Government

Secret-Case Strategy: Guess US Argument

In 27 years of practice, Jon Eisenberg has never had a more difficult case than Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation v. George W. Bush. One reason why is the extraordinary secrecy imposed on the litigation process because of terrorism-related national security concerns. When it came time to file one brief in his…

Aug 15, 2007 3:12 PM CDT

First Legal Action in Bridge Collapse

The first litigation has reportedly been filed in the Minneapolis bridge collapse case, by a law firm seeking access in order to investigate before the site is cleaned up. It was filed Monday in federal court because the firm, Schwebel, Goetz & Sieben of Minneapolis, has been told that federal…

Aug 14, 2007 7:41 PM CDT

Reporters Ordered to Reveal Sources

A federal judge has ordered five reporters to reveal their law enforcement sources in a lawsuit filed by a bioterrorism expert once identified as a person of interest in the 2001 anthrax attacks. Steven J. Hatfill claims the government violated the Privacy Act by leaking information about him. He has…

Aug 14, 2007 12:04 PM CDT

Chicago Parking Ticket a Tough Case

Chicago has a reputation for being overly aggressive about ticketing unwary motorists for dubious parking infractions, especially downtown. Plus, for the relative few who contest parking tickets, either by mail or in person, there is “a widespread perception that the system is tilted to maximize the haul,” writes the Chicago…

Aug 13, 2007 3:28 PM CDT

Home-Demolition Derby in New Orleans

Chanel Debose has spent $90,000 to fix up her New Orleans home since Hurricane Katrina’s devastation. But it is now reportedly on the list of homes to be demolished as the city rushes to meet a deadline for qualifying for federal aid to do so. At least she knows about…

Aug 9, 2007 8:19 PM CDT

Agent’s CIA Years Top Secret

It’s well known that Valerie Wilson worked for the CIA; the information was published in a newspaper column and led to a high-level prosecution. And her length of service was published in the Congressional Record. But Wilson’s length of service is classified information, as is a court filing explaining why…

Aug 3, 2007 1:06 PM CDT

Chaos in Zimbabwe Over Price Controls

Chaos has resulted in Zimbabwe from draconian price controls imposed a month ago by the government of Robert Mugabe under threat of criminal sanctions. So far, some 6,500 workers including executives of major retailers have been arrested as a result of widespread resistance to the price controls, and executives are…

Aug 2, 2007 9:34 AM CDT

When Honesty Is Not Best Politics

Courts struggle with honest-services charges in bribery cases

Aug 1, 2007 8:12 AM CDT

City Code Cases Over Front-Yard Food

Corn. Tomatoes. Sunflowers. All are mainstays in many backyard gardens throughout the country. But now that so-called edible estates are replacing front lawns in urban areas, some neighboring residents are up in arms over the otherwise innocuous veggies. An increasing movement toward replacing the lawns in front of houses with…

Jul 31, 2007 10:19 PM CDT

Pot Misinformation Suit Tossed

A federal judge has tossed out a lawsuit claiming the federal government is lying about marijuana. Americans for Safe Access had claimed the federal Information Quality Act requires the Drug Enforcement Administration to refute claims that the drug has no accepted medical use. (See this ABAJournal.com post for more details.)…

Jul 30, 2007 1:49 PM CDT

Law Enforcement Gap on Tribal Lands

Native American women living on reservations are more than twice as likely to be raped as other women in the United States. One reason why is a quirk in the law governing Indian reservations that makes it impossible for tribal authorities to prosecute whites who commit crimes on their own…

Jul 26, 2007 11:23 PM CDT

Judge Voids Hazleton Immigration Law

In a ruling with national implications, a federal judge in Pennsylvania today struck down a controversial Hazleton municipal ordinance that would have imposed hefty fines on businesses for hiring illegal immigrants and landlords for renting to them. The ordinance was unconstitutional, ruled U.S. District Judge James M. Munley, because it…

Jul 26, 2007 9:38 PM CDT

Family Blames VA Secretary for Suicide

The family of an Iraq war veteran who committed suicide filed a federal lawsuit today claiming the Department of Veterans Affairs was negligent in his death. The suit claims 23-year-old Jeffrey Lucey didn’t get the mental-health care he needed, according to the Associated Press. A VA medical center had treated…

Jul 26, 2007 8:56 PM CDT

Record $100 Million for Unjust Conviction

A federal judge in Boston has awarded $100 million to four men unjustly convicted of murder in Massachusetts state court in 1968, reportedly the largest such judgment ever made. Ruling today, U.S. Dist. Judge Nancy Gertner found that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had suppressed evidence that four men convicted…

Jul 26, 2007 8:06 PM CDT

N.Y. AG: Governor’s Office, Police in Plot

Updated: Top aides to New York’s Democratic governor have been suspended or reassigned, and Gov. Eliot Spitzer has apologized, in the wake of a scathing report by the state’s attorney general finding that Spitzer aides and state police conspired against the state senate’s Republican majority leader. “No one was accused…

Jul 24, 2007 9:22 PM CDT