4 min read

Judge declines to block appointment of Orleans County state’s attorney

A Northeast Kingdom defense attorney had sought to prevent Farzana Leyva from being sworn in to a four-year term as county prosecutor. But Superior Court Judge Daniel Richardson declined to take immediate action. Photo courtesy of the governor’s office A Northeast Kingdom attorney is challenging Gov. Phil Scott’s appointment of Farzana Leyva as Orleans County state’s attorney, argued that a full-term vacancy can only be filled by special election. But in an order issued Wednesday, shortly before Leyva was sworn in, Superior Court Judge Daniel Richardson denied the request to block Leyva from taking office. Instead, Richardson gave the attorney,…
5 min read

Northwestern hazing scandal included multiple sports

LARRY LAGE and CLAIRE SAVAGE Associated Press CHICAGO — Allegations of hazing in Northwestern’s athletic programs broadened Wednesday as attorneys said male and female athletes reported misconduct within two other sports and suggested sexual abuse and racial discrimination within the football program was so rampant that coaches knew it was happening. Civil rights attorney Ben Crump said he and other attorneys have received disturbing details from former baseball and softball players at the university, in addition to growing complaints of abuse in the football program, which players described as widespread and devastating. “This is a civil rights issue for me,”…
5 min read

Mississippi civil rights attorney alleges she was wrongfully arrested in possible retaliation for suing the city of Lexington over discriminatory practices against Black motorists

CNN — A Mississippi civil rights attorney alleges she was wrongfully arrested over the weekend and believes it may have been in retaliation for her advocacy work in the city of Lexington highlighting claims of discrimination by police against its Black residents. Civil rights attorney Jill Jefferson was arrested Saturday by the Lexington Police Department after filming a traffic stop of a Black motorist in the town’s square, she said. “My plan was to film footage of police falsely arresting Black people, and I just happened to get caught up in it,” Jefferson told CNN Tuesday. Recalling her Saturday arrest,…
5 min read

San Francisco’s Outed District Attorney Has a New Job

It was almost a year ago that San Francisco voters ousted their liberal district attorney, Chesa Boudin, in a recall election, as public frustration was growing over property crime and the visible despair and squalor on city streets. There was no compelling evidence that Boudin’s policies had made crime worse; overall, crime in San Francisco changed little in the time he was in office. Yet voters rejected his progressive message of taking a lenient approach. Boudin, who has largely stayed quiet since the recall, steps into a new role this week, as the founding executive director of the new Criminal…
1 min read

Attorney General’s office to take over prosecution of accused Scott Co. deputy killer

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) – WKYT has learned the prosecution of the man accused of killing Scott County Sheriff Deputy Caleb Conley is being taken over by the state’s Attorney General office. Steven Sheangshang is accused of shooting Conley during a May 22 traffic stop in Georgetown. The move for Attorney General Daniel Cameron’s office to take over was at the request of Judge Jeremy Mattox who is the chief circuit judge for the district that includes Scott County. In this particular case, the Attorney General’s Office will take over after the district court proceedings against Sheangshang are complete. Normally, prosecutions…
4 min read

Kim Gardner blames attorney on leave for office’s no-show in murder trial

st. LOUIS — St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardner responded Friday to a judge’s threat to hold her in contempt of court by blaming an attorney for not telling her office he had a trial slated to begin while he was on leave. The filing says prosecutor Alex Polta, who has been on approved leave since early April, failed to warn Gardner’s office about a murder trial that was set to begin last Monday. No one attended the first day of trial in Polta’s place, and Judge Scott A. Millikan filed an order for Gardner’s office to show cause…
2 min read

Seventh Circuit Upholds Sign Code Variance Procedure

This post was authored by Julie Tappendorf and Tyler Smith of Ancel Glink and originally posted in the Municipal Minute and reposted with permission The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled against a billboard company in its First Amendment challenge to a county’s sign code. GEFT Outdoors, LLC v. Monroe County. A billboard company sought to install a digital billboard which did not comply with the county’s sign code regulations. The company applied for a variance from the County’s Board of Zoning Appeals (BZOA). After the BZOA denied the variance request, the billboard company sued the county under a…
2 min read

Trump’s attorney looks for a one-month delay in rape trial

NEW YORK – An attorney for Donald Trump is seeking a one-month delay in the trial regarding a columnist’s claims that Trump raped her in a department store dressing room in the 1990s, contending that his client’s right to a fair trial depends on a “cooling off” period following the former president’s indictment and arrangement. The trial was set for April 25. In a letter Tuesday to Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, attorney Joseph Tacopina cited “the recent deluge of prejudicial media coverage” surrounding Trump’s arrest and court appearance in arguing for a delay. The former president was charged March 30…