘Most Obnoxious Lawyer’

A man once described as “New York’s most obnoxious lawyer” has once again been slapped down by the state’s courts. Kenneth Heller’s most recent battle with the courts was over a 30-day sentence and $10,000 fine imposed by a New York judge after the onetime lawyer ignored court orders to…

Jan 30, 2009 3:07 PM CST

Animal Activists Battle First Amendment Defenses

The chief counsel for the Humane Society of the United States says the group is battling First Amendment arguments in its efforts to protect animals. Jonathan Lovvorn, vice-president and chief counsel of the Humane Society, spoke to the Am Law Daily about recent cases citing the right to free speech.…

Jan 29, 2009 7:14 PM CST

What Should Be Done With Portrait of Disgraced 2nd Circuit Judge?

When a longtime federal district court judge in New York died last year, he left an unusual legacy. In the chambers of Judge Charles Brieant Jr. was a portrait of a former judge on the New York City-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals: Martin Manton. Once considered a candidate…

Jan 28, 2009 6:06 PM CST

Lutheran School Not Liable for Ousting Kissing Girls, Court Rules

A California appeals court has ruled a Lutheran school isn’t liable for ousting two girls who told friends they were lesbians and admitted that they had hugged and kissed. The court held the Lutheran school is not a business that is subject to the state’s anti-bias law, the Los Angeles…

Jan 28, 2009 4:31 PM CST

Teen Son Gets Life in Murder of His Dad, a Md. Lawyer, Mom & 2 Brothers

The teenage son of a Maryland lawyer has been sentenced to life for murdering his father, mother and two younger brothers last year. Nicholas Browning, now 16, was 15 at the time of the crime and, a psychiatrist testified in July, in a “trancelike state” as he shot his family…

Jan 26, 2009 7:38 PM CST

Rapping Appeal Leads to Win for Pro Se Trombone Player

A litigant who filed his own appeals brief written partially in rap has won a Wisconsin appeals court ruling that he doesn’t have to pay legal fees for a lawsuit deemed frivolous by a circuit court judge. Gregory Royal, a trombone player, argued he shouldn’t have to pay $3,750 in…

Jan 26, 2009 1:10 PM CST

1st Oral Argument for Jenner Associate is in US Supreme Court

It was Lindsay Harrison’s first oral argument. And it was in the U.S. Supreme Court. So was the 30-year-old Jenner & Block associate perhaps just a bit nervous before she walked into court on Wednesday? Not as much as she expected to be, reports Above the Law. “I was still…

Jan 23, 2009 10:54 PM CST

US Appeals Court Orders Expedited Briefs in Webcast Challenge

A federal appeals court has ordered expedited briefing in a challenge to a Boston judge’s order allowing a live Internet broadcast of a hearing in an illegal downloading suit. The hearing—which would have been the first free broadcast of a federal court session live on the Internet—had originally been scheduled…

Jan 22, 2009 4:30 PM CST

Lecture to Black At-Home Dad Requires New Sentence; Irked Ex-Judge Says More

Although an irritated Wisconsin judge apparently didn’t intend his lecture to an African-American stay-at-home dad to reflect any racial bias, phrases such as “baby mama” and “you guys” require that the convicted cocaine dealer be resentenced, a state appellate court has ruled in a 2-1 decision. The decision today further…

Jan 21, 2009 9:49 PM CST

Supreme Court Allows Union to Charge Litigation Costs to Nonmembers

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that a union local may charge nonmembers for national litigation costs without violating their First Amendment rights. The nonmembers may be charged, the Supreme Court held in Locke v. Karass, as long as the subject matter of the national litigation involves issues that could…

Jan 21, 2009 6:58 PM CST

Supreme Court Won’t Consider Blocked Internet Porn Law

The U.S. Supreme Court has refused the government’s request that it consider the constitutionality of an Internet pornography law blocked from taking effect because of free speech concerns. The high court let stand a July ruling by the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that overturned the 1998 Child…

Jan 21, 2009 5:40 PM CST