Government

Weekly Briefs: Same-sex marriage bill sent to Biden; lawyer pleads guilty after swinging belt caught on video

Bill protecting gay marriage is sent to Biden The U.S. House of Representatives approved a marriage equality bill Thursday that requires states and the federal government to recognize same-sex and interracial marriages that were legal in the states where they were performed. The Respect for Marriage Act, as the bill…

Dec 9, 2022 2:42 PM CST

Court reinstates progressive prosecutor to case after dissatisfied judge orders ouster of entire office

Virginia’s top court has reinstated a progressive prosecutor to a burglary case following the ouster of her entire office from the matter by a judge dissatisfied with a plea deal.

Dec 9, 2022 11:34 AM CST

Slain lawyer was shot and his law office set on fire; divorce client was wife of suspect

A lawyer who practiced family law in Lawrenceville, Georgia, was found dead with gunshot wounds Wednesday by emergency personnel responding to a fire at his office.

Dec 9, 2022 9:54 AM CST

3 conservative SCOTUS justices appear to seek middle ground on ‘independent state legislature’ theory

Three conservative U.S. Supreme Court justices appeared ready Wednesday to accept the “independent state legislature” theory that would strip state courts of power to review congressional voting maps adopted by state lawmakers. Three liberal justices, on the other hand, resisted the idea.

Dec 7, 2022 3:35 PM CST

Did CFO of Trump Organization act ‘in behalf of’ company? Fraud conviction appeal will focus on issue

The Trump Organization’s appeal of its tax fraud conviction will partly focus on whether the actions of the chief financial officer were made “in behalf of” the company, according to one of the defense lawyers.

Dec 7, 2022 11:07 AM CST

Judge observes that suspect in antisemitic attack ‘has removed his pants to show the court his backside’

A suspect charged with ethnic intimidation for yelling slurs outside a historic Michigan synagogue showed his disdain for the judge in an unrelated case during an online hearing Tuesday.

Dec 7, 2022 9:00 AM CST

Judge is accused of telling custody litigant to ‘zip it,’ noting ‘10th freaking day of this hearing’

An Indiana judge is facing an ethics complaint contending that he made undignified comments in a custody case when he told the father to “zip it” and “shut up” and declared: “This is just bulls- - -.”

Dec 7, 2022 8:35 AM CST

Trump Organization found guilty of tax fraud; maximum penalty is no more than ‘a rounding error’

Jurors in Manhattan, New York City, convicted the Trump Organization of tax fraud Tuesday following a trial that focused on lavish corporate perks to executives that weren’t reported as income.

Dec 6, 2022 3:55 PM CST

Law prof sues over New York law requiring bloggers and websites to address online hate speech

A blogging law professor is a plaintiff in a lawsuit claiming that a New York law pressures bloggers and websites to remove hate speech that is protected by the First Amendment.

Dec 6, 2022 12:42 PM CST

Corporate owners knew little about patents they got free of charge and the litigation that followed, judge finds

A federal judge in Delaware is explaining why he ordered patent holding company Nimitz Technologies to produce records showing how it came to own a patent at issue in four cases before him.

Dec 5, 2022 2:53 PM CST

Las Vegas lawyer is disbarred for forming law firm with nonlaywer who did most of the legal work

A Las Vegas lawyer has been disbarred for forming a law firm with a nonlawyer who held himself out as an attorney, met with clients and provided legal advice.

Dec 5, 2022 11:59 AM CST

Biden relied on 96-year-old law and 1917 Supreme Court decision to impose railway labor agreement

A process outlined in a 96-year-old law governing railroads led to a bill signed Friday by President Joe Biden that imposes a contract agreement between workers and railroads.

Dec 5, 2022 10:37 AM CST

Weekly Briefs: Accused ‘my guns are bigger’ judge resigns; Texas district attorney resigns, takes the Fifth

Judge who displayed gun on bench resigns Judge David W. Hummel Jr. of West Virginia has resigned from the bench after a video confirmed that he placed a gun on the bench during a hearing. Hummel had been accused of taking out the gun after refusing to let a lawyer’s…

Dec 2, 2022 3:02 PM CST

Justice Jackson’s second SCOTUS opinion is also a dissent to court’s refusal in death-penalty case

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson has issued a second U.S. Supreme Court opinion that, like the first, disagrees with the court’s refusal to get involved in a death-penalty case.

Dec 2, 2022 11:28 AM CST

Judge didn’t have jurisdiction to appoint special master in Trump documents case, 11th Circuit says

U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon of the Southern District of Florida didn’t have jurisdiction to consider former President Donald Trump’s request for a special master to review documents seized from his Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach, Florida, a federal appeals court has ruled.

Dec 2, 2022 10:28 AM CST