Category: Justice

Courts, Justice, Media, Politics, Society, Supreme Court

Stevens: Speculation Grows Over Stevens Resignation

250px-John_Paul_Stevens,_SCOTUS_photo_portraitDue to its cultural insularity and secrecy, legal commentators often have to act like old Sovietologists who would predict shifts in power by who in the Politburo was standing where on top of Lenin’s tomb. For Supremologists, there are other common indicators: the most prominent is the reduction of judicial clerks. Speculation over Stevens’ retirement is now at its peak with news that he has selected only one clerk for next year. I will be discussing this story on tonight’s Rachel Maddow.

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Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, International, Justice, Media, Politics, Society

Obama Administration Loses Bid to Keep Secret the Recipients of $2 Trillion in Stimulus Money

180px-Preska225px-official_portrait_of_barack_obamaFor months, many Democrats and civil libertarians have complained about the disconnect between what President Obama says and what he does as President. One area of the greatest criticism has been the effort of the Obama Administration to block public review of embarrassing pictures, White House logs, controversial memoranda, or disclosure of governmental actions — despite his promise to guarantee transparency in government. One such person who appears to have lost patience with the Administration is Chief U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska. Judge Preska has rejected efforts by the Obama Administration to withhold information on who received $2 trillion dollars in bailout funds. The Obama administration argued that the public has no right to know such information. Given today’s news that the federal debt level will be reach $9 trillion, many people would like to look a bit closer at what Congress and the White House has been doing with the public fisc.
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Courts, Criminal law, Justice, Lawyering, Politics, Society

Judges in “Kids for Cash” Scandal Drop Pleas and Demand Trial

180px-The_Jury_by_John_MorganThe former Pennsylvania judges charged in the “kids for cash” corruption scandal — Luzerne County Judges Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan — have withdrawn their guilty pleas and demanded a trial. They took the step after Senior U.S. District Judge Edward M. Kosik refused to accept their plea agreement with prosecutors in light of their failure to take responsibility for their actions.
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Congress, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Justice, Lawyering, Society

Report: Justice Department To Re-Open Nearly a Dozen Prisoner-Abuse Cases

holdererictorture -abu ghraibThe Justice Department appears close to re-opening nearly a dozen prisoner abuse cases that were all but buried by the Bush Administration. The move comes after a recommendation of the Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility. The Obama Administration, however, is still blocking any investigation into war crimes and the torture program. I discussed the appointment of Mr. Durham in <a href="“>this segment of Countdown.

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Bizarre, Criminal law, International, Justice, Lawyering, Military, Politics, Society

Honored in the Breach: Obama Administration Celebrates the 60th Anniversary of the Geneva Conventions by Gutting Them

thumb_birthday_birthday_cake_4torture -abu ghraibToday, the Geneva Conventions turned 60. Like many people “of a certain age,” the Geneva Conventions can be forgiven for feeling a bit marginalized and forgotten. The Obama Administration is about to finish the work of the Bush Administration in gutting the enforceability of the Conventions by blocking any investigation or prosecution of American officials who violated the conventions, including the well-documented torture program.

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Congress, Criminal law, Justice, Media, Politics, Society

Bush White House Memos Show Greater Role of Rove in Firings of U.S. Attorneys

170px-karl_roveDespite his past denials, memos and transcripts released by Congress show that former White House political adviser (and current Fox analyst) Karl Rove was deeply involved in the firing of the U.S. attorney in New Mexico David Iglesias . The material also shows that the White House planned the firings of Iglesias and the other prosecutors for months.
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Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Justice, Lawyering, Society

Williams and Connolly Hires Disgraced UBS General Counsel

aufhauser_david 225px-alberto_gonzales_-_official_doj_photographWhile some may have expected attorney David Aufhauser to be seen in the halls of Williams & Connolly as a client but it appears that he has now been embraced as a partner. It appears that involvement in an insider trading scandal is not a barrier to career advancement. The former general counsel and managing director for UBS has joined the firm after agreeing not to practice law for two years due to the alleged insider trading. In the meantime, the shunning of Alberto Gonzales by both law firms and former colleagues continues.

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Congress, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, International, Justice, Lawyering, Military, Politics, Society

Holder Plans Whitewash of War Crimes Allegations

holdererictorture -abu ghraibReports indicate that Attorney General Eric Holder is close to naming a prosecutor to look into interrogation abuse, but that he is going to structure the investigation to protect high-ranking officials from investigation for war crimes. While Holder admits that waterboarding is torture, he is reportedly going to allow only the investigation into whether some interrogations went beyond the torture guidelines set by the Justice Department — which allowed for waterboarding.
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Criminal law, International, Justice, Lawyering, Media, Military, Politics, Religion, Society

Iran Arrests Chief of Notorious Jail As Accounts of the Torture and Killing of Protesters Mount

250px-flag_of_iransvgThe Iranian government has arrested the chief of Kahrizak jail as news accounts have documented numerous cases of the torture and killing of protesters arrested in the recent post-presidential protests. These deaths include the alleged killing of seven lawyers.
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Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Justice, Politics, Society

Washington Post Raises Need for Judicial Investigation into Destruction of Evidence and Misconduct by District’s Office of the Attorney General

nickles2resizeThe Washington Post weighed in on the expanding controversy over the alleged misconduct of the Office of D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles and his staff in the litigation over the mass arrests during the World Bank/IMF protests of 2002. The Post is calling for the Court, rather than the City Council, to investigate the case.
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Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Justice, Lawyering, Politics

Rove Admits Involvement in Firing of Federal Prosecutors and Bush’s Likely Involvment

170px-karl_roveKarl Rove spoke to congressional investigators last week and reportedly admitted that he did play a role in the hiring and firing of federal prosecutors, including at least one of the nine U.S. Attorneys at the heart of the scandal.

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Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Justice, Lawyering, Politics, Society

Federal Judge Calls for Investigation of “The Civil Equivalent of the Ted Stevens Case”

sullivanThe World Bank/IMF protest case had a sanctions hearing yesterday that had found its way into the media. Because I am lead counsel (with Dan Schwartz) in one of the two cases (Chang) against the District of Columbia, Federal government, Fairfax County, and various police officers, I will not comment on the controversy.
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Academia, Bizarre, Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Justice, Lawyering, Media, Military, Politics, Society, Supreme Court

Yoo Must Be Kidding: Professor Argues That Bush Could Negate Both The Fourth Amendment and The Posse Comitatus Act By Simply Declaring Deployment To Be A National Security Matter

180px-john-yooThe debate continues to rage this week over the push by Vice President Dick Cheney and others to have former President George Bush deploy active military units in a suburb of Buffalo to arrest a small group of men who were suspected of supporting terrorism (here). Nor surprising, Bush officials went to Berkeley law professor John Yoo to tell them that (surprise!) the President was not bound by the Fourth Amendment or federal law if he unilaterally declared the operation to be a national security matter. Yoo and his former colleague conclude that “the president has the legal and constitutional authority to use military force within the United States to respond to and combat future acts of terrorism, and that the Posse Comitatus Act does not bar deployment.” I discussed the controversy on this segment of Countdown.
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Bizarre, Congress, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Justice, Lawyering, Military, Politics, Society

Report: Bush Considered Sending Troops Into Buffalo for Terror Sweep

225px-richard_cheney_2005_official_portrait180px-Cpt._J._Dow_Covey_and_Staff_Sgt._Justin_Evaristo_2nd_Infantry_Division,_IraqIn yet another indication of how extreme Bush officials were in their war on terrorism, the New York Times is reporting that Vice President Dick Cheney and others pushed former President George Bush to send troops into Buffalo New York to arrest a group of men accused of terrorism.
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Congress, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Justice, Politics, Society

Conyers Calls for Special Prosecutor on Alleged Bush Crimes

160px-john_conyersholderericThe chairman of the House Judiciary Committee today called for U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to appoint a special counsel to probe potential abuses of power under the Bush administration. House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.) has called upon U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to appoint a special prosecutor to look into alleged Bush crimes. Holder has continued a rather transparent effort to block or curtail any investigation to prevent the prosecution of Bush officials for the torture and surveillance programs.

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