District attorney ‘humbled by my own stupidity’ after failing to stop for police, calling officer name

A district attorney for a county that includes Rochester, New York, issued a video apology Sunday night after she failed to pull over for a traffic stop and called an officer a name after she drove into her garage about a half-mile away.

May 1, 2024 2:01 PM CDT

Chemerinsky: Will SCOTUS consider it cruel and unusual punishment to prosecute homeless people for sleeping in public?

Can a city make it a crime for unhoused people to sleep in public if there are no other places for them to go? On April 22, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on this issue in City of Grants Pass, Oregon v. Johnson, a case of enormous interest to the many cities that are struggling with burgeoning populations of unhoused people.

Apr 15, 2024 9:00 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

DeSantis tourism board, Disney reach settlement to end legal feud

The board appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis to oversee Disney’s former special taxing district agreed Wednesday to a settlement with the entertainment giant, capping a legal feud over who should control development at the sprawling theme park complex.

Mar 28, 2024 2:00 PM CDT

Lawyer who stole more than $1M from his law firm gets disbarred

A lawyer accused of using his law firm as “a personal gold mine” has been disbarred after he admitted stealing more than $1 million from the entity.

Mar 28, 2024 12:16 PM CDT

How a sleuth defense attorney and a disgruntled law partner damaged the Trump Georgia case

In early September, a lawyer for one of former President Donald Trump’s co-defendants in the Georgia election-interference case scheduled a call with the other defense attorneys to share what he thought could be a game-changing allegation.

Mar 19, 2024 8:47 AM CDT

Supreme Court sets rules for officials who block social media critics

The Supreme Court on Friday set new ground rules for when public officials can block critical voices from their social media accounts, ruling in two of several cases this term that will shape the future of online interactions between the government and its citizens.

Mar 15, 2024 12:30 PM CDT

Longtime prosecutor resigns after judge tosses him from case, citing Perry Mason-type revelations

A longtime Miami-Dade County, Florida, prosecutor has resigned after a judge disqualified him and a colleague from the resentencing of an alleged gang leader convicted of four murders.

Mar 14, 2024 10:09 AM CDT

Judge’s plan to decide traffic cases before hearing date ‘was not evil in nature,’ disciplinary court says

A Philadelphia municipal judge who ruled on 95 traffic citations one day before the hearing date violated just one ethics rule requiring diligent and competent performance of duties, the Pennsylvania Court of Judicial Discipline has ruled.

Mar 13, 2024 9:56 AM CDT

Apology sanctions for misleading court were ‘mild and fitting,’ 3rd Circuit rules in appeal by DA’s office

A federal judge did not abuse his discretion when he imposed “mild and fitting” sanctions on lawyers in the Philadelphia district attorney’s office for misleading statements made when they sought to vacate the death penalty in a double murder case.

Mar 12, 2024 3:55 PM CDT

Lawyer accused of filing class action suit at behest of litigation opponent

A California lawyer has been accused of filing a class action lawsuit that had been prepared by a lawyer working for his litigation opponent and then collecting attorney fees when the case settled on terms advantageous to the opponent.

Mar 11, 2024 1:10 PM CDT

Killings by police brought reforms. Fear of crime is unraveling them

RowVaughn Wells traveled to the Tennessee Capitol last week hoping to preserve the small silver lining that emerged from the death of her son, who was fatally beaten last year after being pulled over by Memphis Police. In his memory, the city passed the Tyre Nichols Driving Equality Act, barring officers from conducting certain traffic stops for low-level violations, among other measures. But now state lawmakers are advancing legislation that would nullify the Memphis law.

Mar 11, 2024 11:00 AM CDT

DA acknowledges unwarranted prosecution of woman for ‘clearly not criminal’ abortion

The district attorney in Starr County, Texas, has agreed to a one-year probated suspension for the murder prosecution of a woman who had a self-induced abortion.

Mar 4, 2024 9:20 AM CST

Only 1 out of 5 defendants in this Mississippi county get court-appointed lawyers before indictment

The right to counsel is “tenuous” in a small Mississippi justice court in Yalobusha County, Mississippi, where two judges appointed lawyers for felony defendants in only 20% of the cases opened in 2022, according to an investigative report.

Feb 27, 2024 8:22 AM CST

Judge ‘pantomimed something similar to a lap dance’ on public defender’s wife at outing, ethics complaint alleges

A judge in Humboldt County, California, is facing an ethics complaint that accuses him of calling a public defender “Jewboy” and having “pantomimed something similar to a lap dance” on the wife of a different public defender.

Feb 15, 2024 11:51 AM CST