Justice O’Connor’s husband “reportedly in the final moments of life”

Retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor was to have visited Greensboro and Elon Law School tomorrow. Sadly, her appearance has been canceled as a result of her husband’s worsening health. An announcement from the law school stated that John Jay O’Connor III, whose condition prompted Justice O’Connor’s retirement, “is reportedly in the final moments [...]

Textualist my ass

The Supreme Court on Monday heard argument in a case involving an interesting and important question of statutory interpretation. In 1996, Congress amended the Federal Gun Control Act to provide that the statute’s restriction on gun ownership would apply to convictions for “a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence”, rather than only felony convictions. The purpose [...]

New DOJ report offers data on civil trials

According to a new U.S. Department of Justice report on state court civil trials in the nation’s 75 most populous counties. In 2005, plaintiffs prevailed in 56% of cases that got to trial (of which, the report notes, there were less than half as many as in 1992). It isn’t especially surprising that plaintiffs would [...]

Judge to Federalist Society: “Pro bono work is ‘antisocial’”

Chief Judge Dennis Jacobs of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit declared, at a recent gathering of the conservative Federalist Society, that “Pro bono work primarily is an ‘antisocial’ and self-serving activity lawyers use to develop their skills, firms use to recruit and “give solace” to associates, and nonprofits use to further [...]

The world is full of freaks

Some of them are federal judges: Alex Kozinski, chief judge of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, acknowledged in an interview with The Times that he had posted the materials, which included a photo of naked women on all fours painted to look like cows and a video of a half-dressed man cavorting with [...]

Lost pants judge looses robe too

Roy Pearson, the Washington, D.C. administrative law judge who garnered attention when he sued a dry cleaner for $54 million over a lost pair of pants, was not reappointed after his term expired last Spring. This belated coda to the Pearson saga is only now being reported, thanks to a FOIA request by the Associated [...]

Irascible jurist disciplined for “inappropriate behavior”

Judge Samuel B. Kent, of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Galveston Division, has long been notorious in legal circles and beyond for his strongly-worded opinions. Now he’s in the news, and in the soup, for abusiveness of a different nature. The Fifth Circuit Judicial Council has reprimanded Judge Kent and [...]

Here’s to the Courts of Pennsylvania

The Pennsylvania state court system, in which I practiced for seven years, resembles something conjured up in a novel co-authored by Charles Dickens, Franz Kafka, and James L. Cain — filled with overstuffed nomenclature, byzantine procedures, and a general air of sordidness. The tale of Superior Court Judge Michael Joyce, currently facing federal mail fraud [...]

Ethics charges against litigious ALJ

Roy Pearson’s $65 million lawsuit over a lost pair of pants has landed him in hot water. The American Association for Justice, which represents plaintiffs’ trial lawyers, has filed an ethics complaint against the D.C. administrative law judge. Its great to see the plaintiffs’ bar taking a firm public stand against truly frivolous litigation. If [...]