Federal Government

Afternoon Briefs: Gunman had file on SCOTUS justice, judge says; state AG charged in fatal crash

Gunman apparently targeted this SCOTUS justice, judge says Lawyer Roy Den Hollander, the gunman who killed the son of U.S. District Judge Esther Salas of the District of New Jersey, was apparently targeting U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Salas told CBS News’ 60 Minutes. After Hollander killed himself, authorities…

Feb 19, 2021 4:02 PM CST

Afternoon Briefs: 11 ex-capital inmates added to innocence list; lawyer finds historic photo in attic

11 former death-row inmates are added to group’s innocence list The Death Penalty Information Center has added 11 former inmates to its list of people who were exonerated after an initial capital conviction. The center found the cases while researching the outcome of every death sentence since 1973, a total…

Feb 18, 2021 4:36 PM CST

Afternoon Briefs: BigLaw firm partners with startup in pipeline program; Trump lawyer’s home vandalized

BigLaw firm partners with Legal Innovators in pipeline program Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe is partnering on a pipeline program with Legal Innovators, a startup alternative legal services provider that hires and trains law grads who can be competitive in BigLaw, despite graduating from outside the nation’s top 25 law schools.…

Feb 16, 2021 4:50 PM CST

Trump and Giuliani face first civil suit stemming from Capitol riots; violation of KKK Act is alleged

A Mississippi congressman has filed a civil suit against former President Donald Trump and lawyer Rudy Giuliani that says they violated the Ku Klux Klan Act by seeking to interfere with the counting of Electoral College votes.

Feb 16, 2021 12:50 PM CST

SCOTUS bars Alabama from executing inmate without pastor; Barrett joins with liberal justices in concurrence

The U.S. Supreme Court late Thursday refused to allow Alabama to execute an Alabama inmate if he is not allowed to have a pastor with him in the execution chamber.

Feb 12, 2021 11:22 AM CST

Afternoon Briefs: DOJ changes stance on health care law; Scabby the Rat gets NLRB lawyer’s support

DOJ withdraws opposition to health care law The U.S. Department of Justice has notified the U.S. Supreme Court that it no longer supports overturning the Affordable Care Act. The Trump administration had argued that the health care law is no longer constitutional after Congress eliminated the tax penalty for failure…

Feb 10, 2021 4:36 PM CST

Rambling remarks by Trump impeachment lawyer bewilder pundits

The second impeachment defense of former President Donald Trump got off to a slow start Tuesday.

Feb 10, 2021 10:06 AM CST

Afternoon Briefs: Ex-lawyer sentenced for show-pony secrecy; DOJ drops suit over Melania Trump book

Ex-lawyer sentenced for failure to disclose ponies A former Virginia lawyer has been sentenced to six months in prison for failing to disclose in a bankruptcy proceeding her family’s ownership of several show ponies. Laura Wright, 53, was a lawyer with prior bankruptcy experience at the time of the bankruptcy…

Feb 9, 2021 4:43 PM CST

Alan Dershowitz played a role in at least 12 of Trump’s clemency grants

Alan Dershowitz, a professor emeritus at Harvard Law School, helped at least 12 people obtain grants of clemency from former President Donald Trump, including two people who received pardons.

Feb 9, 2021 11:54 AM CST

Afternoon Briefs: Lawyers knock ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome;’ attorney flashes medical pot card

Trump lawyers seek dismissal of impeachment case Lawyers for former President Donald Trump on Monday asked the Senate to dismiss the impeachment case against him. Their brief argues that the Senate has no jurisdiction under the Constitution to conduct an impeachment trial of a former president, and Trump’s comments before…

Feb 8, 2021 4:33 PM CST

Acting Alaska AG resigns amid allegations he had a sexual relationship with high schooler in 1991

Acting Alaska Attorney General Ed Sniffen resigned Jan. 27 before the publication of an article alleging he had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl that began on a moot court trip to New Orleans in 1991.

Feb 5, 2021 11:19 AM CST

Inmate given clemency by Trump had backing of former judge who sentenced him to life

A federal judge who sentenced a Clarksville, Tennessee, man to life in prison in a drug trafficking case greeted him in person after then-President Donald Trump commuted the sentence in January.

Feb 4, 2021 12:12 PM CST

Afternoon Briefs: DOJ drops suit over Yale admissions process; 7th Circuit allows courthouse Nativity scene

DOJ drops suit accusing Yale of bias against Asian, white applicants The U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday dropped a lawsuit accusing Yale University of racially discriminating against many Asian and white applicants by considering race at multiple stages of its admissions process. The suit had been filed by the…

Feb 3, 2021 4:38 PM CST

Trump impeachment brief cites First Amendment, says call to fight referred to quest for election security

Former President Donald Trump’s lawyers maintain that he was exercising his First Amendment rights, rather than inciting a riot, when he spoke to a crowd before the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Feb 2, 2021 2:35 PM CST

Prove it up: Scholars criticize law prof’s speech about secret folders and say it was unsupported

Shortly before the Jan. 6 riot started at the U.S. Capitol, John Eastman spoke at a rally for then-President Donald Trump, enthusiastically sharing his theory that there was cheating in the November and January elections. According to him, there were “secret folders” placed inside voting machines filled with ballots to be matched with registered voters who did not cast their ballots.

Feb 2, 2021 9:30 AM CST