Civil Rights

BBC: No Judges in Many Pakistan Courts

As hundreds of lawyers in cities throughout the U.S. joined in peaceful protests today to support fellow attorneys in Pakistan, the legal system there continues in a chaotic state, particularly at the appellate level. “More than half the courtrooms have no judges. Most lawyers who are still free are refusing…

Nov 14, 2007 10:27 PM CST

March on Washington Nov. 14 to Support Pakistan Lawyers

Updated: In a highly unusual move, the American Bar Association is spearheading a lawyers’ march on Washington, D.C., tomorrow that is also being promoted by state and local bar associations throughout the country. It is intended to support protesting lawyers in Pakistan, who have been at the forefront of efforts…

Nov 13, 2007 9:42 PM CST

Illinois Judge Axes Med-Mal Damages Cap

In a test case that is expected to go farther, an Illinois trial judge ruled today that a 2005 state statutory cap on noneconomic damages in some medical malpractice cases should not be applied to a specific plaintiff. Cook County Circuit Court Judge Diane Joan Larsen held that the law…

Nov 13, 2007 7:56 PM CST

Court Declines Civil Rights Case Against NCAA

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal in a lawsuit that claims the NCAA colluded with a state university to defame a basketball coach. The coach’s lawsuit seeks to hold the private organization liable for civil rights violations because of its involvement with a state agency, SCOTUSblog…

Nov 13, 2007 5:08 PM CST

New Pakistan Court Coup: Military Trials

As an individual lawyer reportedly challenged, in the country’s highest court, the suspension of Pakistan’s constitutional system of government a little over a week ago, Pakistan’s president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, appeared to be a step or two ahead of him. Yesterday he amended the 1952 Army Act, to allow the…

Nov 12, 2007 3:48 PM CST

Lawyers: Gitmo Deck Stacked Against Defense

As the arraignment process got underway today in the first trial by a Guantanamo Bay military tribunal of a terrorism suspect, defense counsel complained that the deck was stacked against the suspect. For one thing, defense lawyers said, they only heard the previous evening from prosecutors of a possible witness…

Nov 10, 2007 1:41 AM CST

ABA Prez Calls for March on Washington to Support Pakistan Lawyers

Updated: In response to this week’s attack by the Pakistan government on the country’s judiciary and lawyers, the president of the American Bar Association is calling for fellow attorneys to march on Washington in sympathy with their beleaguered colleagues there. “On Wednesday, November 14, the ABA is organizing a lawyers’…

Nov 10, 2007 12:18 AM CST

ABA Creates Commission on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

Updated: In an effort to help eliminate bias against gays and transgender people in the legal profession and in society, the ABA has created a Commission on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity. Chair of the commission is Jeffrey Gibson. He says he hopes the commission will educate and encourage law…

Nov 9, 2007 6:14 PM CST

US, UK Lawyers to Pakistan: Reinstate Rule of Law

Following Pakistan’s suspension of the constitution, firing of numerous appellate judges and arrest of as many as 3,000 lawyers during the past week, bar associations throughout the United States and the United Kingdom have called upon the country’s president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, to reinstate the rule of law. In a…

Nov 9, 2007 5:40 PM CST

Lawyer Barred, Other Defense Issues as Khadr Military Trial Looms

As the terrorism trial by a U.S. military tribunal of a Canadian arrested in an Afghanistan battle at age 15 appears about to get under way, starting with an arraignment today, the defense is in apparent disarray. Dennis Edney, a Canadian attorney, is the lawyer chosen by Omar Khadr, now…

Nov 8, 2007 6:39 PM CST

4 Pakistan Activists Charged With Treason; Will Lawyers Be Next?

Four Pakistani men were charged today with treason for making anti-government speeches in the city of Karachi. If convicted, the three politicians and a union leader potentially face the death penalty, reports the London Times. Although these are the first reported treason charges amidst ongoing attorney-led demonstrations focused on the…

Nov 8, 2007 4:47 PM CST

‘Mockingbird’ Still Teaching Lessons

To Kill a Mockingbird still resonates for many, including President Bush, who awarded author Harper Lee the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Monday. Lee rarely makes public appearances, but she appeared to accept the medal, the Cox News Service reports. Bush introduced her by saying the book “has influenced the…

Nov 8, 2007 1:35 PM CST

Beleaguered Ga. Judge Won’t Respond to Prosecutors’ Filing in Nichols Case

A respected Georgia judge under fire for requiring the state to pay defense costs it says it can’t afford in a complex capital murder trial won’t contest a state supreme court filing seeking to force him off the case. Instead, Superior Court Judge Hilton M. Fuller Jr. has sent a…

Nov 8, 2007 12:19 AM CST

Executed Man’s Wife Sues Judge Who Closed Courthouse Door

Updated: Already facing a legal ethics complaint, a Texas appellate judge who refused to accept an eleventh-hour late filing in a death penalty appeal is now being sued by the executed man’s wife. The federal suit accuses Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Presiding Judge Sharon Keller of violating Michael Richard’s…

Nov 7, 2007 11:49 PM CST

GA Judge in Capital Defense Cost Maelstrom Lawyers Up

A Georgia judge who has become a lightning rod for criticism over the high cost of defending a death penalty case has now got his own counsel. Profiled in a recent New York Times article as judicial scapegoat for those seeking to blame someone for what it costs to represent…

Nov 6, 2007 8:03 PM CST