Judiciary

Legal Beagles Join With Other Canines in Take Your Dog to Work Day

At workplaces throughout the country today, some occupants wore fur coats despite the summery weather. That’s because today was the 10th annual Take Your Dog to Work Day, prompting owners across a wide spectrum of careers to bring their pets along with their briefcases and bag lunches. For some canines,…

Jun 20, 2008 10:12 PM CDT

Misconduct Findings Against Federal Judge Forwarded to House

The U.S. Judicial Conference has forwarded to the House of Representatives its misconduct findings against U.S. District Judge Thomas Porteous. The impeachment recommendation said the group had found substantial evidence that Porteous committed perjury and failed to disclose gifts he accepted from lawyers appearing before him, the New Orleans Times-Picayune…

Jun 20, 2008 1:18 PM CDT

Murderer to Judge: I’ll Get Revenge

A convicted Michigan killer who was shocked in court with a stun gun last month after he reportedly went for a deputy’s gun when he was found guilty of murdering his wife and 12-year-old son last year, created another electrifying courtroom event at his sentencing today. As Calhoun County Circuit…

Jun 19, 2008 7:32 PM CDT

Retired Ga. Judge Accused of Human Trafficking in Nanny Case

Updated: A retired Fulton County magistrate judge, along with family members (including a son who is a sheriff’s deputy), has been arrested and charged with human trafficking concerning a nanny who worked in the son’s home. William Garrett Jr., 72, who is now a lawyer in Alpharetta, Ga., worked as…

Jun 19, 2008 6:46 PM CDT

Miami Lawyer Jailed for Missing Trial Is Released on $10K Bond

A Florida judge who sent a Miami lawyer to jail for missing a trial agreed to set bond at $10,000 two days later. The lawyer, Jonathan S. Schwartz, was released Wednesday night after posting bond, the Naples Daily News reports. He appeared in court earlier that day in shackles and…

Jun 19, 2008 5:47 PM CDT

Foreclosure Court Planned in New York

Faced with a 150 percent increase in foreclosures since January 2005, the chief judge of New York has decided a special court is needed to handle these cases. Judge Judith Kaye says it will begin doing so on a pilot basis in the borough of Queens this summer, reports the…

Jun 19, 2008 4:44 PM CDT

Texas High Court Judge Defends Execution Order: We’re Not ‘Bloodthirsty’

The judge in charge of the case for death-row inmate Charles Dean Hood is defending a ruling made without input from defense lawyers that allowed the execution to proceed. “They said they needed one hour, but three hours later we had no response,” Judge Cheryl Johnson told the Austin American-Statesman.…

Jun 19, 2008 10:49 AM CDT

Federal Judge Presides Over Gay Marriage of Former Clerk

U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson of San Francisco presided yesterday at the wedding of two of the plaintiffs in the groundbreaking lawsuit that paved the way for gay marriages in California. Plaintiff John Lewis, a law clerk for Henderson some 20 years ago, married his co-plaintiff and partner of 21…

Jun 18, 2008 12:29 PM CDT

Lawyer’s Libel Suit Against Appeals Judge Gets Tossed

A lawyer’s libel suit against a federal appeals judge has been tossed out of court. U.S. District Judge Dora Irizarry of Brooklyn dismissed the suit against Judge Robert Katzmann of the New York City-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the New York Law Journal reports. Irizarry said Katzmann was…

Jun 17, 2008 3:48 PM CDT

3rd Circuit Panel to Hear Complaint Against 9th Circuit Chief Judge

With noteworthy speed, the chair of the judicial council of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has appointed a special committee to look into a judicial misconduct complaint against Chief Judge Alex Kozinski of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. A request to initiate proceedings was made by…

Jun 16, 2008 11:01 PM CDT

Judge Bernice Donald Wins Liberty Award from ABA’s TIPS Section

A federal district court judge in Tennessee has been named a recipient of an inaugural ABA Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section Liberty Achievement Award. Judge Bernice Donald is being honored for actively promoting diversity within the legal community, according to the Memphis Business Journal and an ABA press release.…

Jun 13, 2008 11:30 PM CDT

Risque Images, Music Tied to 9th Circuit Chief’s Site Raises Ethics Questions

As this week’s revelations about Judge Alex Kozinski’s porn-laden personal website continues in all manner of news stories and blog entries, a less spectacular but possibly just as damaging matter has so far remained in the background with the mute button on: The site contained copyrighted music mp3 files that…

Jun 13, 2008 7:46 PM CDT

9th Circuit Chief Judge Steps Down from Hearing Obscenity Case

Updated: Chief Judge Alex Kozinski of the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has declared a mistrial today in the high-profile obscenity case of Ira Isaacs. Kozinski says in a two-sentence order that there was a “manifest necessity” to do so “in light of the public controversy surrounding…

Jun 13, 2008 7:29 PM CDT

Death-Row Inmate Claims Trial Judge Secretly Dated Prosecutor

A Texas death-row inmate scheduled to be executed on Tuesday claims in court papers that the judge who presided at his trial was secretly dating the prosecutor. The allegation was made in an appeal filed on behalf of Charles Dean Hood, convicted of a double murder in 1990, the Austin…

Jun 13, 2008 12:20 PM CDT

9th Circuit Chief Judge Initiates Internal Review of Explicit Website Posts

After news reports that he has posted sexually explicit materials online, Alex Kozinski, the chief judge of the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, has initiated a potential investigation of his own conduct. “I have asked the Judicial Council of the Ninth Circuit to take steps pursuant to…

Jun 12, 2008 9:07 PM CDT