Local Government

Judges Without JDs: In the United States, judges are not always required to be lawyers

More than half of states allow nonlawyers to serve as judges in lower-level local courts. Nonlawyers can be justices of the peace, magistrates, municipal judges or probate judges. The types of cases over which they preside can include eviction, probate and civil disputes with limits on the financial stake.

Feb 1, 2025 2:20 AM CST

Northern Star: John Choi is leading efforts to redefine justice in Minnesota

When John Choi became the city attorney for St. Paul, Minnesota, he didn’t have much experience with criminal law. “What I found was that a lot of times, the things that happened in these cases didn’t really produce an outcome that I think would have made the public proud,” Choi says.

Feb 1, 2025 1:00 AM CST

Push by Corrections Committee leads to ABA opposing investments in private prisons

Within the ABA Criminal Justice Section, there is a group dedicated to studying sentencing, correctional institutions and the experiences of incarcerated people. It was through the work of this group that the ABA recently agreed to oppose investments in private prison systems.

Jan 30, 2025 9:08 AM CST

DOJ says it will prosecute local officials over immigration enforcement

The Trump administration has directed federal prosecutors nationwide to investigate and potentially bring criminal charges against state and local officials who don’t cooperate with the president’s plans to carry out mass deportations.

Jan 22, 2025 9:35 AM CST

Managers, supervisors must return to office, district attorney in Oregon county says

The Multnomah County district attorney’s office in Oregon is now requiring all managers and supervisors to work in person five days per week.

Jan 16, 2025 9:10 AM CST

Law grad fights to keep up skeleton decorations year-round

A Tennessee woman who refused to remove her 8-foot skeleton and its skeleton dog from her front yard is facing not only a citation but a court summons.

Jan 13, 2025 9:33 AM CST

Prosecutor ‘poisoned the morale’ of DA’s office with fake harassment texts, disbarment order says

A former prosecutor in Colorado should be disbarred for faking four texts that she attributed to a co-worker, including one referring to her as a “sex doll,” according to a Dec. 31 hearing board opinion.

Jan 10, 2025 9:32 AM CST

As parts of Los Angeles burn, lawyers make do

Since Tuesday, Los Angeles has been battling wildfires stoked by heavy winds in the Pacific Palisades, a coastal neighborhood near the Santa Monica Mountains, and Altadena, an area directly north of Pasadena, California.

Jan 9, 2025 2:17 PM CST

Law grads with past substance-use disorders suffered disability bias in quest for license, DOJ says

Would-be Tennessee lawyers encountered unlawful disability discrimination when they were required to submit to “burdensome examinations” and conditions triggered by their past diagnosis or treatment for a substance-use disorder or a mental health disorder, the U.S. Department of Justice has concluded.

Jan 6, 2025 3:15 PM CST

Are police responsible for damaging home to oust suspect? Sotomayor and Gorsuch see important issue

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to decide whether police must compensate a Texas homeowner for damages to property incurred while officers tried to oust a kidnapping suspect from a home that he entered while on the run.

Nov 26, 2024 12:39 PM CST

Appeals judge told state attorney how to handle resentencing while badmouthing others, texts indicate

A Florida appeals judge who obtained a 2004 murder conviction of an alleged gang leader texted advice to the Miami-Dade, Florida, state attorney handling his resentencing while “denigrating defense attorneys and badmouthing local judges,” according to the Miami Herald.

Nov 12, 2024 11:34 AM CST

One of 2 prosecutors ousted by DeSantis wins election; how did other progressive prosecutors fare?

Voters have rejected several progressive prosecutors. Among high-profile races in Florida and California, the only liberal victor was Monique H. Worrell, who reclaimed her position as the Orange-Osceola state attorney in Florida after being ousted in 2023.

Nov 6, 2024 10:36 AM CST

Girl wins $300K settlement over seizure and slaughter of pet goat

By the time Jessica Long learned where her 9-year-old daughter’s beloved pet goat was, it was too late to save him. Sheriff’s deputies had seized the goat, named Cedar, while he was staying at a Northern California farm. They delivered him to Shasta County fair officials, who claimed the county owned the goat, court documents say. Cedar was later slaughtered, and the family sued county officials.

Nov 5, 2024 3:30 PM CST

Meet the sheriffs who believe they are ‘The Highest Law in the Land’

In The Highest Law in the Land: How the Unchecked Power of Sheriffs Threatens Democracy, lawyer and journalist Jessica Pishko takes a deep dive into the history of this position in American life and at a far-right movement hoping to co-opt it.

Oct 24, 2024 1:30 PM CDT

Ex-prosecutor indicted for alleged bribery conspiracy is ‘honorable man,’ his lawyer says

A former Louisiana prosecutor accused in a kickback scheme is an “honorable man” who will “stand tall and fight these false allegations,” according to his lawyer.

Sep 23, 2024 1:32 PM CDT