“W.R. Grace can face criminal charges in asbestos deaths”: The Seattle Post-Intelligencer provides a news update that begins, “The Ninth U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled that federal prosecutors can reinstitute criminal charges of knowing endangerment against W.R. Grace & Co. and seven of its top or former officials. A conviction on this charge can bring imprisonment of up to 15 years per count.”
And The Associated Press reports that “9th Circuit reverses several pretrial rulings in W.R. Grace case.”
My earlier coverage of today’s Ninth Circuit ruling appears at this link.
“Big Terror Trial Shaped Views of Justice Pick”: Adam Liptak has this article today in The New York Times.
“UC Irvine’s Drake concedes he ‘bungled’ Chemerinsky matter”: The Los Angeles Times provides this news update.
“‘God’ Apparently Responds to Lawsuit”: The Associated Press provides this report from Nebraska.
“In Reversal of Roles, Weiss Is Indicted; High-Profile Attorney Is Accused of Kickbacks To Class-Action Clients”: This article will appear Friday in The Wall Street Journal.
The New York Times provides a news update headlined “Weiss Indicted in Class-Action Kickback Case.”
Bloomberg News reports that “Melvyn Weiss, Milberg Co-Founder, Indicted in Probe.”
Reuters reports that “US lawyer Melvyn Weiss indicted in kickbacks case.”
And The Associated Press reports that “Co-founder of Milberg Weiss indicted for conspiracy.”
WSJ.com’s “Law Blog” has posted online the indictment at this link.
“In the Philippines, Ex-Judge Consults Three Wee Friends; Mr. Floro Loses His Job But Becomes a Celebrity; Using a Little Elfin Magic”: Monday’s edition of The Wall Street Journal contained an article that begins, “As a trial-court judge, Florentino V. Floro Jr. acknowledged that he regularly sought the counsel of three elves only he could see. The Supreme Court deemed him unfit to serve and fired him last year.”
My earlier coverage of this matter, from August 2006, appears at this link.
“Judge: No extra break for lactating exam taker; Student sought time to pump baby’s milk.” The Boston Globe today contains an article that begins, “A Harvard medical student and new mother will not be permitted to take extra break time to pump breast milk during her licensing exam to become a doctor, a judge ruled yesterday.”
And The Harvard Crimson reports today that “HMS Mom Won’t Get More Time on Exams.”
“In a Decision Involving O’Hare Airport’s Planned Expansion, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit Rightly Rejects a Religious Land Use Claim”: Marci A. Hamilton has this essay online today at FindLaw.
“Chief Justice back in Stoneridge case”: Lyle Denniston has this post at “SCOTUSblog.”
And at “The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times,” Tony Mauro has a post titled “Chief Justice Back in the Stoneridge Case.”
“Toobin Gets Inside Dish on Infighting at Radical New High Court”: Susan Antilla of Bloomberg News has this review of Jeffrey Toobin’s new book, “The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court.”
“Federal Appeals Judge Widener Dies at 83”: The Associated Press provides this report.
“Still No Truce on Judges”: Roll Call today contains an article (subscription required) that begins, “While Senate Democrats and Republicans have seemingly put aside their swords over Michael Mukasey, few Senators expect the rare detente on the Bush administration’s attorney general nominee will translate into a lasting peace in the ongoing battle over executive branch nominations.”
And at today’s executive business meeting of the Senate Judiciary Committee, committee chairman Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-VT) issued this judicial confirmation-related statement (scroll down to third item).
Ninth Circuit decides federal government’s pretrial appeal in United States v. W.R. Grace, a case in which the government has charged Grace and seven of its executives with criminal conduct arising from Grace’s vermiculite operation in Libby, Montana: You can access today’s decision, in which the federal government has prevailed in various respects, at this link.
For additional background, the May/June 2000 issue of Mother Jones magazine contained an article headlined “Libby’s Deadly Grace.”
“Chief justice stresses judicial independence; Without it, he says, a society’s ‘noble promises’ of freedom are worthless”: This article appears today in The Post-Standard of Syracuse, New York, along with an article headlined “Chief Justice Roberts opens Newhouse III.” The newspaper’s web site also offers some video coverage of yesterday’s event.
And The Daily Orange of Syracuse University today contains articles headlined “Chief Justice Roberts headlines Newhouse III opening“; “‘Bong hits’ case still haunts Roberts as protestors hit Quad“; “Dedication events engulf campus“; and “Students in Goldstein react to speech they couldn’t attend.” A related feature provides the responses of students to the question “What is your reaction to Chief Justice Roberts’ visit to campus today?” And an editorial is entitled “Roberts’ speech dodged First Amendment.”
“A 4th Circuit Court of Appeals judge from Abingdon, Va., died on Wednesday”: The Bristol Herald Courier today contains an article that begins, “Local lawyers and judges alike were shocked Wednesday to learn that a long-respected attorney whose career took him from the courthouses in Bristol Virginia and Abingdon to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond was dead. Judge H. Emory Widener, 83, died at his Abingdon home around 11 a.m. Wednesday, according to court personnel in Bristol Virginia.”
My earlier coverage appears at this link.
