States

Judge who won’t marry same-sex couples cites Supreme Court ruling for Christian web designer

A Texas justice of the peace who refuses to marry same-sex couples is citing the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 30 decision protecting a web designer who won’t create websites for same-sex weddings.

Jul 17, 2023 8:53 AM CDT

Beyond the Hype: Lessons on auditing AI systems from the front lines

“Generative AI systems are made up of billions or even trillions of parameters trained on vast amounts of data, and their complexity makes their outputs notoriously difficult to explain. But can complex generative systems undergo meaningful audits?”

Jul 17, 2023 8:12 AM CDT

Unclean hands doctrine means Lady Gaga won’t have to pay promised $500K reward for dogs

Lady Gaga doesn’t have to pay a promised $500,000 reward for the safe return of her stolen French bulldogs to a woman arrested in connection with the theft.

Jul 14, 2023 4:00 PM CDT

Dismissal of machete-attack case due to judge shortage was proper, appeals court says

A California appeals court has upheld a judge’s decision to dismiss a felony assault charge for an alleged machete attack when there was no courtroom available to try the case.

Jul 14, 2023 9:00 AM CDT

Lawyer blames generation gap for behavior that prompted courthouse-area ban and ethics complaint

A lawyer banned from a courthouse law library and cafeteria in Illinois, should be disciplined for his flirtatious and inappropriate behavior with staff members, according to an ethics complaint.

Jul 13, 2023 2:40 PM CDT

Lawyers accused in courthouse altercation offer ‘starkly conflicting accounts’ of incident

Did a lawyer knock the eyeglasses off his attorney opponent while spinning him around during an altercation outside a Los Angeles courtroom on Friday? Or was the dispute merely a verbal argument between friends?

Jul 13, 2023 1:25 PM CDT

Giuliani should be disbarred for basing election suit on ‘speculation’ and ‘suspicion,’ ethics committee says

Lawyer Rudy Giuliani should be disbarred for making “malicious and meritless” claims of election fraud in a lawsuit that challenged the results of the 2020 presidential election in Pennsylvania, according to a hearing committee in Washington, D.C.

Jul 10, 2023 4:15 PM CDT

6th Circuit panel believes law banning transgender care for minors is likely constitutional

A federal appeals court on Saturday allowed Tennessee to enforce a law that bans gender-affirming surgeries, puberty blockers and hormones for transgender minors. But the appeals court acknowledged “we may be wrong” and expedited the appeal.

Jul 10, 2023 10:05 AM CDT

Federal prosecutors team up with St. Louis circuit attorney to tackle backlog of criminal cases

The U.S. attorney’s office in the Eastern District of Missouri has forged a new partnership with the St. Louis circuit attorney’s office, sending in at least eight federal prosecutors to help deal with its backlog of criminal cases.

Jul 7, 2023 11:23 AM CDT

Employers not liable for spread of COVID-19 to workers’ homes, California high court says

Employers are not responsible for the spread of COVID-19 from their employees to their employees’ family members, according to a ruling from the California Supreme Court.

Jul 7, 2023 9:55 AM CDT

Pro-Trump lawyer retires from law practice, leading state bar to drop ethics cases against him

A lawyer involved in litigation to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election has agreed to permanently retire from law practice, leading the State Bar of Georgia to drops its two disciplinary cases against him.

Jul 7, 2023 8:38 AM CDT

Lawyer censured for ‘testi-lied’ remark about witness testimony

A Rhode Island lawyer has been censured for commenting that an expert witness had “testi-lied,” leading to a mistrial.

Jul 6, 2023 2:54 PM CDT

Judge curbs US effort to battle disinformation on social media; will ruling withstand appeal?

The federal government has appealed a federal judge’s curbs on the Biden administration’s efforts to stop misinformation on social media.

Jul 6, 2023 11:58 AM CDT

Federal judge’s ‘people like you’ comments don’t require sentence reversal, 7th Circuit says

A federal judge’s comments about “people like you” weren’t the kind of inflammatory remarks that would require resentencing of a man who pleaded guilty to unlawful gun possession by a felon, a federal appeals court has ruled.

Jul 6, 2023 10:31 AM CDT

McElroy Deutsch accuses former CFO of stealing millions from firm, also faults his attorney wife

McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter is accusing its former chief financial officer of misappropriating more than $3.2 million from the law firm over a period of more than 10 years.

Jul 6, 2023 8:15 AM CDT