States

New York prison will let inmates go outdoors to view eclipse after lawsuit

Six New York prison inmates who sued the state’s corrections department over a planned lockdown that would have forced them indoors during Monday’s solar eclipse will be allowed to view the celestial phenomenon outside under a settlement agreement, their attorneys announced Thursday.

Apr 8, 2024 9:00 AM CDT

Former DOJ official who alleged election fraud violated at least one ethics rule, ethics committee says

Former U.S. Department of Justice official Jeffrey Clark violated at least one ethics rule in connection with his false claims of election fraud during the 2020 presidential election, according to a preliminary finding announced Thursday by an ethics hearing committee.

Apr 5, 2024 9:14 AM CDT

Judge Cannon shoots down Trump’s presidential records act claim

U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon on Thursday rejected Donald Trump’s bid to have his charges of mishandling classified documents dismissed on the grounds that a federal records law protected him from prosecution.

Apr 4, 2024 2:15 PM CDT

How this lawyer reacted when client claimed to be Messiah and demanded $25K

A lawyer in Mississippi is grateful that he and his staff members are safe after an agitated client with a gun in his leather bag demanded $25,000.

Apr 4, 2024 9:47 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

Florida lawyer uses ‘unorthodox foreclosure auction’ tactics to ensure clients get deals on property, report says

Judges in South Florida are approving “unorthodox foreclosure auction rules” proposed by a lawyer that help ensure that his client will own the property for a fraction of its value, according to an investigation by the Miami Herald.

Apr 4, 2024 8:59 AM CDT

Recruiter Major Lindsey blackballed associate for suing law firm, showing ‘bogus’ commitment to diversity, suit alleges

A Black associate who sued a BigLaw firm for alleged discrimination and retaliation has now filed a second lawsuit claiming that legal recruiter Major, Lindsey & Africa blackballed her as a result.

Apr 3, 2024 10:36 AM CDT

Inmates in New York are suing to be allowed to see the solar eclipse

New York inmates are suing the state over its plan to lockdown prisons during next week’s solar eclipse, alleging that in barring them from viewing the rare phenomenon, the corrections department is stripping them of their constitutional right to exercise their religion.

Apr 3, 2024 10:30 AM CDT

Burdened prison staffers seeking more time between executions should ‘suck it up,’ top criminal court judge says

Judge Gary Lumpkin, a judge on Oklahoma’s top criminal appeals court, has said state prison officials seeking more time between executions have to “suck it up” and get the job done. Lumpkin said he’s not buying into the “sympathy stuff.”

Apr 3, 2024 8:48 AM CDT

Florida Supreme Court allows one of nation’s strictest abortion bans to take effect

Florida’s conservative supreme court ruled Monday that the state’s constitution does not protect abortion rights, allowing one of the country’s strictest and most far-reaching abortion bans to take effect May 1.

Apr 2, 2024 4:00 PM CDT

Judge refuses to toss suit claiming lawyer, a Civil War buff, played ‘Dixie’ and watched disturbing racist videos at work

A fired office manager for Brooklyn, New York City, law firm Wenig Saltiel can proceed with her claim that she was subjected to a hostile work environment because of the alleged actions of a Civil War buff who was formerly a name partner, a federal judge has ruled.

Apr 2, 2024 3:30 PM CDT

‘Nerd’ lawyer spotted differing 3-point lines at NCAA women’s tournament; ‘once you saw it, you couldn’t unsee it’

Thanks to a lawyer sitting in nosebleed seats, the NCAA learned over the weekend that the two three-point lines in the women’s basketball tournament at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon, were different lengths.

Apr 2, 2024 10:32 AM CDT

Fennemore Craig makes another mass lawyer hire, leading to closure of Denver law firm

Fennemore Craig has made a fourth mass lawyer lateral hire this year, adding about 50 lawyers and 30 staff members from Denver-based law firm Moye White, according to a report by Law.com.

Apr 2, 2024 9:00 AM CDT

Weekly performance meetings in glass room visible to others were retaliatory, plaintiff says in suit against Morgan Lewis

A Black patent prosecution specialist born in 1962 alleges that Morgan, Lewis & Bockius gave better opportunities to white, younger co-workers and retaliated when she complained by holding weekly performance meetings in a glass-walled conference room visible to colleagues.

Apr 1, 2024 3:37 PM CDT

Alex Murdaugh sentenced to 40 years for financial crimes

Convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh was sentenced in federal court on Monday to 40 years in prison for nearly two dozen financial crimes, 13 months after the former lawyer was found guilty of killing his wife and son.

Apr 1, 2024 2:14 PM CDT