Category: Lawyering

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

South Carolina To Try Citizen For Nutsy Display

Submitted by Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger

Bonneau is a quiet little town in the “Low Country” of South Carolina.   Boasting plenty of southern charm, it covers about 2.9 square miles and sports 354 residents. Not much going on except good red beans and rice and some pleasantly hot summer boat rides on Lake Moultrie. Pretty Mayberry-esque except  it’s also the epicenter for  a debate on South Carolina’s obscenity laws which prohibit motorists from  displaying bumper stickers, decals, or devices depicting “sexual acts, excretory functions, or parts of the human body in an offensive way as determined by contemporary community standards.”

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Courts, Justice, Lawyering, Politics, Religion, Supreme Court

NY’s Marriage Equality Act Sees First Court Challenge

Submitted by Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger

In This Corner: NY Governor Andrew Cuomo ...

A coalition of conservative groups filed for an injunction in a Livingston County, New York Supreme Court (a trial court in NY parlance) asking the judge to overturn New York’s same-sex marriage law. New Yorker’s for Constitutional Freedom (NYCF) seek to enjoin operation of the law claiming that procedural requirements for the legislation were ignored, legislators were promised huge campaign contributions in exchange for their vote by NYC Mayor Bloomberg, and that Governor Andrew Cuomo violated the three-day review period by falsely issuing a “message of necessity” to the Legislature to speed up passage of the legislation. Through their lawyers, Liberty Counsel, the conservative action group also claims the public and lobbyists were shut out of the process.

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Constitutional Law, Courts, Justice, Lawyering, Religion, Society

Lessons from Roe in the Brown Polygamy Case

Submitted by Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger

Rarely do I disagree with our host, but on the Brown polygamy case we do. And not so much on the merits of the case as on the timing of it. I’ve said before I would decriminalize the practice of polygamy and regulate it much as we do other human relationships where there exists real risk of overreaching or exploitation. I think this approach serves the interests of the important right of privacy and protects the vulnerable.

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Constitutional Law, Free Speech, Lawyering, Media, Politics, Religion, Society

Turley Demands Retraction and Apology From Conservative Attorney and Radio Host Debbie Schlussel

Two of my clients in the pilots litigation flagged an article by conservative Republican activist and attorney Debbie Schlussel reporting that I am funded by the Bin Laden family and using the Brown family as a front for an Islamic radical agenda. Ms. Schlussel previously attracted national attention by writing in the aftermath of Bin Laden’s death “1 down, 1.8 billion more to go.” She was also denounced for her statement that CBS reporter Lara Logan deserved to be raped while covering the protests in Egypt — a statement rightfully criticized by David Drumm (which she attributes to me). The article by Ms. Schlussel is clearly defamatory and neither she nor her attorney has responded to inquiries over the last couple days.
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Bizarre, Courts, Criminal law, Lawyering, Politics

Pennsylvania Judge Under Fire For Dismissing Her Own Parking Tickets

When Kelly Ballentine was given several parking tickets, she lucked out by getting a lenient judge: herself. The Lancaster Magisterial District Judge dismissed a no-parking ticket and an expired registration ticket in December and a no-parking ticket in January.
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Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, Justice, Lawyering

Justice Department Forces Mistrial After Violating Court Order in Clemens Trial

In an enormous embarrassment, the Justice Department forced a mistrial in the trial of baseball star Roger Clemens after its attorneys committed a flagrant violation of the court’s orders. Clemens will now have to be retried after U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton found that the Justice Department severely undermined a fair trial for the accused. The sanction is a sharp blow to U.S. Assistant Attorney Steven Durham and his team — and a rare example of a court imposing such sanctions against the government. Defense attorneys often complain that prosecutors engage in such conduct — including some intentional slips — because they are confident that the jury will simply be told to disregard the evidence. It is not known if this was an intentional or simply negligent act by the prosecutors.
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Criminal law, Lawyering

Warrant Issued For Former Prosecutor After No Show In Theft Trial

A Louisiana court has issued a warrant for arrest for former Terrebonne assistant district attorney Stephen Callahan, 51, after he failed to appear to stand trial on allegations that he stole the money of a client, Sarah Reed, 56. Callahan’s lawyer has insisted that Callahan simply couldn’t find a ride on Monday or Tuesday.
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Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Free Speech, Lawyering, Media, Politics, Religion, Society

Brown Family Challenges Utah’s Polygamy Law

Today, we filed the complaint below in the challenge to Utah’s criminal polygamy law. I am still in Salt Lake City for the filing. With me today is our local counsel Adam Alba, an outstanding young attorney and one of my former students. As noted earlier, the lawsuit is on behalf of my clients, the Brown family. The Browns are featured in the TLC program Sister Wives as an openly polygamous family.
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Bizarre, Criminal law, Lawyering, Society

Pennsylvania Lawyer Gets 10-25 Years After Hunting Accident

Attorney David Manilla received a sentence of 10-25 years behind bars for a hunting accident in which Barry Groh was killed. Normally, such accidents are tragic but routine — without criminal charges. However, Manilla was barred from owning guns due to a prior conviction. Manilla, 49, pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and firearms offenses, including possession of a gun as a felon. Manilla’s effort conceal the crime aggravated the underlying crime.

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Bizarre, Criminal law, International, Lawyering, Society

Report: Russian Anti-Corruption Lawyer Beaten To Death By Eight Guards in “Sailor’s Silence” Prison

A leading Russian anti-corruption lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky died recently in custody. It was immediately called suspicious and now there is a report that eight guards who beat him while handcuffed in a small cell. The guards reportedly forced an ambulance to wait as they beat him to death.

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Bizarre, Courts, Criminal law, Justice, Lawyering, Politics, Society

Government Leaks Evidence To Undermine Whitey Bulger Trial — Judge Asks for “Plan” From Justice To End Unethical Disclosures

One of the longest standing complaints among criminal defense attorneys is that the government often goes ballistic when a defense attorney makes public statements in support of his or her client. Judges often hammer private counsel under increasingly harsh gag orders. Yet, the government routinely influences cases by leaking information that could only come from the prosecutors or investigators on the case. This problem is even more acute in high-profile cases like that of Richard Jewell and my former client Dr. Thomas Butler, where leaks were used to target innocent men to try to force them to plead. Now, like clockwork, the Justice Department has again started the leak war in the case of alleged mobster James “Whitey” Bulger. However, the judge has simply asked the Justice Department for a “plan” on how to stop the leaks. If this were a private firm, there would be a contempt hearing.

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Courts, Criminal law, Lawyering, Society

MIchigan Implements New Changes In Role Of Jury and Judge In Trials

Michigan has implemented some sweeping changes to the role of jurors and judges in trials, including allowing jury to ask questions of witnesses. I have some reservations about the changes below, but I am most concerned over the ability of judges to summarize the evidence. This could invite considerable bias and influence into trials.
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