Government

Meet John Rizzo, Acting CIA General Counsel

When John Rizzo retires as acting general counsel of the CIA this summer, he will leave amid controversy over his role in approving harsh interrogations for terrorism suspects. Rizzo will be remembered as the most influential career lawyer in the department’s history, the Los Angeles Times reports in a profile.…

Jun 29, 2009 6:24 PM CDT

3 Lawyers Guilty in ‘Assembly-Line Fraud Factory’ Calif. Asylum Scam

Although they were acquitted on some counts, three California lawyers were convicted yesterday after a three-month federal trial in Sacramento, Calif., in what prosecutors describe as an audacious asylum scam. Partners and brothers Jagprit Singh Sekhon, 39, and Jagdip Singh Sekhon, 42, with the help of two interpreters and a…

Jun 26, 2009 5:39 PM CDT

Seattle Gay and Lesbian Workers Fight to Keep City-Funded Club Records Private

Seattle employees who have joined a city-sponsored group for gay and lesbian workers are slowly losing an uphill battle to keep their names and sexual orientation private. This week a King County judge delayed the likely inevitable by ordering the release of documents with meeting attendee names redacted. At issue…

Jun 26, 2009 11:50 AM CDT

Federal Jury Awards $5M to Texas Man Convicted on Bad Crime Lab Evidence

After wrestling with the concept of deliberate indifference, a federal jury in Texas today awarded $5 million to a man wrongfully convicted in a kidnapping and rape case more than two decades ago. George Rodriguez, 59, was incarcerated for 17 years, based on false testimony by an employee of the…

Jun 26, 2009 12:39 AM CDT

Alleged Web Threats to Murder 3 Judges Spark 1st Amendment Debate

Yesterday’s arrest of a so-called hate blogger for allegedly posting material on the Internet that threatened the lives of three federal judges in Chicago is sparking debate about permissible political speech. Harold Charles “Hal” Turner allegedly put up an Internet blog post saying that three 7th U.S. Circuit Court of…

Jun 25, 2009 7:34 PM CDT

9th Circuit Pops Seattle’s Efforts to Regulate Balloon Artist

The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that Seattle’s efforts to regulate balloon artist “Magic Mike” Berger and other street performers violates the First Amendment. In a 7-4 split, the appeals court found that the city’s rules requiring performers to obtain permits to operate at the…

Jun 25, 2009 11:58 AM CDT

Lawyer Found Lying in Trash Can Resigns Lucrative City Job

Larry Wilder did the right thing by taking a limo home after celebrating a friend’s good news about passing a real estate licensing exam with a few drinks. However, he didn’t make it the final few feet to his door. Finding him lying headfirst, seemingly asleep, in a trash can…

Jun 25, 2009 4:13 AM CDT

S.C. Gov’s AWOL Argentine Affair Sparks Constitutional Discussions

Updated: In fact, Mark Sanford, the South Carolina governor whose whereabouts were unknown for a week, wasn’t hiking the Appalachian Trail, as his staff had earlier suggested. He was in Argentina with his mistress, as he now admits, according to numerous media reports. And, as news of the affair by…

Jun 24, 2009 10:23 PM CDT

US Attorney Conspired to Force Miss. Judge Off the Bench, Lawsuit Contends

A former U.S. attorney who was involved, while still in office, in an unsuccessful criminal prosecution of a Mississippi state court judge, also conspired behind the scenes with attorney disciplinary officials to bring false ethics charges against the jurist, a civil lawsuit contends. Filed by former state Supreme Court Justice…

Jun 24, 2009 9:37 PM CDT

Users Ask Federal Courts to Improve PACER Document Access System

Led by a librarian from Stanford Law School, users are petitioning the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts in an effort to seek improvements in the PACER court document access system. Among the improvements being sought are reductions in the present 8-cent-per-page cost of viewing documents, free access at depository…

Jun 23, 2009 10:27 PM CDT

Divorce Case on Hold as Fla. Judge Mulls Whether Couple is Married

Before a Florida couple can officially split, a judge apparently will have to determine whether they ever officially married. Heather Bowser says they did. Matthew Ditzel says they didn’t, reports the Orlando Sentinel. The woman who certified the couple’s May 24, 2008 marriage has lost her state notary commission and…

Jun 23, 2009 10:09 PM CDT

Mont. Town Rescinds Rule Requiring Job Seekers to Reveal Social Web Passwords

Rescinding a controversial hiring policy that one commissioner called “a gross invasion of privacy,” the governing body of Bozeman, Mont., voted yesterday that its human resources department would no longer require job applicants to reveal their personal passwords to social networking websites such as Facebook and MySpace. The 2008 policy…

Jun 23, 2009 9:01 PM CDT

N.Y. to Sue Private Lawyer ‘Employed’ By 6 School Districts for $2M Reimbursement

A state and federal probe of claimed pension abuse by some New York lawyers in private practice has just heated up further. New York’s attorney general, Andrew Cuomo, says the state will sue a Long Island lawyer whose story sparked a statewide investigation for civil fraud, seeking reimbursement from Lawrence…

Jun 23, 2009 1:05 AM CDT

DOJ Enters Fray Over Geronimo Skull Possibly Held By Yale Secret Society

In a filing on behalf of three high-level government officials—including President Barack Obama—who are named as defendants, the U.S. Department of Justice seeks to dismiss a federal lawsuit by descendants of the Apache warrior chieftan Geronimo that also names Yale University and a longtime secret society as defendants. The plaintiffs…

Jun 22, 2009 11:35 PM CDT

Fed Probe of Ex-Ill. Gov. Blagojevich Now Includes State Universities

Already facing federal charges in a sweeping corruption case, former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is now being probed as well concerning admissions to three state universities. The federal admissions investigation—in which Blagojevich has not been accused of doing anything wrong—follows Chicago Tribune news reports that a clout list was compiled…

Jun 18, 2009 6:16 PM CDT