Constitutional Law

No Right to Divorce Counsel in Wash.

There is no right to taxpayer-funded counsel in a divorce case under the Washington state constitution, the state’s supreme court has ruled in a closely watched case. But it would still be a good idea to provide divorce lawyers to those who can’t afford them, the supreme court says in…

Dec 6, 2007 7:45 PM CST

Supreme Court Appears Focused on Gitmo Remedies

At the close of oral arguments yesterday, it appeared likely that the U.S. Supreme Court will send the appeal by Guantanamo detainees back to an appeals court along with a “road map” of ways to expand procedural protections for their trials, the New York Times concludes. The details of the…

Dec 6, 2007 2:51 PM CST

Former Top Pakistan Judge Blames Country’s Western Allies

Although bar groups throughout the world, including the ABA, have made unprecedented efforts to lobby for the restoration of the rule of law in Pakistan, a deposed Pakistan supreme court judge contends government leaders in Western countries could and should do more. Held under house arrest at his home in…

Dec 5, 2007 11:22 PM CST

Jurists Defend Mass. Judge in Murder Case

There is a growing groundswell of support by colleagues for a Massachusetts judge who has become a target for national election-year political criticism after agreeing to release a convicted killer who allegedly then murdered two newlyweds in Washington state. Although the anguish of survivors of the two claimed victims of…

Dec 5, 2007 10:06 PM CST

No Jail Time for Loyola Law Prof Who Helped Client Find Counsel

A Louisiana appeals court has overturned a contempt finding by a state judge that would have required a law professor working with the Orleans Parish public defender’s office in New Orleans to serve a brief jail term and take a legal ethics course. Steve Singer, who is on leave from…

Dec 5, 2007 7:35 PM CST

Kennedy Doesn’t Tip Hand in Gitmo Arguments

The U.S. Supreme Court justice who is considered the pivotal vote in a suit by Guantanamo detainees didn’t signal how he will rule during oral arguments today. The court is considering whether the detainees have a constitutional right to challenge their confinement through federal habeas actions, and if so, whether…

Dec 5, 2007 7:11 PM CST

Bay Area Law Firms Form Immigration Task Force

A coalition of San Francisco Bay Area attorneys, including some of the area’s biggest-name law firms, has formed a task force to represent immigrants who may have been targeted in unconstitutional federal raids. Among the law firms who pooled their resources to put together a 60-attorney pro bono defense team…

Dec 5, 2007 5:56 PM CST

Crosses on Chaplain Badges Barred Under Settlement

An atheist’s lawsuit has resulted in a settlement requiring images of crosses to be removed from badges worn by police chaplains in Spokane. Ray Ideus, formerly a Lutheran pastor who became an atheist, filed federal suit last year challenging the inclusion of the Christian symbol on the badges. The city…

Dec 5, 2007 5:25 PM CST

Tribunals Considered Praying Habits of Gitmo Detainee

Two U.S. military tribunals have declared a German student to be an al-Qaida ally despite evidence that intelligence experts did not consider him a terrorist. Lawyers for Murat Kurnaz obtained documents showing the disparity in a lawsuit against the Pentagon, the Washington Post reports. Newly released portions of a ruling…

Dec 5, 2007 3:01 PM CST

Atheist Back With Pledge, Currency Challenges

Atheist Michael Newdow asked a federal appeals court in oral arguments yesterday to remove the words ”under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance and ”In God We Trust” from U.S. currency. Newdow won a favorable ruling from the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2002 when he…

Dec 5, 2007 1:10 PM CST

Funny Lawyer Ads No Joke in N.Y.

Law firm ads that show attorneys towering over skyscrapers and offering legal advice to space aliens obviously aren’t meant to be taken seriously. But New York’s attorney general isn’t finding them at all amusing, reports Portfolio magazine on its website. In a brief filed yesterday in response to a July…

Dec 4, 2007 11:50 PM CST

ABA President Asks Attorneys to Sign Pakistan Petition

The president of the American Bar Association is calling on fellow attorneys to sign an online petition seeking the restoration of the rule of law in Pakistan. “I urge you not to look aside, as if standing up for the rule of law is somebody else’s job. Add your name,…

Dec 4, 2007 10:22 PM CST

State-Funded Prisoner Religion Program Tossed

A federal appeals court has ruled that a state-financed program that seeks to rehabilitate prisoners through Christian ideals violates the establishment clause. Americans United for Separation of Church and State had challenged the program run by InnerChange, a group affiliated with Charles Colson’s Prison Fellowship that operates in six states,…

Dec 4, 2007 5:55 PM CST

Bell Gets 18 Months in Jena 6 Plea Deal

One of the Jena 6 defendants has agreed to a plea deal in juvenile court that apparently will require him to serve little additional time, after spending much of 2007 in jail. A conspiracy charge has been dropped and Mychal Bell, 17, will plead guilty to a second-degree battery count,…

Dec 3, 2007 11:58 PM CST

Motor Voter Law a Fast Track to Crime

Proudly proceeding on a fast track toward legal residency and eventual U.S. citizenship, Beth Keathley was so excited about having had a chance to vote in her first American election that she mentioned the milestone to her immigration officer. The next thing she knew, she had been charged with a…

Dec 3, 2007 9:45 PM CST