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'Grim Sleeper' arraignment set for Monday
Headline Court News |
2010/08/23 08:54
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pLonnie Franklin Jr., the suspect in the Grim Sleeper serial killings, is scheduled to be arraigned Monday morning in a Los Angeles, California, courtroom on 10 counts of murder./ppFranklin is accused of killing 10 women in the south Los Angeles area between 1985 and 2007./ppNicknamed for taking long breaks between attacks, the Grim Sleeper is believed responsible for at least 10 deaths between 1985 and 2007 in south Los Angeles. The killer targeted black women, some working as prostitutes, using the same small caliber weapon./ppLos Angeles police arrested Franklin on July 8 by comparing DNA found at some of the crime scenes with the DNA of the suspect's son, who was in a California lockup./ppFive days after his arrest, Franklin was attacked in jail. Inmate Antonio Rodriguez and Franklin were in an attorney waiting room when the assault happened, said Steve Whitmore, a sheriff's department spokesman./ppRodriguez was not in handcuffs at the time and apparently recognized Franklin. Without being provoked, Rodriguez hit Franklin in the head twice, and he suffered minor injuries, Whitmore said.
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Court says California mall's chat policy illegal
Headline Court News |
2010/08/16 09:20
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A Northern California appeals court has struck down a shopping mall's policy barring people from approaching strangers to chitchat.pThe 3rd District Court of Appeal this week said the rules at Roseville's Westfield Galleria violate the California Constitution's free speech guarantee./ppThe mall prohibited people in its common areas from approaching people they didn't know to talk unless the conversation was about business involving the mall or its tenants. The case arose after mall officials issued a citizen's arrest of a 27-year-old pastor who tried to talk about his faith./ppThe appeals court says the policy effectively bars shoppers from chatting about the weather or offering directions./ppA spokeswoman for Westfield says the mall is considering appealing to the California Supreme Court.
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Ex-money manager to plead guilty to Indiana fraud
Legal Business |
2010/08/16 03:20
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pA former money manager convicted of trying to fake his own death in a Florida plane crash has agreed to plead guilty to securities fraud charges in Indiana./ppMarcus Schrenker could face 10 years in prison in exchange for pleading guilty to five of 11 counts under a proposed plea agreement with Hamilton County prosecutors./ppHe could also be required to pay more than $600,000 in restitution. Schrenker is accused of bilking friends, family members and other investors of more than $1 million./ppA hearing on the deal is set for Sept. 15 in Hamilton Superior Court in the Indianapolis suburb of Noblesville. A judge still has to accept Schrenker's plea before the agreement can take effect./ppThe only remaining dispute is whether Schrenker should serve his Indiana sentence at the same time as a four-year federal sentence out of Florida, Jeff Wehmueller, administrative chief deputy prosecutor in Hamilton County, said Thursday.
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BP Class Action Lawsuit Filed Over Release of Benzene
Headline Topics |
2010/08/09 08:47
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pA $10 billion toxic tort class action lawsuit has been filed against BP over alleged emissions from its troubled Texas City oil refinery, alleging that workers and residents in the area were exposed to benzene and other chemicals. nbsp;
More than 2,200 workers at the refinery and residents from the surrounding area filed the BP class action lawsuit on August 3 in the Galveston Division of the Southern District of Texas. The complaint alleges that for 40 days earlier this year, the company illegally released the chemical benzene into the atmosphere./ppThe benzene lawsuit comes just as BP, formerly known as British Petroleum, was finally able to stop the flow of oil from a well a mile under the surface of the Gulf of Mexico, which has caused a massive oil spill that is expected to cost the company tens of billions of dollars in oil spill lawsuits and clean up costs. /ppPlaintiffs in the BP Texas City refinery class action lawsuit say the company has been releasing benzene into the atmosphere at the plant due to a hydrogen compressor that broke down on April 6. The 2,212 plaintiffs allege that they suffered serious injuries and illnesses from benzene exposure./ppBenzene is an industrial chemical that has been linked to the development of cancer, leukemia and other life-threatening health problems. It is a known carcinogen used as an industrial solvent in the production of plastic and synthetic rubber, as well as drugs and dyes./ppBP’s Texas City Refinery is the third-largest oil refinery in the United States, and has been the subject of several major safety incidents. As recently as September, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration hit BP with an $87.4 million fine for not complying with a safety agreement made after a March 23, 2005 explosion and fire that killed 15 workers and injured more than 170 others./ppIn February 2009, BP Products North America agreed to pay $180 million to resolve a separate environmental lawsuit over benzene emissions at the oil refinery. That case involved violations of a 2001 consent decree and Clean Air regulations which were identified during inspections by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) following the March 2005 blast./p |
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Children in Dependency Proceedings Need Lawyers
Legal Business |
2010/08/09 06:47
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| pLawyers who represent children in dependency proceedings say it’s time for these children – regardless of which state they live – to have a right to legal counsel./ppMeeting yesterday at the 2010 American Bar Association Annual Meeting in San Francisco, a panel of children’s rights advocates discussed eliminating the barriers that prevent lawyers from representing these children in life-impacting legal proceedings. nbsp; /ppAccording to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services there are more than half a million children in foster care and under the jurisdiction of family courts.nbsp; These are children who have been, for example, removed from their homes, placed in temporary shelters and possibly separated from siblings. /ppWhen it comes down to who is looking out for the rights and interests of the children in the courtroom – a lawyer, a guardian ad litem or an attorney ad litem -- there is no clear-cut, uniform answer./pp“Every state has a different model,” says Hilarie Bass, a Miami commercial litigator who does pro bono work representing foster kids. /ppShe points out the obvious — that there are too many children who need help, without enough money in the system to serve them.nbsp; Despite those hurdles, Bass, who is also incoming chair of the American Bar Association Section of Litigation, says she expects the section to make a recommendation on the right to counsel for children that should come up for debate before the ABA’s policymaking body in 2011. /pp“It would be a recommendation to provide for counsel and representation of children in delinquency and dependency proceedings,” says Bass.nbsp; /ppABA President Carolyn Lamm says the ABA is an association interested in promoting the best interest of children and finding solutions “before we have a crisis situation.”/ppLamm adds, “These citizens are the most vulnerable of course, in terms of no one to defend their legal rights.nbsp; The ABA does so much work in the public interest.nbsp; This is a segment of the public that needs us and we are strong and forceful advocates for children and the rights of children to be represented. nbsp; /ppSo far, the U.S. Supreme Court has not spoken on the issue of whether children have a constitutional right to counsel in dependency proceedings. /ppGeorgia attorney Trenny Stovall directs the DeKalb County Child Advocacy Center and represents children in dependency proceedings every day.nbsp; She says children who don’t have their own lawyer do not have a voice. /pp“When children don’t have a lawyer, their ability to be considered a living being with rights is vastly diminished.nbsp; Without representation, they become a widget in the eyes of the court,” says Stovall./ppChildren like 16-year-old Trevor Wade — who has been through the dependency court system — will tell you that having a lawyer makes a difference.nbsp; He says his lawyer fought against a system that would have placed him back with an abusive father.nbsp; These days he’s an intern in a public defender’s office, helping kids who are going through the court system. /p |
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Kaine: Don't politicize Michelle Obama's travels
Topics |
2010/08/09 05:47
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pDemocratic Party Chairman Tim Kaine is defending first lady Michelle Obama's vacation trip to Spain, saying critics of her travels are trying to politicize the issue./ppKaine tells NBC's Today show he thinks it's wrong to talk critically about her trips. Critics contend they send a poor message at a time when many Americans are out of work./ppKaine said, She's a mom. He said this was an opportunity for her to take nine-year-old daughter Sasha to a part of the world she hadn't seen before./ppKaine said President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama are focused on being good parents. Mrs. Obama returned with Sasha to the White House late Sunday. Her trip occurred as Obama was celebrating his 49th birthday and their other daughter, 12-year-old Malia, was away at summer camp.
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David Boies Urges ABA Members
Press Release |
2010/08/08 08:48
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pDavid Boies challenged America’s lawyers to “bring the rule of law to its full fruition here in this country … to fulfill the goals and lofty rhetoric of our founding fathers,” as the keynote speaker at the Opening Assembly of the 2010 ABA Annual Meeting in San Francisco. /ppThe rule of law was the assembly theme, as ABA members gathered in the Herbst Theater of the War Memorial Veterans Building, site of the signing of the charter of the United Nations in 1945. nbsp; /ppPresident Carolyn B. Lamm pointed to ABA efforts from activities of the Section of International Law to such projects as the Central European and Eurasian Law Initiative, the Rule of Law Initiative and the World Justice Project as advancing United Nations goals to spread democracy based on law around the world. /ppBoies, co-counsel with Ted Olson in winning a federal district court ruling Wednesday that overturned California’s Proposition 8, cited “numerous challenges to the rule of law in our own country,” in applying that theme at home. /ppWhen our nation was born, it consisted of “wes” and “theys,” Boies said, with the “wes” being white male property owners and the “theys” comprising everyone else.nbsp; As the national history unfolded, the circle of “wes” expanded to encompass more and more segments of society. nbsp; /pp“We have an opportunity to expand the circle of ‘wes’ until there are no more ‘theys,’” said Boies, urging lawyers to work toward ensuring that “liberty and equality and protection of individual rights is something that every citizen equally enjoys.”/ppTo achieve that goal, Boies identified four challenges confronting his audience./ppFirst, he suggested the rule of law works best when adversaries have equivalent resources, whether those resources are plentiful or sparse. nbsp; But the “time when our system tends to break down is when one party has tremendous resources and the other party does not.”nbsp; Those are the times that “threatened to undermine the protections of the rule of law… [and lawyers] need to find ways to reduce the imbalance,” he said.nbsp; He urged reducing procedural advantages that favor the “better resourced party,” and urged lawyers to not “use discovery as a war of attrition,” for example.nbsp;
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Second, he called for “better tools to help juries” decide important but complex cases, such as allowing jurors to ask questions and take notes on testimony. /ppHis third challenge was to “improve judges and the judicial machinery,” citing a “crisis in terms of financing the justice system in the United States.”nbsp; First year associates in his law firm are paid higher salaries than federal district court judges, and state court judges earn even less, he said.nbsp; “If we can’t afford to spend a fraction of what we are spending to expand that system to Iraq, something is wrong with our sense of priorities,” he maintained. nbsp; /ppAll lawyers must stand up for the independence of judges, resisting threats to their safety when they make unpopular decisions, said Boies, noting that there already have been threats to harm the judge whonbsp; ruled in the Proposition 8 litigation. /ppBoies’ cited predictably equal application of the law without regard to the identity of the parties as the final challenge to the rule of law, saying that when rights depend on who is asserting them, “the rule of law is undermined.”/p |
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