Litigation

Wednesday Gavel Grab Briefs

By Peter Hardin

In these other dispatches about fair and impartial courts:

• Parallel bills were introduced in the House and Senate to set up an independent office to investigate judges who run afoul of the law, according to a Wall Street Journal article. The office would be barred from investigating the merits of specific legal decisions.

• The Senate approved a three-month extension of key provisions of the USA Patriot Act, a far shorter extension than the House passed a day earlier, Politico reported. To learn about controversy surround the law, click here for Gavel Grab.

• Former Luzerne County, Pa. Judge Mark A. Ciavarella Jr., on trial in the “cash-for-kids” scandal, admitted under questioning by a prosecutor that he had committed acts of tax fraud and conspiracy to defraud, the Wilkes-Barre Citizens Voice reported.

Full post as published by The Gavel on February 16, 2011 (boomark / email).