Judiciary

An Angry Justice Thomas Targets Liberal Groups

Justice Clarence Thomas calls his sexual harassment accuser a mediocre lawyer and “my most traitorous adversary” in his new memoir, My Grandfather’s Son. Thomas denies the harassment claims and says accuser Anita Hill, who once worked for him, was “touchy and apt to overreact” anytime someone did something to offend…

Oct 1, 2007 1:37 PM CDT

Judge Who Jailed ‘Asshole’ Critic Will Step Down

A New York family court judge who sent a woman to a holding cell for calling her an “asshole” has agreed that she won’t seek reappointment. Judge Marian Shelton admitted to violating a rule requiring judges to be “patient, dignified and courteous,” the New York Law Journal reports. She will…

Oct 1, 2007 12:36 PM CDT

US Judge Reprimanded After Harassment Complaint

An employee’s sexual harassment complaint has resulted in a reprimand against U.S. District Judge Samuel Kent of Galveston. The Judicial Council of the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reprimanded Kent following the complaint of former case manager Cathy McBroom, Texas Lawyer reports. The council’s order (PDF) of…

Oct 1, 2007 10:45 AM CDT

Judge Bounced Off Third Case for Unexplained Sentence

A federal appeals court has bounced a judge off a case for failing to state why he gave a lower-than-recommended sentence to two brothers convicted in a drug operation. The latest decision marks the third time that U.S. District Judge John Elfvin of Buffalo was removed from cases in the…

Sep 28, 2007 1:42 PM CDT

Fed’l Judges: Court Cameras Harm Trials

Legislation that would give federal appellate and criminal judges more discretion to decide whether to permit cameras in their courtroom was debated in a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill yesterday. Even one of its sponsors admits that the Sunshine in the Courtroom Act of 2007 isn’t clearly on…

Sep 28, 2007 1:12 PM CDT

Judge’s Penis Pump Conviction Affirmed

A former Oklahoma judge convicted for using a penis pump while presiding over trials has lost his appeal. Retired Judge Donald Thompson was convicted of four counts of indecent exposure and sentenced in August 2006 to four years in prison, the Associated Press reports. Yesterday, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal…

Sep 28, 2007 12:51 PM CDT

KPMG Judge Backs Laws to Curb Prosecutors

U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan of New York isn’t done making news with his comments on strong-arm prosecution tactics. This time he’s speaking out at a seminar for criminal defense lawyers. Kaplan is known for his decision to dismiss charges against 13 KPMG defendants because the government pressured the accounting…

Sep 28, 2007 11:42 AM CDT

Judge’s ‘Mess With Me’ Challenge Brings Ethics Complaint

An ethics complaint contends a Kansas judge lost her temper with prospective jurors in a 2004 case, ordering one dismissed juror to attend the trial anyway and asking others, “Anybody else want to mess with me?” The complaint (PDF posted by the Wichita Eagle) contends Judge Rebecca Pilshaw of Wichita…

Sep 25, 2007 5:52 PM CDT

False Judge Liens Cost Inmate 20 Years

A Texas inmate convicted of filing fraudulent liens against two federal judges will have to serve an extra 20 years in prison. Mycal Antoine Poole had filed false liens for more than $4.1 million against U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks and $37 million against U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew Austin, the…

Sep 24, 2007 3:24 PM CDT

‘Troubling Partisan Divide’ in Voter ID Judicial Split

Voter ID laws are dividing lawmakers and the judiciary, who tend to split along partisan lines when considering the measures. As many as 22 million Americans of voting age don’t have photo identification, which means they can’t vote if they live in a state that requires such ID before a…

Sep 24, 2007 2:50 PM CDT

Bench Beset by Record Resignations, Cash a Factor

Federal judges are resigning in record numbers, often lured by higher paying jobs in the private sector. Federal trial-level judges make $165,200 a year, about $5,000 more than new lawyers at New York’s big law firms and 50 percent less than senior law professors, USA Today reports. Since 2000, 51…

Sep 24, 2007 2:09 PM CDT

Judge Takes Crack at Seuss-Style Egg Rhyme

With a nod to Dr. Seuss’ Green Eggs and Ham, a federal judge has warned an inmate that attaching a hard-boiled egg to his complaint about his prison diet was a half-baked idea. Magistrate Judge James Muirhead of Concord, N.H., ordered the egg destroyed forthwith, the Concord Monitor reports. “Today!…

Sep 21, 2007 4:56 PM CDT

Roberts ‘Unrecuses’ in Stoneridge Case

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. has apparently sold his stock in Cisco Systems Inc., the parent company of a litigant in a case that could increase liability for law firms. Roberts and Justice Stephen G. Breyer had earlier indicated they would recuse themselves in the case, Stoneridge Investment Partners…

Sep 21, 2007 1:11 PM CDT

Spector Judge Does About-Face

The judge in the murder trial of music producer Phil Spector has agreed to revoke a jury instruction requiring prosecutors to prove the record producer held the gun that fired while in actress Lana Clarkson’s mouth. Deadlocked jurors had told Judge Larry Paul Fidler that they found the instruction confusing,…

Sep 20, 2007 2:34 PM CDT

Judge Ito Hoax Fools TMZ

TMZ.com, the Web site known for its celebrity reporting coups, had egg on its face after it learned a video it posted of “Judge Lance Ito” featured an imposter. The person in the video, thought to be the judge who presided over the 1995 murder trial of O.J. Simpson, opined…

Sep 20, 2007 12:54 PM CDT