|
|
|
Put an age limit on Supreme Court justices
Attorney Legal Opinions |
2010/04/28 08:53
|
pWhen President George W. Bush and his lawyers were insisting the commander in chief had the sole power to run the new war on terror, Judge Diane Wood sharply criticized that view./ppWood, now on President Obama's list as a possible Supreme Court nominee, wrote in a 2003 Chicago law review article that in a democracy, those responsible for national security must do more than say ‘trust us, we know best.' Secret prisons and secret evidence do not comport with the rule of law, she said./ppWhen the Bush administration argued that a Chinese Muslim could be held indefinitely as a Guantanamo Bay prisoner because he had gone to Afghanistan and may have associated with the Taliban, Judge Merrick Garland disagreed./ppGarland, also on Obama's short list for the Supreme Court, wrote two years ago for the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington that Lewis Carroll notwithstanding, the fact that the government has ‘said it thrice' does not make the allegation true. There was no evidence that the Uighurs were enemy combatants, he said.
/p |
|
|
|
|
|
Beach, Chesapeake pay $9 million for outside legal help
Attorney Legal Opinions |
2010/04/12 09:31
|
pEach South Hampton Roads city has a cadre of attorneys on staff to deal with the many legal disputes that come with running a large city./ppSometimes, a case comes along that poses a potential conflict of interest, requires expertise that can't be found in-house, or just takes too much time./ppIn those scenarios, officials look outside the city attorney's office to hire a private law firm. That gets expensive./ppSaddled with long and costly legal battles, Chesapeake and Virginia Beach have paid nearly $9 million to private law firms over the past five years - more than twice the combined amount spent by Norfolk, Portsmouth and Suffolk./ppWhen we go through and see how much we have spent on outside counsel, I think we can do better, said Chesapeake Councilwoman Patricia Willis, who is a lawyer./ppCity Attorney Ronald Hallman said Chesapeake is a growing city and has faced a host of unique legal matters including opposition to a planned North Carolina landfill, the Battlefield Golf Club fly ash case, and a challenge to a police test by the U.S. Justice Department. All of these cases required specific expertise and lots of time, which equals large bills.
/p |
|
|
|
|
|
Law firm to represent EPS in suit
Attorney Legal Opinions |
2010/01/12 09:07
|
pEnid Public Schools will be represented by the law firm Rosenstein, Fist amp; Ringold in a suit filed by the father of a boy who said school officials failed to prevent assaults and harassment against his son./ppJohn Kevin Bradshaw, of Yukon, has named Enid Public Schools, school officials and coaches in the lawsuit seeking more than $40,000 in damages./ppAmber Graham Fitzgerald, director of school and community relations, said Rosenstein, Fist amp; Ringold will represent the district in the lawsuit and those named in the suit who were acting in an official capacity for the district./pp“While I cannot comment specifically on this situation, generally EPS employees have the opportunity to be represented by the district’s attorney for claims made while they are fulfilling du-ties in an official school capacity,” she said. “Representation is not provided when a claim is made against them as an individual.”/ppShe said the district does had liability insurance, which addresses this type of situation./ppShe said school officials could not comment on pending litigation./p |
|
|
|
|
|
Balloon boy dad gets jail time, strict probation
Attorney Legal Opinions |
2009/12/23 21:00
|
The man who carried out the balloon boy hoax has been sentenced to jail for the stunt.
pA judge sentenced Richard Heene to 90 days in jail, including 60 days of work release that will let him pursue work as a construction contractor while doing his time. The judge also imposed conditions on Heene's probation that forbid him from profiting from the balloon spectacle in any way for four years./ppHeene choked back tears as he said he was sorry, especially to the rescue workers who chased down false reports that his 6-year-old son had floated away in a balloon. He said: I do want to reiterate that I'm very, very sorry./ppRichard and Mayumi Heene pleaded guilty to charges that they carried out the balloon stunt in October to promote a reality TV show. Mayumi Heene's sentencing is under way./p |
|
|
|
|
|
Ind. attorney general sues lumber recycling plant
Attorney Legal Opinions |
2009/12/22 21:02
|
nbsp;Indiana's attorney general is suing a northern Indiana lumber recycling plant with a history of environmental and worker-safety violations.
pThe lawsuit filed Monday in Elkhart County seeks preliminary and permanent injunctions to halt open dumping of wood wastes at VIM Recycling Inc.'s Elkhart operation. It also asks a judge to order VIM to remove waste materials and debris from its property./ppCompany spokesman Tom Holt says VIM is extremely surprised by the lawsuit. He says the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has agreed to allow VIM to place wood from the recreational vehicles and manufactured housing industries on asphalt at its property./p |
|
|
|
|