Government

Federal Judge Blocks Gov’t Attempt to Get Amazon Records for Tax Billing

A federal judge in Seattle has nixed an attempt by North Carolina taxing authorities to obtain customer records from Amazon in order to impose sales tax on their purchases. Although N.C. Revenue Department officials say they have no interest in checking to see what customers from the state are buying,…

Oct 26, 2010 9:50 PM CDT

Gov’t Lawyer Charged with Hate Crimes re Claimed Anonymous Calls to Neighbors

Updated: A lawyer who has worked as an associate attorney for New York state government since 1993 and reportedly may have previously worked for a police department has been criminally charged with allegedly making racist, threatening calls to his neighbors in Albany. James Hennessey Jr., a 58-year-old civil service department…

Oct 26, 2010 7:06 PM CDT

Town Agrees to Dim Lights to Protect Sea Turtles

Bowing to pressure from federal and state officials, a south Florida town has agreed to dim the lights along its beachfront to protect nesting sea turtles. Local government along with local businesses in Hollywood will bear the expense of retrofitting or replacing too-bright lights along the Atlantic coast that distract…

Oct 25, 2010 5:15 PM CDT

Skadden Counsel Retires, Says Loathsome Veggies Shouldn’t Be Considered Commodities

Don’t expect Philip McBride Johnson, counsel at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, to ride off into the sunset when he retires from the firm at the end of the year. The former chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission intends to remain an active policy maker in the derivatives…

Oct 22, 2010 6:59 PM CDT

After Initial Nix by One County Court, Fla. AG Wins Subpoena for Law Firm Docs From Another

Slapped down by a Palm Beach County Circuit Court judge when he tried to subpoena documents from one “foreclosure mill” law firm, Florida’s attorney general has tried again in Broward County concerning another such law firm and won the ruling he sought. Attorney Jeffrey Tew, who represents David Stern and…

Oct 15, 2010 4:29 PM CDT

Woman Stabbed Another Attendee at Anger Management Class, Police Say

Already charged with assault, a 19-year-old Washington state woman is facing a second assault case in a Seattle suburb after allegedly stabbing a fellow attendee at an anger management class. A dispute over the value of a video on anger management being shown to the class sparked a war of…

Oct 15, 2010 2:27 PM CDT

Citizens in One Mass. District to Vote on Equal Nudity Rights

An artist in Massachusetts has gathered the necessary signatures to put on the ballot in her district one of the most unusual issue voters anywhere the state are being asked to decide this election season. It is: Whether women should have equal nudity rights with men, reports the Boston Globe.…

Oct 15, 2010 1:41 PM CDT

Lawyer Sentenced to Anger Course After Elevator Incident with Social Security Judge

A federal magistrate judge found an Oregon disability claims lawyer guilty of disorderly conduct and sentenced him to a year of probation and an anger management course after a three-year series of incidents between Daniel Bernath and a social security judge escalated into an elevator altercation at an administrative hearing…

Oct 14, 2010 4:38 PM CDT

High-Ranking Prison Official Charged with Seeking Bribes for Help with Discrimination Case

A high-ranking official with the New Jersey Department of Corrections has been arrested on federal bribery charges. Among the accusations against Lydell Sherrer, 51, is that he accepted $4,000 in bribes to provide a fellow employee with internal documents to use in a discrimination lawsuit against the department, reports the…

Oct 14, 2010 12:47 AM CDT

Retired Judge to be Tried for Perjury, Admits Letting Witness Lie to Protect Paid Informant

A retired Michigan judge has been ordered to stand trial along with two Detroit-area police officers and Wayne County’s former chief drug prosecutor, who has also retired, for allegedly encouraging witness lies in a 2005 trial in a major cocaine case. Allegedly told by the prosecutor, Karen Plants, that false…

Oct 13, 2010 7:57 PM CDT

Proposed Leaf-Blower Ban Generates Lots of Noise from Irked Citizens

A proposal to ban most, but not all, leaf-blowing in a South Florida city has generated lots of noise from irate citizens. While some in Coral Gables welcome the green initiative, which is intended to reduce not only the racket from the machines but the mold spores and chemicals they…

Oct 13, 2010 7:09 PM CDT

Dozens Arrested in $100M Medicare Case Bust; Doctor & Patient IDs Allegedly Stolen

Developing: Perhaps 100 people have been arrested in California, Georgia, Ohio, New Mexico and New York, in a record-breaking Medicare fraud case that allegedly involved $100 million in bogus billings and the use of stolen doctor and patient identities. Some 40 individuals were arrested in New York alone and an…

Oct 13, 2010 6:42 PM CDT

Judge Strikes ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Policy

A federal judge in Southern California issued an injunction today that bans the U.S. military from enforcing its 17-year-old “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy concerning gay and lesbian service members anywhere in the world. The policy violates their constitutional rights, held U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips, including due process, freedom…

Oct 12, 2010 9:21 PM CDT

Lawyer Introductions Led to $550K Fine for Manatt Phelps in NY Pension Fund Case

Updated: A California law firm has agreed to pay $550,000 to the state of New York and refrain from appearing before public pension funds there for the next five years, after several unidentified partners introduced, or tried to introduce, financial firms seeking money to several of the institutional investors. Although…

Oct 12, 2010 8:22 PM CDT

2 Teens Get $185K, Lawyer Gets $425K in School Webcam Spy Case

The school board of a suburban Philadelphia district has agreed to pay $610,000 to settle a suit by two students who say they were spied upon in their own homes via district-issued laptop computers equipped with webcams. Of that total, $175,000 will be put in trust for the student who…

Oct 12, 2010 5:44 PM CDT