Legislation & Lobbying

The status of the First Step Act one year later

U.S. House and Senate Judiciary Committee leaders have assured advocates that additional reforms are on the way, but they have held off to first focus on oversight of FSA implementation.

Feb 1, 2020 12:20 AM CST

See the video: Defendant shows his support for pot legalization in court, leading to new drug charge

A Tennessee defendant faces new charges after a courtroom appearance in which police said he pulled a joint out of his pocket and began smoking it.

Jan 29, 2020 10:20 AM CST

Afternoon Briefs: Government agency says withholding Ukrainian aid broke law; dog banned from trial

GAO report concludes White House violated law by withholding Ukraine aid The nonpartisan Government Accountability Office has concluded the White House broke the law when it withheld funds for security assistance allocated to Ukraine by Congress. The GAO found a violation of the Impoundment Control Act. A spokesperson for the…

Jan 16, 2020 4:32 PM CST

Federalist Society official Leonard Leo embarks on a new conservative venture

Leonard Leo, executive vice president of the Federalist Society, a conservative legal group, is stepping aside from his daily duties at the organization to launch a consulting firm that will fund conservative causes.

Jan 8, 2020 2:24 PM CST

14 success stories for ABA advocacy during the 116th Congress

The Governmental Affairs Office spent the last year working with ABA leadership, entities and grassroots advocates to advance the ABA’s position on policy issues affecting the rule of law and the legal profession. The hard work has paid off.

Dec 23, 2019 1:00 PM CST

Afternoon Briefs: Ex-DA convicted for covering up cop’s crime; Ginsburg reacts to Trump tweet

Former Long Island DA is convicted of obstruction Former Suffolk County, New York, District Attorney Thomas Spota was convicted of obstruction of justice Tuesday for conspiring to cover up the beating of a suspect by James Burke, who was then the police chief. The officer thought the suspect had stolen…

Dec 18, 2019 5:00 PM CST

Judge blocks 4 federal executions, rules DOJ protocol doesn’t follow law

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has halted the Department of Justice’s plans to resume executions after a 16-year hiatus. District Judge Tanya Chutkan issued a preliminary injunction Wednesday. She ruled on behalf of four federal death-row inmates.

Nov 21, 2019 12:15 PM CST

Report urges Congress to give police incentives to track hate crimes

The FBI’s report on hate crimes, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights noted, still depends on the voluntary submission of data from local police agencies, a process that has regularly produced what almost everyone agrees is a vast undercount.

Nov 15, 2019 6:30 AM CST

More than 450 inmates are released in this state in largest one-day commutation in US history

More than 450 inmates were released in Oklahoma on Monday as a result of a law that retroactively applies lower sentences for drug possession and low-level property crimes that voters approved in 2016.

Nov 5, 2019 9:59 AM CST

High school advocates renew hope for answers to civil rights-era mysteries

Racially motivated murders and crimes committed more than six decades ago during the civil rights era remain unsolved and unprosecuted. In most cases, victims and their families got no information, no justice and no closure. Ever wonder what happened? High school students in New Jersey did, and they did something about it, prompting government actions that may soon lead to the release of information about these cold cases.

Nov 1, 2019 12:50 AM CDT

Lawyers are unleashing a flurry of lawsuits to step up the fight against climate change

Traditionally relegated to the statutory realm of environmental and administrative law, a cadre of attorneys and legal scholars has given the climate change issue a creative facelift that may change the legal landscape—and, they say, could determine the fate of humanity.

Nov 1, 2019 12:00 AM CDT

Small claims program for copyright violations? ABA-supported legislation passes US House

The House of Representatives approved earlier this week a measure that would establish a copyright small claims program in the U.S. Copyright Office to address some of the violations of copyright and intellectual property.

Oct 24, 2019 12:25 PM CDT

Afternoon Briefs: Sentence in killing of tax lawyer; SCOTUS lawyers get 2 uninterrupted minutes

Former city council member sentenced for killing his tax attorney An 84-year-old former city council member in Cedar Lake, Indiana, was sentenced to 55 years in prison Thursday for killing his tax attorney. Jurors convicted William “Bill” Landske in August for the 2018 shooting death of Hobart, Indiana, lawyer T.…

Oct 4, 2019 3:22 PM CDT

Jurors convict ex-cop who shot man after entering wrong apartment; ‘castle doctrine’ is at issue

Jurors convicted Amber Guyger, a former Dallas police officer, of murder Tuesday for shooting and killing a black man after she mistook his apartment for hers.

Oct 1, 2019 12:09 PM CDT

Federal wage law protects workers in state-licensed pot industry, 10th Circuit rules

A federal appeals court has ruled that the federal wage law protects a worker in Colorado’s state-licensed cannabis industry, even though marijuana remains illegal at the federal level.

Sep 24, 2019 12:49 PM CDT