Government

Prosecutor: Judge’s ‘Cash Cow’ Job Milked Money Envelopes From Attorney Owner of Juvenile Facility

At first, then-Judge Mark Ciavarella Jr. and a senior colleague in Luzerne County, Pa., allegedly laundered hundreds of thousands of dollars in kickbacks they received for sending juveniles to jail through shell companies and by disguising some of the cash as rental payments on Florida condominium owned by their wives,…

Feb 8, 2011 9:03 PM CST

Judge Saves Her Vacation by Putting Jury to Work at 3 a.m.

When a murder trial last year that was expected to take four weeks continued nearly two weeks longer, putting a Nevada judge’s vacation at risk, the judge resolved the problem by having the jury begin deliberations at 3 a.m. Clark County District Court Judge Valorie Vega also criticized attorneys on…

Feb 8, 2011 6:15 PM CST

Opening Statements Loom in ‘Kids-for-Cash’ Trial of Former Luzerne, Pa., President Judge

Even though she is 23 and married, Daniella Ormsby cried when she recalled the nine months she spent in a juvenile detention facility in Pennsylvania as punishment for missing a court hearing. While she has completed her general equivalency degree and is living with her husband and their two children…

Feb 8, 2011 12:20 AM CST

AG of Ill. Sues Over Pension Board’s OK of Benefits to Disgraced Police Commander

After a pension board’s OK last month of a $3,000-a-month pension to a former Chicago police commander accused of playing a leading role in alleged widespread torture of suspects by his officers decades ago, the state attorney general has stepped into the fray. Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan sued today…

Feb 7, 2011 7:01 PM CST

Coffee Shop Owner Guilty of Indecent Exposure Due to Skimpy See-Through Shorts on ‘Bikini Barista’

Up against well-known national names in the caffeine trade, local coffee shops in Washington state have tried creative marketing approaches to distinguish themselves. Among the techniques adopted by some are so-called bikini baristas. One shop in Yakima even featured pole dancing, the city’s mayor, Micah Cawley, tells Reuters. But Yakima…

Feb 7, 2011 6:34 PM CST

SEC Officials During Time of Madoff Swindle Now Have Lucrative BigLaw Jobs

Half a dozen officials who worked for the Securities and Exchange Commission at a time when Bernard Madoff’s multi-billion-dollar swindle of investors was ongoing have moved on to new jobs. Instead of earning approximately $200,000 a year working for the federal watchdog agency they’re now making up to $2 million…

Feb 7, 2011 5:27 PM CST

Convicted of Official Misconduct, Former PD Is Now Suspended for 1 Year Over Sex with Client

A former assistant public defender who was criminally convicted of official misconduct in 2009 for having sex with a then-client was suspended from practice yesterday for one year by attorney disciplinary authorities. Matthew Swedick “engaged in illegal conduct that adversely reflected on his honesty, trustworthiness or fitness as a lawyer,…

Feb 4, 2011 10:06 PM CST

Reports: Judge Pulls Gun on Crutch-Swinging Defendant, Who Is Then Shot By Cop in Ala. Courtroom

Unhappy about a judge’s jail sentence or fine in a misdemeanor harassment case, a defendant recovering from a broken hip with a cast on his leg reportedly began swinging his crutches in a courtroom at the Goodwater, Ala., city hall today and was shot in the abdomen and side by…

Feb 3, 2011 11:50 PM CST

Report Shows Fort Hood Massacre Could Have Been Prevented By FBI and Army, Senator Says

A November 2009 massacre at the U.S. Army’s Fort Hood military base in Texas “could have and should have been prevented” by the Army and the FBI, said Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) at a news conference today about a Senate committee’s new investigatory report on the tragedy. According the report…

Feb 3, 2011 9:25 PM CST

Snow Holiday to Extend Through Thursday at Cook County Courts After Chicago Blizzard

A snow holiday today will extend through tomorrow at Cook County Circuit Court following a major blizzard in Chicago, announces a notice on the circuit’s website. “Due to inclement weather, by an order of Chief Judge Timothy Evans, the Circuit Court and the Office of the Clerk of the Circuit…

Feb 3, 2011 12:51 AM CST

6 Brothers Allegedly Left in Abusive Home for 8 Years Despite 33 Complaints Get $6.55M

Despite 33 complaints, it took eight years for child protection authorities in Washington state to remove six brothers from a family home in which their lawyer says they were starved, locked in closets and physically abused. Now the state has agreed to settle for $6.55 million the case they filed…

Feb 2, 2011 5:13 PM CST

Colo. Secty of State Changes Mind, Won’t Moonlight at Former Law Firm After All

Sharply criticized after he announced a plan to moonlight at his former law firm to supplement his government salary, the newly elected Colorado secretary of state has changed his mind. Scott Gessler announced today that he won’t be taking a second job putting in 20 hours per month at the…

Feb 2, 2011 12:35 AM CST

Federal Judge Strikes Health Care Reform Act, Calls Insurance-Purchase Mandate Unconstitutional

Finding that an unconstitutional provision requiring most individuals to purchase insurance is central to the entire Health Care Reform Act championed by the Obama administration, a federal judge in Florida struck down the entire statute today. “Because the individual mandate is unconstitutional and not severable, the entire act must be…

Jan 31, 2011 8:58 PM CST

Officials Don’t Play; They Say: Remove Grand Piano from Fla. Sandbar! But Salvager Gets There First

A baby grand piano gained fleeting global fame when it suddenly showed up on a sandbar in the midst of Biscayne Bay, off the coast of Florida. It reportedly became the backdrop for at least one fashion shoot, and gained a touch of elegance when someone set a candelabra on…

Jan 28, 2011 10:14 PM CST

Hours After Appeal Filing, Top Ill. Court Rules Emanuel Stays on Ballot, Rebukes Appellate Panel

Capping an action-packed appellate week for the Illinois courts, Chicago election officials and a well-known city mayoral candidate, the state’s top court has just ruled—little more than 48 hours after an appeal was filed Tuesday—that former White House aide Rahm Emanuel will stay on the ballot. In a sharp rebuke…

Jan 28, 2011 12:19 AM CST