Ex-justice sought Holy Spirit compassion before sentencing of ‘land the tuna’ politician husband

Former Chicago Ald. Ed Burke was sentenced Monday to two years in prison and fined $2 million for pressuring developers to use his law firm and threatening to punish a museum that ignored his goddaughter’s internship application.

Jun 25, 2024 10:26 AM CDT

5th Circuit took ‘overly cramped view’ of precedent in retaliatory arrest suit, Supreme Court says

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday for a former city council member who claims that her arrest for placing her citizen petition into a binder stemmed from a retaliatory political vendetta.

Jun 20, 2024 11:30 AM CDT

Ex-law school IT director accused of making unauthorized purchases worth $68K

A former information technology employee at New England Law in Boston was arraigned last week on larceny charges for allegedly making about $68,000 in unauthorized purchases using the law school’s Amazon account.

Jun 20, 2024 8:59 AM CDT

‘Am I some punching bag?’ Lawyer says he put ex-client’s girlfriend in headlock after attack

Updated: A lawyer and two others were charged with misdemeanors following a physical confrontation at a town court in Palermo, New York, earlier this month, according to a report by Syracuse.com.

Jun 17, 2024 12:37 PM CDT

Judge tosses lawyer’s defamation suit against ex-mayor for alleged crude and insulting statements

Then-Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot was acting within the scope of her official duties when she allegedly questioned a lawyer’s legal abilities and bragged that she has the "biggest d- - - in Chicago,” according to a Cook County, Illinois, judge.

Jun 7, 2024 9:15 AM CDT

Florida Supreme Court rules against prosecutor ousted by governor

The Florida Supreme Court has ruled against the elected prosecutor in the Orlando, Florida, area in a challenge to her suspension from office by the state’s governor.

Jun 7, 2024 8:56 AM CDT

Georgia appeals court pauses Trump election case to consider disqualifying DA Fani Willis

The Georgia Court of Appeals on Wednesday ordered a halt to the proceedings in the election interference case against former president Donald Trump and eight other defendants pending the outcome of their appeal seeking to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis. The order means the case will almost certainly not be scheduled for trial before the fall election.

Jun 5, 2024 4:21 PM CDT

City sued for paying hundreds of Black residents $25,000 in reparations

Evanston, a Chicago suburb, has been credited with launching the country’s first government-funded reparations program for Black Americans. It has paid out nearly $5 million to 193 of the town’s Black residents over the past two years. But now a conservative advocacy group has filed a class-action lawsuit to kill the program, arguing that it discriminates against the suburb’s non-Black residents.

Jun 4, 2024 11:10 AM CDT

Former top prosecutor in St. Louis ‘remains elusive,’ says state auditor who can’t find her

The former top prosecutor for St. Louis “remains elusive,” and “her whereabouts are currently unknown,” according to a May 6 press release by the Missouri state auditor.

May 7, 2024 2:23 PM CDT

District attorney ‘humbled by my own stupidity’ after failing to stop for police, calling officer name

A district attorney for a county that includes Rochester, New York, issued a video apology Sunday night after she failed to pull over for a traffic stop and called an officer a name after she drove into her garage about a half-mile away.

May 1, 2024 2:01 PM CDT

Chemerinsky: Will SCOTUS consider it cruel and unusual punishment to prosecute homeless people for sleeping in public?

Can a city make it a crime for unhoused people to sleep in public if there are no other places for them to go? On April 22, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on this issue in City of Grants Pass, Oregon v. Johnson, a case of enormous interest to the many cities that are struggling with burgeoning populations of unhoused people.

Apr 15, 2024 9:00 AM CDT

Federal judge who ‘despised obituaries written by funeral home hacks’ wrote his own

Senior U.S. District Judge Roger Hugh Lawson Jr. wanted to make sure that his obituary didn’t include trite phrases, such as a declaration that the memory of the deceased would be “forever treasured.” Anyone who wrote that “should be shot,” according to Lawson.

Apr 4, 2024 9:27 AM CDT

DeSantis tourism board, Disney reach settlement to end legal feud

The board appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis to oversee Disney’s former special taxing district agreed Wednesday to a settlement with the entertainment giant, capping a legal feud over who should control development at the sprawling theme park complex.

Mar 28, 2024 2:00 PM CDT

Lawyer who stole more than $1M from his law firm gets disbarred

A lawyer accused of using his law firm as “a personal gold mine” has been disbarred after he admitted stealing more than $1 million from the entity.

Mar 28, 2024 12:16 PM CDT

How a sleuth defense attorney and a disgruntled law partner damaged the Trump Georgia case

In early September, a lawyer for one of former President Donald Trump’s co-defendants in the Georgia election-interference case scheduled a call with the other defense attorneys to share what he thought could be a game-changing allegation.

Mar 19, 2024 8:47 AM CDT