Motion to Bar Bush Mention Denied

A federal judge in Philadelphia has turned down an unusual request to bar mention of the president’s name and the Iraq war during a trial scheduled to begin on Monday. Harold Lischner, an 82-year-old physician, is suing Pennsylvania’s Upper Darby Township for violating his Fourth Amendment rights by arresting him…

Jul 20, 2007 1:08 PM CDT

DOJ Cites Wins as Reform Bill Looms

The Justice Department may have lost big in the massive $2.5 billion tax shelter fraud case brought against former KPMG accounting firm employees, if a federal judge’s dismissal of 13 defendants on ethics grounds this week holds up on appeal. But it has won 1,236 other corporate fraud cases over…

Jul 19, 2007 8:08 PM CDT

Gitmo Lawyer: U.S. Agents Seized Notes

A Canadian attorney representing an accused enemy combatant held at the Guantanamo Bay military prison says he was harassed and had his legal notes reviewed on Saturday by U.S. authorities. On his way home after meeting with his client, Omar Khadr, 20, Dennis Edney was singled out by U.S. customs…

Jul 17, 2007 12:56 AM CDT

Suit Targets DEA Pot Claims

A San Francisco federal judge will consider whether an advocacy group has standing to sue the government for spreading misinformation about marijuana. Americans for Safe Access claims a little-used law, the Information Quality Act, requires the Drug Enforcement Administration to refute its earlier claims about the drug, including its assertion…

Jul 12, 2007 12:38 PM CDT

Misconduct Charges for Libeled Judge

Misconduct charges have been filed against a Massachusetts judge who allegedly went too far in his continuing campaign against a Boston newspaper after winning a big-bucks libel case. After winning $2 million in 2005 from the Boston Herald, which had portrayed Judge Ernest Murphy as lenient to defendants and falsely…

Jul 10, 2007 9:38 PM CDT

Agony of Defeat for Raiders

A California Supreme Court justice sounded something like the late sportscaster Howard Cosell in explaining why the Oakland Raiders will not get a retrial in a territorial rights suit against the National Football League. The trial judge had cited juror misconduct in granting a new trial but failed to clearly…

Jul 3, 2007 12:58 PM CDT

N.Y.’s Long Arm Misses Site Owner

A federal appeals court has ruled New York’s long-arm statute doesn’t reach an Iowa resident who operates a Web site called MovingScam.com. Best Van Lines alleged the Web site made false and defamatory statements that claimed the company did not have required insurance or legal authorization to operate, the New…

Jun 29, 2007 6:17 PM CDT

U-Haul Sanctioned for Lost Evidence

A Los Angeles Times investigation has found that U-Haul lost, altered or tossed out truck and trailer parts sought by injured customers in almost a dozen lawsuits since 1989. Judges have entered judgments against U-Haul in at least two cases for such misconduct. U-Haul told the newspaper that the few…

Jun 26, 2007 8:12 PM CDT

Taxpayers Can’t Challenge Religion Aid (Updated)

The U.S. Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision has ruled that taxpayers do not have standing to challenge a White House program that encouraged faith-based organizations to seek federal aid. Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. wrote the majority opinion. The plaintiff, the Freedom from Religion Foundation Inc., relied on a…

Jun 25, 2007 5:15 PM CDT

Plaintiff is Top Judge; Who Hears Appeal?

It’s a basic premise of constitutional law that litigants are entitled to a fair trial. Thus, when a judge is even peripherally involved in a lawsuit, he or she routinely steps aside and lets another jurist hear the case. But what happens when all the judges in the system are…

Jun 19, 2007 12:05 AM CDT

Court Finds No Jurisdiction in Energy Appeal

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that a federal appeals court did not have jurisdiction to review a federal judge’s order sending a lawsuit against a Canadian energy company back to state court, SCOTUSblog reports. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had considered whether the company was an agent…

Jun 18, 2007 4:35 PM CDT

Courts Differ on Wal-Mart Suits

Courts in two states yesterday differed on workers’ quests for class action status in lawsuits against Wal-Mart.

A Missouri appeals court ruled that a class action suit could proceed after a trial judge revises definitions for subclasses, the Wall Street Journal reports (sub. req.).

A New York court refused to certify a class in a similar suit, saying the claims should be tried individually.

Jun 13, 2007 2:37 PM CDT

PIs Help Defeat Class Actions

Los Angeles lawyer David Aronoff has found a new way to oppose class actions. Aronoff thought that too many judges were displaying a “rubber stamp mentality” and routinely certifying class-actions. So five years ago, he decided to hire a private investigator to find links between proposed class representatives and plaintiffs’…

Jun 13, 2007 1:10 PM CDT

E-Discovery Order May Be a First

A Los Angeles magistrate has ordered a Web search engine to collect customer data stored in random access memory in perhaps the first case to require such discovery.

TorrentSpy, a search engine that directs users to video files, is appealing the order, the Recorder reports. The company is being sued for copyright infringement by six movie studios seeking access to RAM to learn more about the files sought by site visitors.

Jun 13, 2007 12:24 PM CDT

Nuremberg Attorney: Gitmo Trials Unfair

An 88-year-old American lawyer who helped try war criminals at Nuremberg, Germany, after World War II says today’s Guantanamo Bay cases fly in the face of the prosecutorial precedent he helped set there. “I think Robert Jackson, who’s the architect of Nuremberg, would turn over in his grave if he…

Jun 12, 2007 12:27 AM CDT