Government

Payday Lenders Flout Law on Seizing Gov’t. Benefits, Newspaper Says

Under federal law, creditors aren’t supposed to be able to seize social security payments, or disability or veterans benefits to pay a debt, and the government won’t send their checks directly to creditors. But at least some payday lenders have found a way around those prohibitions, and are now targeting…

Feb 13, 2008 12:03 AM CST

After Missouri Killings, Officials Ask: Is Tighter Security Needed?

Still reeling from last week’s murder of five citizens at a Kirkwood, Mo., municipal council meeting by a disgruntled litigant, officials in other St. Louis area municipalities are now discussing whether they need to increase security. For example, officials in nearby Madison County, Ill., are talking about what can be…

Feb 11, 2008 10:54 PM CST

Novel Issue in Cyber Porn Case: Can Man Take Fifth re Password?

A child pornography case concerning illicit images allegedly stored in the defendant’s laptop computer has created what experts say is a novel Fifth Amendment issue. Can the defendant assert his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination to stymie federal agents seeking his password in order to access the encryption-protected images and…

Feb 8, 2008 12:26 AM CST

50 Charged in Child-Care Fraud Case

An alleged child-care scam managed in part by a prison inmate, with the help of his wife, who works as a California government employee, reportedly has resulted in charges against more than 50 people. Some 20 arrests have been made in Nevada, Pennsylvania and Texas, and other suspects are being…

Feb 7, 2008 11:11 PM CST

Merck Agrees to $650M Settlement in Medicaid Health Care Fraud Case

Without admitting liability, Merck & Co. has agreed to pay a total of more than $650 million to plaintiffs including the federal government, 49 states and the District of Columbia, to settle allegations that the pharmaceutical company engaged in health care fraud by violating Medicaid rules. The settlement, according to…

Feb 7, 2008 9:30 PM CST

White House Defends US Waterboarding; U.N. Official, Rights Groups: It’s Torture

A day after CIA director Michael Hayden admitted in testimony before Congress that the Bush administration had used the so-called waterboarding technique on three al-Qaida suspects, a White House spokesman says it is a legal interrogation technique that can sometimes be appropriately authorized by the president in the future. “Every…

Feb 6, 2008 9:07 PM CST

Judge Cuts $11M Award to $5M in Funeral Picketing Case

A federal judge has upheld the $2.9 million in compensatory damages awarded to the father of a fallen U.S. Marine whose funeral was picketed by a fringe Kansas church. But he has cut a Baltimore federal jury’s award of $8 million in punitive damages to $2.1 million, reducing the total…

Feb 5, 2008 10:44 PM CST

U.K. Bugged Inmate’s Calls to Lawyer; Is This a Common Practice?

In a discovery that has fanned fears that British inmates’ phone calls to their attorneys are routinely bugged, a lawyer in the U.K. reportedly has received transcripts of secretly recorded phone conversations between himself and an imprisoned client. Simon Creighton, of Bhatt Murphy solicitors in London, says the transcripts show…

Feb 5, 2008 5:38 PM CST

States Seek Unclaimed Property for Themselves, Owners Sue

Once upon a time, legislatures throughout the country enacted unclaimed property laws intended to make sure that banks and other companies holding assets that the owners seemed to have forgotten about made efforts to notify them. But today a growing number of states are making it more difficult for owners…

Feb 4, 2008 11:22 PM CST

Lawyer Apologizes for ‘Beans in a Jar’ Comment

A Texas lawyer defending a voting rights lawsuit has apologized for writing a brief that said the plaintiffs’ method of estimating Hispanic voter numbers is like guessing the number of “beans in a jar.” Some Hispanics took issue with the comment, noting that “beaner” is a derogatory term for people…

Feb 1, 2008 6:08 PM CST

City Sues Man For Canceling Trash Pickup Service

The city of San Carlos, Calif., is suing one of its residents—an avid recycler—because he’s no longer in need of the city’s garbage-collection service. Served with the lawsuit at his home on Sunday, 53-year-old Eddie House told the San Francisco Examiner that he was shocked by the suit. “I don’t…

Jan 31, 2008 10:49 PM CST

Judge Tosses Katrina Levee Suit

A New Orleans judge has thrown out a lawsuit seeking damages caused by levee breaks during Hurricane Katrina. U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval ruled yesterday that the Army Corps of Engineers is immune from liability under a 1928 law protecting the agency from suits over flood-control projects, NOLA.com reports. Duval…

Jan 31, 2008 3:55 PM CST

Law Prof Named Prison Healthcare Czar in Calif.

A federal judge abruptly fired California’s prison healthcare czar last week and appointed a law professor, known for his ability to turn around troubled government agencies, to take his place. U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson of San Francisco dismissed Robert Sillen, whom he’d appointed to run the state’s troubled prison…

Jan 28, 2008 5:14 PM CST

Lawsuit Costs Furrier $97K in Attorney Fees for Animal Rights Protesters

A well-known furrier in Portland, Ore., has been ordered by a federal judge to pay nearly $100,000 in legal fees to protesters who demonstrated aggressively outside its downtown store for years, allegedly driving the longtime merchant out of business. Although Schumacher Furs & Outerwear may well have had legitimate complaints…

Jan 25, 2008 11:51 PM CST

Facing Prison, Prominent Fla. Lawyer Still Has Many Friends

Disbarred and facing a prison sentence, a once-prominent member of Palm Beach County’s political structure still had a significant team of well-wishers in his corner as he was sentenced today to a two-year federal prison term in a corruption case . William Boose III, 63, kissed his former law partner,…

Jan 25, 2008 11:00 PM CST