Prosecutors

DOJ should consider whether new charging policy is likely to achieve justice, ABA House says

In accordance with the ABA’s long-standing support for prosecutorial discretion and sentencing reform, Resolution 108C asks the Department of Justice to reconsider the guidelines laid out in a May 2017 memorandum issued by Attorney General Jeff Sessions to all federal prosecutors. In that memorandum, Sessions directed that “prosecutors should charge…

Feb 5, 2018 9:36 PM CST

ABA House passes measure urging curbs on solitary confinement: ‘This is inhumane’

The ABA House of Delegates approved a call to curtail the use of solitary confinement. Legislatures were urged to draw up laws allowing solitary confinement “only in exceptional cases as a measure of last resort, where less restrictive settings are insufficient, and for no longer than is necessary to address…

Feb 5, 2018 4:46 PM CST

Manhattan DA to no longer accept contributions from lawyers with cases before him

After controversy over how he handled two prominent investigations, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. said he would no longer take campaign donations from defense attorneys with cases before him. Vance said his campaign will no longer accept contributions in any amount from such lawyers and will cap donations from…

Jan 25, 2018 1:30 PM CST

State AG’s office won’t stop 6th grader from taking medical marijuana at school

The Illinois Attorney General’s Office and a Chicago suburban school district reached a temporary agreement to allow a sixth grade student to use her medical marijuana prescription on school grounds to treat her seizures.. The Chicago Tribune and USA Today had the story. Ashley Surin was diagnosed with leukemia at…

Jan 17, 2018 3:57 PM CST

3 days into new job, Philadelphia DA Krasner fires 31 staff members

New Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner fired 31 members of the office three days into the job. The move makes “clear his intention to take the office in a different direction,” spokesman Ben Waxman told philly.com. Before winning the election last year, Krasner was a civil rights attorney who often…

Jan 5, 2018 5:01 PM CST

Sessions appoints 17 interim U.S. attorneys as time limits for those in acting posts winds down

With a deadline approaching, Attorney General Jeff Sessions appointed interim U.S. attorneys in 17 federal districts, NBC News reported Wednesday. The interim spots replace acting U.S. attorney positions, which were created after the Trump administration ordered U.S. attorneys held over from the Obama administration for their immediate resignations in March.…

Jan 5, 2018 2:54 PM CST

2 House Republicans in op-ed call for Sessions to step down over Russia investigation

Two Republican lawmakers have called on Attorney General Jeff Sessions to step down over his handling of the investigation into how Russia may have interfered in the 2016 presidential election, according to reports from CNN and Politico on Thursday. Reps. Mark Meadows of North Carolina and Jim Jordan of Ohio…

Jan 4, 2018 4:16 PM CST

Marijuana businesses legalized by states could face federal prosecution under new DOJ policy

Attorney General Jeff Sessions will end a Justice Department policy against enforcement of federal marijuana law against states that have legalized the drug, the Washington Post, Associated Press and NBC News report. Rather than hold off on enforcement, the DOJ instructs U.S. attorneys to make their own decisions about whether…

Jan 4, 2018 2:14 PM CST

Manafort sues DOJ and special counsel who indicted him, says Mueller was given improper authority

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort claims in a lawsuit that the order appointing special counsel Robert Mueller improperly gave Mueller the power to investigate matters that are “unmoored” to an investigation of links between the Russian government and the presidential campaign. According to the suit filed on Wednesday, an…

Jan 3, 2018 3:43 PM CST

What the Doug Jones election means for criminal justice reform

Last year, prospects were looking good for a bipartisan effort in Congress to overhaul federal sentencing. But after long and careful negotiations, one senator almost single-handedly torpedoed the measure: the junior Republican from Alabama, Jeff Sessions. Sessions, of course, went on to become Attorney General, dimming hopes even further. But…

Dec 14, 2017 3:40 PM CST

Meet the lawyer who won Alabama’s Senate election

The Democrat who beat former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore in the state's Senate race is a lawyer best known for winning the convictions of two Klansmen for the 1963 church bombing that killed four girls.

Dec 13, 2017 9:02 AM CST

ABA is ‘greatly concerned’ about low percentage of female and minority US attorney candidates

ABA President Hilarie Bass has sent a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions that asks him to urge senators proposing U.S. attorney candidates to take diversity into account.

Dec 11, 2017 12:14 PM CST

Chicago special prosecutor’s career nearly came to a premature end

Patricia Brown Holmes had become the youngest African-American woman to serve as a Cook County associate judge. Then she was told she might have only six months to live.

Dec 1, 2017 12:25 AM CST

Prosecutors drop charges against mom who placed recorder in daughter’s backpack to catch bullies

Prosecutors in Norfolk, Virginia, have dropped charges against a mother who says she put a digital recorder in her daughter’s backpack to catch bullies after school officials failed to act. School officials had confiscated the recorder from the fourth-grader and contacted prosecutors for a legal review. The mother, Sarah Sims,…

Nov 29, 2017 5:03 PM CST

Political donations to prosecutors under scrutiny in New York

After suggestions of impropriety in two high-profile cases, New Yorkers are increasingly interested in limiting campaign donations to prosecutors, the New York Times reported Wednesday.

Nov 17, 2017 8:00 AM CST