Government

Congress has passed a bill to add more US judges; will Biden veto it?

A bill that would create dozens of new federal judgeships across the country received final approval in Congress on Thursday morning, setting up a likely veto from President Joe Biden even as his administration pushes to confirm his final nominees to fill existing judicial vacancies.

Dec 12, 2024 3:12 PM CST

Top Montana court allows gender-affirming care for trans minors during litigation, citing privacy protections

The Montana Supreme Court on Wednesday cited state constitutional privacy protections when it upheld a judge’s decision to block a law that bans gender-affirming care for transgender minors.

Dec 12, 2024 11:52 AM CST

Biden commutes nearly 1,500 sentences in ‘largest single-day grant of clemency’

President Joe Biden is commuting the sentences of nearly 1,500 people and pardoning 39 more convicted of nonviolent crimes, the White House said in a statement Thursday, describing it as “the largest single-day grant of clemency in modern history.”

Dec 12, 2024 9:30 AM CST

Meet the lawyer who created the food nutrition label

It is hard to imagine any lawyer whose work has been seen by more people—or, for some, more derided. While the ubiquitous nutrition label is now taken for granted, getting it onto products wasn’t so simple. It called for creative legal maneuvering. Peter Barton Hutt shared his recipe with the ABA Journal, as well as a place to get a great hot dog.

Dec 12, 2024 8:58 AM CST

Indiana’s former AG says dropped groping suit ends ‘odyssey of unfounded allegations’

Four women who accused then-Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill of groping them at a 2018 party have dropped their civil lawsuit against him, citing their conclusion that a trial would not make him take responsibility for his alleged actions.

Dec 10, 2024 3:00 PM CST

After failed AG bid, Gaetz will host TV show

Former congressman Matt Gaetz (R-Florida), president-elect Donald Trump’s failed choice for attorney general, plans to host a new show on the conservative network One America News starting next year.

Dec 10, 2024 1:25 PM CST

Justice Department IG seeks new protections on seizing communications of lawmakers, journalists

The Justice Department during Donald Trump’s first presidential term used concerning and surreptitious tactics to obtain communications from members of Congress, their staffers and news reporters as prosecutors investigated public leaks of sensitive government information, according to a report released Tuesday by the Justice Department’s inspector general.

Dec 10, 2024 1:15 PM CST

What laws could Trump invoke to fast track deportations?

President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to invoke a 1798 law known as the Alien Enemies Act to remove noncitizens he says are part of a “migrant invasion” in the United States. And he could try to invoke a second law to get the military involved.

Dec 10, 2024 9:45 AM CST

Bar admission denied for applicant who won’t take constitutional oath

A bar applicant who won’t take an oath to support the U.S. Constitution and the New York Constitution has failed to demonstrate that she has the character and fitness to become an attorney, according to a New York appeals court.

Dec 9, 2024 2:22 PM CST

Pilot project allowing nonlawyer legal providers gets OK in Washington

The Washington Supreme Court has authorized a pilot project that will allow nonlawyer entities to provide legal and law-related services in Washington.

Dec 9, 2024 11:13 AM CST

Naval Academy can consider race in admissions, federal judge rules

The U.S. Naval Academy can continue to use race-conscious admissions policies, a federal judge ruled Friday in a closely watched case that followed last year’s Supreme Court decision rejecting the use of affirmative action in college admissions.

Dec 6, 2024 12:45 PM CST

2 federal judges have changed their minds about senior status; will 2 appeals judges follow suit?

After President-elect Donald Trump won a second term in the White House, two Democratic-appointed federal judges announced that they no longer plan to take senior status.

Dec 5, 2024 10:02 AM CST

Biden should pardon Trump, as well as Trump’s enemies, says Watergate figure John Dean

Former lawyer and Nixon White House counsel John Dean is suggesting that President Joe Biden should go further with his pardons.

Dec 5, 2024 9:19 AM CST

Trump’s lawyers cite Hunter Biden pardon in NY hush money dismissal bid

President-elect Donald Trump’s felony conviction for falsifying business documents is tainted by the same corruption in the justice system that President Joe Biden decried when he announced his son’s pardon, Trump’s attorneys wrote in a document released Tuesday.

Dec 4, 2024 12:15 PM CST

County can’t prevent chartered deportation flights at airport, 9th Circuit rules

King County in Washington can’t prevent the federal government from using a Seattle-area airport for chartered deportation flights, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at San Francisco ruled last week.

Dec 4, 2024 9:02 AM CST