Washington

Ex-prosecutor sues, says she was treated differently and paid less than men in US Attorney’s office

A former federal prosecutor in Spokane, Washington, has brought an employment discrimination suit against Attorney General Loretta Lynch in her position as the head of the Department of Justice. Filed Wednesday in federal court in the Eastern District of Washington, the complaint (PDF) by Katherine J. “Jill” Bolton accuses U.S.…

Oct 22, 2015 4:40 PM CDT

Amazon sues 1,114 John Does over alleged fake review offers targeted to its site

Expanding on earlier litigation, Amazon.com Inc. filed suit Friday against 1,114 John Does who allegedly offered to post fake consumer reviews on the Internet giant’s website, for a fee. The alleged offers were made on Fiverr.com, for as little as $5, USA Today reports. Potential customers would presumably be those…

Oct 20, 2015 2:35 PM CDT

ACLU sues 2 psychologists who ‘designed the torture methods’ used by CIA

Two former military psychologists who played a significant role in developing a U.S. interrogation program described by some opponents as tantamount to torture were never charged with any crime. But in a lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court in Washington state, the American Civil Liberties Union seeks to hold the…

Oct 14, 2015 12:20 PM CDT

County’s judges and public defenders are sued over alleged inadequate representation

Seven individuals have sued an Indiana county, contending that its public defender services are inadequate. Among other issues, the suit alleges, each Johnson County public defender is supervised by an individual judge, which compromises the public defenders’ independence, Courthouse News reports. Also at issue are what the suit describes as…

Oct 13, 2015 2:35 PM CDT

ACLU lawsuit says county is jailing people who can’t afford to pay fines

The American Civil Liberties Union is suing a county in Washington state, asserting that it is forcing people who can’t afford to pay their court fines to either go to jail or labor on work crews. The lawsuit against Benton County is part of the ACLU’s national campaign to combat…

Oct 7, 2015 2:30 PM CDT

Prosecutors won’t bring charges for ‘raucous’ bar association party

Prosecutors in Washington state won’t file any charges in connection with a party last month sponsored by the Tacoma-Pierce County Bar Association. The Kitsap Sun (sub. req.) described the lawyer gathering in Olalla as a “raucous party” that included a bonfire that violated a burn ban. An investigating deputy at…

Sep 21, 2015 10:10 AM CDT

$70K in drug-court vouchers were given to nonparticipants by county employee, state audit says

A newly released Washington state audit has disclosed that a Yakima County employee responsible for giving vouchers to drug court participants may have funneled more than $70,000 of the funds to people not participating in the program. Rene Prado went to work in 2006 for the Yakima County Human Services…

Sep 18, 2015 4:50 PM CDT

Federal law may not shield Backpage.com in suit by trafficked girls, state supreme court says

The Washington Supreme Court has ruled the Communications Decency Act may not shield Backpage.com from liability in a suit by three girls who were trafficked on the website. The suit alleges that Backpage.com helped develop the ads for the girls through its posted rules, making the site more than just…

Sep 4, 2015 7:05 AM CDT

Lawyer is suspended for courtroom disruptions, claim that marshal tripped her

The Washington Supreme Court has suspended a lawyer for her courthouse behavior—which included making a loud noise said to sound like an animal being killed—and for making an alleged false claim that a deputy marshal tripped her. The lawyer, Kathryn Abele, was suspended for a year, the Legal Profession Blog…

Aug 31, 2015 6:15 AM CDT

Gun rights advocates sue Seattle over tax on sale of firearms and ammunition

Gun rights groups are suing the city of Seattle over its enactment of a new tax on firearms and ammunition sales. The groups contend that the tax violates a state law barring municipalities from enacting local firearms regulations, Reuters and the Associated Press report. “The Seattle ordinance is nothing but…

Aug 25, 2015 3:27 PM CDT

Lawyer buys and mans fire truck to help protect neighbors threatened by wildfires

As wildfires blaze in central Washington, the state’s firefighting forces are stretched thin. Among those stepping up is attorney Alex Thomason of Brewster. He purchased a fire truck for $5,000 from another county and is manning it with the help of individuals he met through Facebook, according to KHQ and…

Aug 24, 2015 8:05 AM CDT

ACLU seeks contact from Amazon workers after NY Times article describes demanding job environment

A lengthy New York Times (reg. req.) article last week about the competitive and demanding Amazon work culture apparently was read with considerable interest by at least one organization known for its civil rights litigation. In a full-page newspaper ad Friday in Amazon’s headquarters city, the American Civil Liberties Union…

Aug 24, 2015 7:15 AM CDT

Alaska’s first law school is satellite Seattle U campus

A long-planned satellite campus of Seattle University School of Law is opening in Anchorage, Alaska, establishing the state’s first law school. Available to law students throughout the country, the one-year program is for third-year students. It is intended to help those who intend to practice in Alaska after they graduate…

Aug 24, 2015 6:30 AM CDT

University to pay $480K to remove convicted embezzler’s name from stadium scoreboard

In 2009, using money swindled from investors in a Ponzi scheme, a former football star at California Polytechnic State University paid $625,000 to put his name on a scoreboard at the school’s Alex G. Spanos Stadium, prosecutors said. Following Al Moriarty’s conviction in a $22 million swindle that victimized a…

Aug 20, 2015 1:25 PM CDT

Appeals court rules against anti-Muslim group seeking bus ads with false terrorist-reward claims

An anti-Muslim group isn’t entitled to a preliminary injunction that would allow it to post its terrorist-reward ads on buses in the Seattle area, a federal appeals court has ruled. The American Freedom Defense Initiative is unlikely to succeed in its First Amendment case because its ads falsely claim the…

Aug 14, 2015 5:45 AM CDT