Government

Top Texas Judge Blames Inmate’s Lawyers for Alleged Execution-Eve Appeal Snafu

In a filing today, the presiding judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denies disciplinary charges of misconduct and incompetence filed against her last month by the Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct. Publicly castigated after she refused a request to allow the court clerk’s office to stay open to…

Mar 25, 2009 2:12 AM CDT

Reward Offered for 24 Alleged Mexican Drug Lords: Up to $7M Each

As escalating violence related to cross-border drug trafficking causes increasing concern in both Mexico and the United States, the government there is offering a record-breaking bounty of $2 million each for 24 alleged drug lords. With an additional $5 million offered by the U.S. concerning some of the drug-trafficking suspects,…

Mar 24, 2009 4:04 PM CDT

Cuomo Uses Office as ‘Bully Pulpit,’ Gets AIG Bonus Recipients to Return Cash

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said yesterday that he has persuaded 15 of the top 20 bonus recipients at AIG to return the money, and it may be possible to recoup some $80 million in all. Cuomo told reporters that out of the top 10 employees who received bonuses,…

Mar 24, 2009 11:42 AM CDT

Yale Law Dean Going to Washington, Will Advise State Department

A national security law expert who is a well-known critic of the Bush administration’s detention policies concerning suspected terrorists has been tapped by President Barack Obama to provide legal advice to the U.S. Department of State. Harold Hongju Koh, who currently is dean of Yale Law School, will be nominated…

Mar 23, 2009 9:31 PM CDT

Judge: FDA Overstepped Bounds in Restricting ‘Plan B’ Contraceptive

A federal regulatory agency overstepped its bounds in limiting access to the so-called “Plan B” emergency contraceptive, a federal judge has ruled. In setting special requirements for the controversial contraceptive, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration “departed in significant ways from the agency’s normal procedures regarding similar applications to switch…

Mar 23, 2009 8:13 PM CDT

FOX News Sues SEC Over FOIA Requests

Seeking information about just how long the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission might have been aware of possible problems involving R. Allen Stanford and the companies he operated, FOX Business Network filed an expedited Freedom of Information Act request seeking related records in late February. Now FOX News Network LLC…

Mar 23, 2009 7:03 PM CDT

Female Fla. Prison Workers Sue Over Alleged Inmate Sexual Harassment

More than 100 female prison workers have filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the Florida Department of Corrections contending that they were routinely sexually harassed by inmates. The employees, mostly nurses, allege that male inmates used graphic language and masturbated towards them, reports the Miami Herald. “The conduct is…

Mar 23, 2009 3:13 PM CDT

CIA Station Chief Accused of 2 Rapes is Being Dismissed

The Central Intelligence Agency apparently didn’t fuss when Andrew Warren racked up hefty expense tabs at strip clubs and brothels, while wooing potential espionage recruits. But this permissive work culture may have helped promote questionable behavior by Warren and at least a small number of other CIA agents, suggests a…

Mar 20, 2009 8:19 PM CDT

NY Lawyer Loses $144K Job Over Office Computer and Credit Card Issues

An attorney who made $144,070 a year as deputy commissioner and counsel for the New York Division of Human Rights has lost his job over $530 in charges to a state credit card and use of his office computer for outside legal work. Inspector General Joseph Fisch says attorney Thomas…

Mar 20, 2009 7:24 PM CDT

Burris Legal Bills Could Hit $400K; Embattled Senator Plans Defense Fund

An embattled U.S. senator from Illinois who is fighting efforts to force him from office, following allegations that he misrepresented his dealings with now-impeached ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich, expects that his legal bills could hit $400,000. So Sen. Roland Burris is seeking the Senate Ethics Committee’s okay to set up a…

Mar 20, 2009 1:22 AM CDT

Detainees Can Sue U.S. Contractor Over Alleged War Crimes at Abu Ghraib Prison

Four individuals who say they were tortured while held prisoner at the Abu Ghraib detention facility in Iraq can sue a U.S. defense contractor whose employees allegedly participated in the claimed war crimes, a federal judge has ruled. In an opinion released today, U.S. District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee rejected…

Mar 19, 2009 9:19 PM CDT

China Closes Yitong Law Firm Known for Legal Activism

A Beijing law firm known for its activist approach to human rights issues and official corruption was closed down by the Chinese government this week. Although the asserted reason for shutting down the Yitong Law Firm for six months was that it had allowed a lawyer to practice without a…

Mar 19, 2009 5:58 PM CDT

Maryland Is Home Sweet Home for Congressmen Seeking Tax Break

A senior member of Congress who was elected in California has reportedly saved $3,853 in 2007 and 2008 taxes by claiming a home in Maryland as his principal residence. And he’s apparently not the only federal lawmaker from another state who has been doing so. Rep. Pete Stark, 77, the…

Mar 19, 2009 5:10 PM CDT

Outraged Congress Mulls Special AIG Bonus Law: Tax Could Be 100%

There’s growing public outrage over news that some $165 million of a taxpayer-funded $180 billion bailout of American International Group is being paid out in bonuses to those who helped drive the insurer into its near-demise. But as some federal officials suggest litigation as a possible taxpayer recovery option, others…

Mar 17, 2009 9:35 PM CDT

Panel Says La. Should Pay Katrina Doc’s $450K Defense Costs

As one member called a Louisiana doctor who at one point was accused of criminally euthanizing patients in her care a hero, a panel today recommended that the state should pay some $450,000 in legal defense costs for Dr. Anna Pou. After working at Memorial Medical Center in New Orleans,…

Mar 17, 2009 9:06 PM CDT