There is some more bad news for the D.C. bar this afternoon. Legal Times is reporting that Mark Levy, a well-known lawyer who headed the Supreme Court and Appellate Practice section of Kilpatrick Stockton has killed himself in his office — reportedly by a gunshot of a .38 calibre handgun to the head. The firm had told Levy that he was about to be laid off with a number of other lawyers due to the economy.
Category: Lawyering
Civil libertarians were a bit disappointed again in President Barack Obama’s press conference on Wednesday. While he reaffirmed that he views waterboarding to be torture (a well-established legal fact), he repeatedly referred to what the Bush Administration did as a “technique” of interrogation and a “mistake.” I discussed the Obama press conference and the torture issues on this segment of Rachel Maddow. I will be discussing these issues again on tonight’s Hardball.
Ninth Circuit Judge Jay S. Bybee responded yesterday to critics about his infamous role in writing some of the torture memos. Notably absent is his earlier denial of being the author of the memos that he signed, according to close friends. He now stands by the torture memos and Rep. Peter King (R., N.Y.) says that Bybee should be given a medal for rationalizing torture. I discussed the Obama press conference and the torture issues on this segment of Rachel Maddow.
Continue reading “Bybee Defends Torture Memos While Ranking Republican Says He Should Be Given Medal”
The torts bar lost a hero this week. Washington personal injury lawyer Charles Schulze, 73, of Schulze & Pederson died in his rescue of two drowning boys off Pompano Beach, Florida.
Continue reading “D.C. Personal Injury Lawyer Charles Schulze Dies Rescuing Two Drowning Boys”
Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission is considering disbarment of attorney Loren E. Friedman, a 2003 graduate of the University of Chicago Law School, who is accused of whiting out his C grades to increase his GPA. Friedman worked at Sidley Austin for a summer and the hearing board recommended a three-year suspension.
Continue reading “Illinois Bar Considering Disbarment of Lawyer For Inflating Grades from University of Chicago”
There is an interesting lawsuit by Phillies reliever J.C. Romero who was suspended after testing positive for a banned substance. Romero is suing the manufacturer of 6-OXO Extreme supplement because it did not specify that it included androstenedione, which is prohibited by the Major League Baseball. He is suing Proviant Technologies and Ergopharm.
On Face the Nation this morning, Sen. John McCain became the latest figure to publicly state that the Bush Administration violated the Geneva Conventions and the U.N. Convention Against Torture. It is not clear how many international and domestic figures will have to publicly acknowledge these crimes before Attorney General Eric Holder will appoint a special prosecutor. I discussed the torture issue last night on this segment of MSNBC Countdown.
Continue reading “McCain: Bush Administration Violated Geneva Conventions and Convention Against Torture”
In a true sign of the apocalypse, civil libertarians have something to agree on with Doug Feith (the former Bush Under Secretary of Defense for Policy) who is universally ridiculed for his role on some of the most disastrous policies of the Bush Administration. The Wall Street Journal ran an opinion editorial from Feith virtually daring the Obama Administration to investigate and prosecute any crimes related to the torture program. Obviously, Feith is widely viewed as a bit of a clown, but it is time for Holder to stop trying to find a way out and call the bluff of Cheney, Feith and others. He needs to appoint a special prosecutor to allow a neutral prosecutor to determine if crimes were committed.
Continue reading “Feith Calls for Prosecution of Any Crimes But Will Holder Answer?”
Former Klan leader David Duke has been detained by police in Prague on suspicion of denying the Holocaust. Despite the universal loathing of Duke and other Holocaust deniers, the arrest hits a difficult issue for civil libertarians. Criminalizing a viewpoint is a fundamental denial of free speech and allows prosecution for unpopular thoughts or views.
Continue reading “Former Klan Leader David Duke Arrested in Czech Republic for Holocaust Denial”
In light of the recent defenses made recently on behalf of Judge Jay Bybee, John Yoo, and Steven Bradbury, this picture appears to capture their sudden emergence into the public debate.
Continue reading “Bush Officials Surface To Answer Torture Claims”
According to close friends, Judge Jay S. Bybee appears to have adopted the Alberto Gonzalez defense: he is now claiming that he did not write his infamous memo and only signed it. This is similar to the defense that Democrats allowed Gonzales to make on the first torture memo at his confirmation hearing for Attorney General, to wit, he did not read an important policy memo on the commission of a war crime, he just signed it. It is the empty suit defense: I really am not to blame when I sign orders or memos because I just sign things. Bybee has not spoken directly on this matter to the public, but there are now various friends saying that he would like to repudiate the memos and even denies writing the memos.
Continue reading “The Alberto Gonzales Defense: Judge Bybee Reportedly Denies That He Wrote Infamous Memo”
It is getting rather difficult to follow the line of logic at the White House on the torture investigation. For months, President Obama has been speaking about his intentions as to any investigation into the torture program. Then, this week, he suddenly declared that he should have no role in such decisions. Then the next day, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs declared that Obama did not want to see a special prosecutor. I discussed this statement last night on this segment of Hardball. In the meantime, it appears that new pictures of detainee will be released — though obviously not the videos of torture that were destroyed by CIA officials to prevent their being used against themselves.
Continue reading “White House: No Special Prosecutor on Torture”
The Texas Supreme Court has overturned the verdict in a major torts case based on a nine-word note from a juror. During the second-day of jury deliberations in a rollover cases against Ford, a note was sent to the judge from forewoman Cynthia Cortez of the jury asking, “What is the maximum amount that can be awarded?” Cortez even put a smiley face on the note which sent Ford’s attorneys into a panic to settle the case. They quickly agreed to a settlement of $3 million. It was not until after the jury was dismissed that they learned that Cortez allegedly sent the note without the approval of the jury and that the jury was siding with Ford in its deliberations.
Continue reading “Texas Supreme Court Overturns Verdict Based on Nine-Word Note From Foreperson”
A Senate Intelligence Report shows that Condoleeza Rice, then national security adviser, approved of the torture program as early as 2002. One week later, Attorney General John Ashcroft signed off the the legality of the torture by finding that the “proposed interrogation techniques were lawful.” It was also revealed that torture was used on Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, the first person charged in the United States in the 2000 attack on the destroyer USS Cole in Yemen.
Continue reading “Report: Condoleeza Rice and John Ashcroft Approved of Torture Program”
Attorney General Eric Holder said Wednesday that he will “follow the law” in deciding whether to pursue criminal charges against Bush officials for the torture program. While first reported as a major advance, the statement conspicuously does not mention the appointment of a special prosecutor, an essential component to any investigation since the Justice Department featured heavily in these allegations.
Continue reading “Holder Promises to Follow the Law on Any Torture Investigation But Fails to Mention Special Prosecutor”