Government

Off-Label Drugs Will Be Next Enforcement Focus, Law Prof Predicts

Every year, when Dallas attorney Steve Kardell kicks off the corporate compliance and governance class he teaches at Southern Methodist University’s Dedman School of Law, he starts by predicting the subject of the next wave of company scandals. Last year, he pointed to subprime lending. The year before, it was…

Aug 27, 2008 3:39 PM CDT

Young Protester in Denver Finds 1st Arrest a Daunting Experience

Arrested for the first time in his life while protesting in Denver on Monday night, as the Democratic National Convention was getting into gear, a young Colorado man identified as “Martin” says he didn’t do anything wrong. “I was marching to make people aware that they should be worried about…

Aug 26, 2008 11:31 PM CDT

Jury Awards $900K in Texas Jail Medical Neglect Case

A federal jury in Texas has awarded $900,000 to a man who says he suffered a stroke while jailed in Dallas County because of medical neglect. The verdict is the largest ever awarded against the county in such a case, reports the Dallas Morning News. Attorney Don Tittle represented the…

Aug 26, 2008 7:51 PM CDT

Hundreds Held in Another Big ICE Raid

In another signpost of stepped-up immigration enforcement, federal agents raided a Mississippi factory yesterday, detaining at least 350 workers who allegedly are in the country illegally. “The raid follows a similar large-scale immigration operation at a meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa, in May when nearly 400 workers were detained,” reports…

Aug 26, 2008 5:34 PM CDT

Texas School District is 1st to Let Teachers Pack Heat in Classrooms

When the school year started yesterday, a small district in Texas reportedly made history as the first in the country to allow teachers to carry concealed firearms. “Teachers who wanted to participate had to be approved by the school board, obtain their concealed carry license, and complete extensive training in…

Aug 26, 2008 4:43 PM CDT

Texas DA: Must I Let My Prosecutors Carry Guns Into Court?

Under a new Texas law, state prosecutors can carry handguns anywhere except jails and prisons. That means they are allowed to take them into courthouses and courtrooms. But at least one district attorney is dubious about the 2007 law, and he has asked the state attorney general whether he can…

Aug 26, 2008 4:25 PM CDT

Clean & Sober, Yet Convicted & Jailed

George Damaa doesn’t remember the accident that put him in the hospital in a coma, with multiple injuries, and killed three other people, including his girlfriend, in 1995. He apparently hadn’t been speeding, or drinking or doing drugs, and had a clean driving record and no criminal background. Although there…

Aug 25, 2008 8:12 PM CDT

Feds Poised for NYC Crackdown re Claimed Fair Housing Construction Violations

Although real estate developers and property managers deny wrongdoing, it appears that perhaps 100,000 rental apartments built in New York City since 1991 may have to be retrofitted. That’s because they allegedly don’t meet federal requirements under the Fair Housing Act for accessibility by physically handicapped residents. “The United States…

Aug 25, 2008 7:15 PM CDT

Billionaire’s Lawyers Target Prosecutor’s Wife, Over Law Firm Tie

Lawyers for billionaire and former Broadcom CEO Henry Nicholas III, who is facing securities fraud and drug charges in federal court in California, are seeking to put the pregnant wife of a lead prosecutor in the case on the stand. Because Yuliya Lyubovnaya, a lawyer, worked for Broadcom’s longtime counsel,…

Aug 23, 2008 12:10 AM CDT

Chicago Power Outage Outrage Sparks Law Firm Probe of Generator Delivery

A newspaper report of a Chicago city official who allegedly got a generator delivered to his door by the electric company while thousands of other residents went without power during a prolonged recent outage has created public outrage—and new business for a local law firm. Litigation powerhouse Jenner & Block…

Aug 22, 2008 4:19 PM CDT

Calif. Town Shuts Down 11-Year-Old’s Organic Veggie Stand

For about two years, Katie Lewis, now 11, has sold organic watermelons, zucchini and other homegrown produce at a roadside stand in Clayton, Calif., bringing in perhaps $20 a week to put in her college fund. But now the long arm of the law has caught up with her, reports…

Aug 21, 2008 11:07 PM CDT

More Key Senators Seek to Delay AG’s Planned Investigative Guidelines

Four senior Democratic senators joined today with leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee in calling for further public review before new investigative guidelines planned by Attorney General Michael Mukasey become effective. The guidelines, which Mukasey says are needed to fight terrorism effectively, are now set to be finalized by the…

Aug 20, 2008 11:08 PM CDT

Judge Sides With Nudists in Calif. Swimsuit Case

Nudists who for three decades have reportedly been frequenting a beach in San Diego County without any significant public objection can continue to let it all hang out a while longer. An Orange County judge says administrative law is on the nudists’ side, so state parks officials can’t require them…

Aug 20, 2008 6:36 PM CDT

Judge Tosses False Claims Suit Because of Leaked Discovery Documents

A federal judge has dismissed a false claims suit after a confidential discovery document ended up on Wikileaks. U.S. District Judge Milton Shadur said the plaintiff’s lawyer, Jorge Sanchez, was apparently to blame for the Wikileaks document and dismissed the suit with prejudice as a sanction, the Chicago Daily Law…

Aug 20, 2008 3:51 PM CDT

Judge Sides With MIT Students, Lifts Gag Order in Transit Case

A federal anti-hacking law wasn’t intended to prohibit the disclosure of public information about computer security flaws and hence doesn’t prohibit three MIT students from discussing with fellow academics how they learned to circumvent the Boston transit fare system, as part of a class project. That’s what a federal judge…

Aug 19, 2008 8:31 PM CDT