Federal Judiciary
Judicial Reports 
Published by the Institute for Judicial Studies
Post Frequency: 14.1/day Last Entry: January 28, 2009 at 10:59:38 Recent Entries: 366
Go to Judicial Reports, find other Federal Judiciary blogs, or browse all law blogs.
Search
Posts
LexPress: Nomination Altercation
Posted on January 28, 2009The star chamber system that picks New York's nominees for the State Court of Appeals came under fire from a bevy of State Senators and attorneys on Tuesday. Any bets on the prospects for reform?
LexPress: Sex Offender Rule Tossed
Posted on January 27, 2009A State Supreme Court Justice finds that State rules on sex offender trump a local statute.
LexPress: Why Lippman?
Posted on January 15, 2009White, middle-aged, male, and a deeply experienced court insider — how did Jonathan Lippman ever get the nod for the Chief Judgeship?
LexPress: Lippman Gets Nod
Posted on January 14, 2009Bypassing candidates favored by women and minority advocates, Gov. David A. Paterson taps veteran insider Jonathan Lippman as the State's next Chief Judge.
LexPress: Feerick Resigns
Posted on January 13, 2009In the midst of a growing probe by the State Inspector General, the former Dean of Fordham Law School, who famously chaired the State's committee on judicial reform, steps down from New York's top ethics post.
LexPress: Hell, No, They Won't Go
Posted on January 12, 2009Tenants of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village are reportedly preparing to file a massive class action against Tishman Speyer.
LexPress: Gunning for New York
Posted on January 08, 2009In the half year since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Washington, D.C., law that barred most private ownership of handguns, New York's firearm regulations have been repeatedly tested in state and federal court. The results?
LexPress: What's in a Name?
Posted on January 07, 2009Behind the great courthouse nomenclature mystery — who knew Senator Schumer was such a Teddy Roosevelt freak?
LexPress: Madoff's Magistrate
Posted on January 06, 2009Disgraced investment manager Bernard Madoff avoids incarceration again — though for how much longer is anyone's guess.
LexPress: Sidewalk Suits Scuttled
Posted on January 05, 2009Pedestrian stumbles are the most common cause of personal-injury action against the City, but a recent Court of Appeals decision changes the rules of pavement engagement.
LexPress: Anderson Suspended
Posted on December 30, 2008In a unanimous vote, the Court of Appeals suspends Judge-elect Nora S. Anderson.
LexPress: Kaye Reviewed
Posted on December 29, 2008The New York Times runs a detailed retrospective on the career of retiring Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye.
LexPress: Surrogate Suspension?
Posted on December 23, 2008Nora Anderson's campaign finances came under fire during the campaign, and brought a Grand Jury indictment in early December. Will she ever take office?
LexPress: Deutsche Charges
Posted on December 22, 2008Prosecutors have reportedly decided where to level the blame for the 2007 Deutsche Bank building fire that cost the lives of two firefighters.
LexPress: Travesty Watch
Posted on December 19, 2008The Post laments the Brooklyn jury's verdict in a cop slaing.
LexPress: Acquittal in Cop Killing
Posted on December 18, 2008Following heated deliberations, a Brooklyn jury stuns prosecutors in the case of a slain police officer.
LexPress: Feinberg's Millions
Posted on December 09, 2008By Jason Boogjasonboog@judicialstudies.comPosted 12-09-2008 Court watchers urge the Attorney General to hold a disbarred judge responsible for millions in fees he allegedly funneled to a friend. Meanwhile, a hip-hop mogul is cleared of assault charges due to prosecution problems...
LexPress: Judicial Census
Posted on December 08, 2008By Jason Boogjasonboog@judicialstudies.comPosted 12-08-2008In one of her final speeches, Chief Judge Judith Kaye declines to discuss judicial diversity. Meanwhile, a terminally-ill South Carolina man must face charges--30-years after he fled to New York.
LexPress: Picking on the Pickers
Posted on December 04, 2008By Jason Boogjasonboog@judicialstudies.comPosted 12-03-2008The Governor bashes the judge-pickers, while another judge blocks a touchdown pass for the NFL's efforts to prosecute players over steroids.
LexPress: Mob Move
Posted on December 03, 2008By Jason Boogjasonboog@judicialstudies.comPosted 12-03-2008As Barack Obama's Attorney General pick is questioned, a Gotti family member gets a change of venue in a high-profile murder trial.
LexPress: Diversity Debated
Posted on December 02, 2008By Jason Boogjasonboog@judicialstudies.comPosted 12-02-2008 In Albany, the governor dislikes the un-diversified picks to replace the Chief Judge. In Iraq, a judge deals a harsh sentence to a close ally of Saddam Hussein.
LexPress: Kaye's Caution
Posted on December 01, 2008By Jason Boogjasonboog@judicialstudies.comPosted 12-01-2008A fight breaks out between a romance novel model and a scorned wife in Federal Court. Meanwhile, State insurers take a bold step in the gay marriage debate.
LexPress: Rumble in the Bronx
Posted on November 26, 2008By Jason Boogjasonboog@judicialstudies.comPosted 11-26-2008In Virgina, a dog-fighting conviction for a football star. In the Bronx, the court hands the Democratic Party a new leader.
LexPress: From Guantánamo to Yemen
Posted on November 25, 2008By Jason Boogjasonboog@judicialstudies.comPosted 11-25-2008In Brooklyn Federal Court, a judge makes a crucial ruling about ethnic-based arrests. Meanwhile, Osama Bin Laden's driver is returned to Yemen to serve the last month of his sentence.
LexPress: Raise, Recover, Reform
Posted on November 24, 2008By Jason Boogjasonboog@judicialstudies.comPosted 11-24-2008Despite a budget crisis, New York State Judges still seek pay-raises. Meanwhile, an update on the Attorney General's health.
LexPress: Guantánamo Unbound
Posted on November 21, 2008By Jason Boogjasonboog@judicialstudies.comPosted 11-21-2008In Washington D.C., a federal judge releases a number of Guantánamo Bay suspects. In Brooklyn, a prison transfer is halted.
LexPress: Binghamton Blues
Posted on November 20, 2008By Jason Boogjasonboog@judicialstudies.comPosted 11-20-2008Two judges are disciplined, and a dog-kicker gets his day in court.
SIX-FOOT DEEP POCKETBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com
Posted on November 19, 2008SIX-FOOT DEEP POCKETBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com Posted 11-19-08New York County Justice Barbara R. Kapnick drew an unusually sharp rebuke from the Appellate Division for her role in keeping alive a prison inmate’s lawsuit against a lawyer who died before he was sued...
LexPress: MetroCard Law
Posted on November 19, 2008By Jason Boogjasonboog@judicialstudies.comPosted 11-19-2008As the State Senate scrambles to set up leadership, a murder suspect receives crucial support from 21st Century transit technology.
Six-Foot Deep Pocket
Posted on November 18, 2008By Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.comPosted: 11-18-08 New York County Justice Barbara R. Kapnick drew an unusually sharp rebuke from the Appellate Division for her role in keeping alive a prison inmate’s lawsuit against a lawyer who died before he was sued...
LexPress: Rescinding Rebates
Posted on November 18, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 11-18-08 A former Staten Island judge helps prepare a lawsuit seeking to prevent Mayor Bloomberg from rescinding $400 property tax rebate checks for Staten Islanders.
LexPress: Bad Mother Syndrome
Posted on November 17, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 11-17-08 The New York Times wonders whether a judge sentenced Nixzmary Brown's mom to 17 years more prison time than her husband for failing her "duty to be a good mother."
LexPress: Judge Suit Denied
Posted on November 14, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 11-14-08 The Appellate Division dismisses a lawsuit filed by State judges seeking to force a judicial pay raise.
LexPress: Problem Child
Posted on November 13, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 11-13-08Newly elected 32-year-old Edinburg Town Court Justice Brian Kedik faces four felony charges.
Senate Shuffle
Posted on November 12, 2008By Jason Boogjasonboog@judicialstudies.comPosted 11-12-2008The election changed the State Senate. That means change for the Judiciary Committee. And that could mean change for the bench.
BUNGLED BURGLARY TRIALBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com
Posted on November 12, 2008BUNGLED BURGLARY TRIALBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com Posted 11-12-08New York County Justice Edward J. McLaughlin has scuttled yet another criminal conviction by winging it on jury instructions.McLaughlin has a long and storied history of veering away from standard instructions when describing the elements of crimes, burdens of proof and other legal concepts to juries about to begin deliberations...
LexPress: Many People v. Bloomberg
Posted on November 12, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 11-12-08 A group of 24 plaintiffs, including Congressman Guy Molinari, file suit in Brooklyn Federal Court alleging the change to the City's term limits law was illegal.
LexPress: Independence and Encroachment
Posted on November 10, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 11-10-08 Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Michael Ambrecht is censured for impropriety, while another charge leveled against him is dropped. The imbroglio causes a new member of the Commission on Judicial Conduct to accuse the panel of "encroaching on the independence of the judiciary...
LexPress: Liquid Lunch
Posted on November 07, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 11-07-08An investigative news program allegedly catches court employees imbibing on break. Meanwhile, Eliot Spitzer dodges the last bullet.
LexPress: "A Lyndon Johnson Landslide"
Posted on November 06, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 11-06-08 More on the three Appellate Division Republican judges who lost bids for re-election. And in other news, Dan Rather fights for access to thousands of documents.
Heir Unapparent
Posted on November 05, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 11-05-08The departure of Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye might herald significant change — but not in the ways that you might think.
MORE PROXIMATE THAN NOTBy Mark
Posted on November 05, 2008MORE PROXIMATE THAN NOTBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com Posted 11-05-08Court of Claims Justice Faviola A. Soto was reversed for jumping to the conclusion that Barbara Lapidus had only herself to blame for the fact that she was locked up for more than six years in prison when she was supposed to have served just a one-year term...
Incumbent Shock
Posted on November 05, 2008By Mark Lagerkvistmark@lagerkvist.netPosted 11-05-08In the wake of an investigation by Judicial Reports, an Albany-area Justice is voted out of office.
2008 Judicial Election Results
Posted on November 05, 2008By Jason Boogjasonboog@judicialstudies.comPosted 11-05-2008 The Board of Elections just released preliminary election results from New York races. These unofficial results give a fascinating picture of the evolving electoral make-up of the city. Winners are listed first, followed by the unofficial party breakdown.
LexPress: Judge Race Results
Posted on November 05, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 11-05-08 Eastern District Judge Jack Weinstein excludes dismemberment evidence from a death penalty trial. In other news, Judge Judith McMahon wins the first ever seat in Staten Island's new 13th Judicial District...
LexPress: The 544 Million Dollar Baby
Posted on November 04, 2008By Jason Boogjasonboog@judicialstudies.comPosted 11-04-2008As polls open around the City, a Federal Judge calculates the price-tag of an investment fraud at AIG. (And it ain't cheap.)
LexPress: Reversals of Fortune
Posted on November 03, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 10-03-08 The Appellate Division reverses a lower court and allows a woman wrongly imprisoned due to a Court Clerk's error to sue the State for negligence. In other news, a Federal Judge halts Mayor Bloomberg's attempt to tighten fuel efficiency standards for City cabs.
The Battle for Staten Island
Posted on November 01, 2008By Jason Boogjasonboog@judicialstudies.comPosted 11-01-2008Staten Island is the most Republican of New York City's boroughs. But fundraising by the Democrat for it's new Judicial District might make that meaningless on election day.
Rube Goldberg Rules
Posted on October 31, 2008By Mark Lagerkvistmark@lagerkvist.netPosted 10-31-08Due to the absurdity and illogic of New York's judicial campaign finance rules, even the best of candidates can appear conflicted. Second in an occasional series.
LexPress: Bar Shrugs Off Surrogate Probe
Posted on October 31, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 10-31-08The City Bar endorses Nora Anderson for Manhattan Surrogate's Court. In other news, a Southern District judge halts the transfer in hundreds of millions of U.S. investments held by Argentine pension funds...
LexPress: Sentence By Numbers
Posted on October 30, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 10-30-08 A report by the U.S. Sentencing Commission breaks down how federal courts in New York have statistically handled the resentencing of crack-cocaine offenders.
The System Is the Crime
Posted on October 29, 2008By Mark Lagerkvistmark@lagerkvist.netPosted: 10-29-08Judicial campaign committees around Albany are raising funds from law firms with business pending before the judge — and one firm is particularly generous.
GOING ROGUEBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.comPosted
Posted on October 29, 2008GOING ROGUEBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.comPosted 10-29-08 Queens County Supreme Court Justice Duane Hart isn’t hesitant to dismiss lawsuits that, in his opinion, have no merit. The Appellate Division recently reversed him, for the third time this year, for kicking a case out of court before the plaintiffs knew what hit them...
LexPress: "Intolerable Behavior"
Posted on October 29, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 10-29-08The Court of Appeals removes Fulton County Family Court judge David Jung from office.
LexPress: Evidence and Prejudice
Posted on October 28, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 10-29-08The Second Circuit overturns a decision by a California judge (sitting by designation in the Southern District) that had vacated conspiracy charges in a drug trafficking case.
LexPress: Allegations of Impropriety
Posted on October 27, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 10-27-08The Manhattan DA's office looks into improprieties in the primary campaign victory of Manhattan Surrogate's Court candidate Nora Anderson.
LexPress: LaBombardment
Posted on October 24, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 10-24-08Second Circuit Chief Judge Dennis Jacobs defends his position on pro bono work, amid a widening spat with a California law school dean. In other news, Ellenburg Town Court Justice Dennis LaBombard is removed from office by the Court of Appeals.
Expose Wins Day in Court
Posted on October 23, 2008By Jason Boogjasonboog@judicialstudies.comPosted 10-23-2008 A probe by Judicial Reports finally ends a couple's long legal odyssey.
LexPress: Term Limit Test
Posted on October 23, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 10-23-08 A Manhattan judge allows the City Council to continue with its term limits vote, but victory for Mayor Bloomberg is by no means a sure thing.
Surrogate-gate?
Posted on October 22, 2008By Jason Boogjasonboog@judicialstudies.comPosted 10-22-2008 Presumptive Manhattan Surrogate Judge Nora Anderson is under investigation for her campaign finance practices. But even if she followed the rules, her donor list is disturbing.
PULLING A PUNCHBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com
Posted on October 22, 2008PULLING A PUNCHBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com Posted 10-22-08New York County Supreme Court Justice Bruce Balter was castigated by the New York Times last November for aiming a “pointless slap” at the Transport Workers Union in a ruling handed down in response to the three-day illegal transit strike that tied the city in knots in December 2005...
Law Firm Contributors To Nora Anderson's Campaign
Posted on October 22, 2008As part of the October 21, 2008 article, Surrogate-gate, here is a list of the 17 law firms with Surrogate court business that donated to Anderson’s campaign this year: FIRM AMOUNT ($)GREENFIELD STEIN & SENIOR 6800FINKELSTEIN & VIRGA 5000GOLDFARB ABRANDT SALZMAN & KUTZIN 2500PETER SCHRAM PC 2500WOLF HALDENSTEIN ADLER FREEMAN & HERZ 2500LAURINO & LAURINO 2000NOVICK & ASSOCIATES 2000TEITLER & TEITLER 1000MORRIS & MCVEIGH 1000HOLLADAY LIA & MUKAMAL 1000SONNENSCHEIN NATH & ROSENTHAL 1000LISSNER & LISSNER 750GARDNER WEISS & ROSENBLUM 500PELL & LEVINESS 500RUSKIN MOSCOU FALTISCHEK 500AGINS SIEGEL & REINER 250CAPELL VISHNICK 150
Individual Attorney Contributors To Nora Anderson's Campaign
Posted on October 22, 2008As part of the October 21, 2008 article, Surrogate-gate, here is the list of the 13 Surrogate Court attorneys who have contributed to Anderson’s campaign this year:Name Contributed($) Earned Fees($)GIBBS, CHARLES F 2000 198,655DICICCO, BRUCE M 250 61,350SALL, BRANDON R 500 23,162SHEPARD, WILLIAM T 250 20,808BORDOFF, NINETTE 500 16,000KIRSTEIN, ALLAN E 500 13,172WEISBERG, JOAN L 150 10,425DAVIDSON, MIRIAM 250 9,865SCHWAB, EILEEN C 500 4,975SOLOMON, JEROME S 250 4,568ROKACZ, JOSEPH 250 3,250BARKHORN, KARIN 500 2,500LITWER, SUSAN 100 1,000
LexPress: Cohabitation Coordination
Posted on October 22, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 10-22-08 A divided Court of Appeals defines the meaning of cohabitation as it applies to the State's divorce law. In other news, a Asian restaurant chain is ordered to pay employees $4.6 million for breaking minimum wage and overtime laws.
LexPress: Ex Parte Extremus
Posted on October 21, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 10-21-08 A Northern Disrtict Bankruptcy Judge considers sanctions against an attorney who accused him of impropriety. In other news, a controversial Brooklyn murder trial enters the death phase.
LexPress: Missing Judge
Posted on October 20, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 10-20-08Reduced to only two judges, the Staten Island Criminal Court is "bursting at the seams." In other news, Southern District Judge Lewis Kaplan rules that the City may prevent public school teachers from wearing political buttons at work.
LexPress: TYCO TKO
Posted on October 17, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 10-16-08 Former TYCO International CEO Dennis Kozlowski looses his bid for a new trial.
LexPress: Seeking Shelter and Transparency
Posted on October 16, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 10-16-08The leaner, meaner KPMG tax fraud case gets under way. Meanwhile, an Upstate newspaper argues for more transparency in the selection of Judith Kaye's replacement.
LexPosition: Crisis? What Crisis?
Posted on October 15, 2008By Scott H. GreenfieldSHGLaw@AOL.comPosted 10-15-2008A small case of judicial misjudgment draws histrionics from a tabloid and a misguided "protocol" from the court administration.
ASLEEP AT THE SWITCHBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com
Posted on October 15, 2008ASLEEP AT THE SWITCHBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com Posted 10-15-08The board of directors of Comverse Technology Inc. was apparently asleep at the switch while company executives were backdating stock options for their own pecuniary benefit, yet New York County Supreme Court Justice Richard B...
LexPress: Race Based Statistics
Posted on October 15, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 10-15-08 Eastern District Judge Jack Weinstein slams the City for trying to reduce the damages to a Staten Island ferry disaster victim based on racial statistics about life expectancy.
LexPress: Emergency Calls Only
Posted on October 14, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 10-14-08 Court officials design a plan to field emergency civil applications for judicial intervention in the banking crisis, stemming from a questionable decision in the Wachovia case made from the Connecticut home of Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Charles Ramos.
LexPress: Wal-Mart Free Zone
Posted on October 10, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 10-10-08 A Suffolk County Judge rejects a bid to build a Wal-Mart superstore in Riverhead. And the Port Authority sues the feds.
LexPress: Al Sharpton's Lament
Posted on October 09, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 10-09-08 A Manhattan Criminal Court Judge finds Al Sharpton and seven others guilty of disorderly conduct stemming from their protests over the acquittal of police officers in the shooting death of Sean Bell...
The Longest Motion
Posted on October 08, 2008By Jason Boogjasonboog@judicialstudies.comPosted 10-8-2008A common Family Court motion drags on for nearly sixteen months without judicial review.
GUILT BY ASSOCIATION By Mark
Posted on October 08, 2008GUILT BY ASSOCIATION By Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com Posted 10-08-08New York County Family Court Judge Jody Adams leapt to the conclusion that a mother abused and neglected her children -- who were subsequently taken away from her -- because her boyfriend violently shook his own child, the Appellate Division said...
LexPress: Facts Trump Trump
Posted on October 08, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 10-08-08A Manhattan judge allows a law firm being sued by Donald Trump (for overcharging him) to represent a third party also being sued by Trump.
LexPress: Esoteric Testimony
Posted on October 07, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 10-07-08 The Second Circuit reverses the murder convictions of two MS-13 gang members, saying a state trooper's expert testimony was hearsay.
LexPress: One Bank, Two Bidders
Posted on October 06, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 10-06-08The debate over who will buy Wachovia constrains New York courts.
LexPress: Terror Testimony Tossed
Posted on October 03, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 10-03-08The Second Circuit tosses two notable terror convictions due to an Eastern District judge's allowance of prejudicial testimony.
LexPress: Identity Issues
Posted on October 02, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 10-02-08Eastern District Judge Joseph Bianco lets the Shinnecock Indians sue the federal government over its delinquent application for tribal recognition.
The Nuclear Option
Posted on October 01, 2008By Jason Boogjasonboog@judicialstudies.comPosted 10-1-2008Members of the judiciary have been known to reach into their statutory bag of tricks during litigation to impose the ultimate sanction. And, poof! There goes the case. Is that right?
DANGEROUS LIAISONS By Mark
Posted on October 01, 2008DANGEROUS LIAISONS By Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com Posted 10-01-08New York County Justice Karla Moskowitz erred in letting a law firm’s malpractice insurers off the hook on grounds that the law firm failed to notify them as soon as it had an inkling that securities fraud committed by one of its clients might one day put the firm in hot water...
LexPress: Footprints and Popcorn
Posted on October 01, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 10-01-08The Appellate Division refuses to dismiss an eminent domain case challenging the Atlantic Yards development project. In other news, a judge dismisses a moviegoer's suit against a theater chain for a piece of popcorn that busted his tooth.
LexPress: Judge Peck, Exposed
Posted on September 30, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 09-30-08The Wall Street Journal profiles James Peck, the judge in the Lehman bankruptcy.
CPLR 3126 Reversals from 2003 to 2005
Posted on September 30, 2008By Jason Boogjasonboog@judicialstudies.comPosted 10-1-2008 As reported in this week's feature, CPLR 3126 grant judges a number of powers to enforce discovery demands. Most dramatically, it allows jurists to dismiss a case if any party “refuses to obey an order for disclosure or willfully fails to disclose information which the court finds ought to have been disclosed...
LexPress: Double Vote for Bronx Democrats
Posted on September 29, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 09-29-08The Bronx Democratic Party meeting produces two different votes for chairman, with two very different results. Which will hold up?
LexPress: Don't Let the Bedbugs Bite
Posted on September 26, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 09-26-08 A bed bug epidemic takes over New York City courts.
Lexpress: Justice Less Delayed
Posted on September 25, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 09-25-08The First Department speeds up, and Staten Islanders angle on a couple of different judgeship fronts.
Fee Fight Flim Flam
Posted on September 24, 2008By The Editorsinfo@judicialreports.com Posted: 09-24-08 You would think the Attorney-Client Fee Dispute Resolution Program would bend over backward to protect the client. According to at least one judge, you would be wrong.
BAIT AND SWITCH By Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com
Posted on September 24, 2008BAIT AND SWITCH By Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com Posted 09-24-08 Queens County Justice Joseph Grosso let prosecutors brazenly bait and switch Christopher Lodge into agreeing to plead guilty to first-degree sexual abuse in exchange for a promise that prosecutors would not thwart his bid to be sentenced leniently as a youthful offender...
LexPress: The Filing of Nora Anderson
Posted on September 24, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 09-24-08The Daily News takes fresh aim at the campaign donations of Manhattan Surrogate candidate Nora Anderson. In other news, the insurrection in the Bronx against Democratic Chairman Jose Rivera continues.
LexPress: Endangering Life and FOIA Requests
Posted on September 23, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 09-23-08The Second Circuit affirms Alvin Hellerstein in a case over the release of photos showing the abusive treatment of detainees by American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
LexPress: Accident Insurance, Court Assurance
Posted on September 22, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.com Posted: 09-22-08The Second Circuit makes an interesting ruling concerning the definition of an "accident" to insurance companies. In other news, The Albany Times Union weighs in with thoughts of a successor to outgoing Chief Judge Judith Kaye.
Floor Fight
Posted on September 21, 2008By Jason Boogjasonboog@judicialstudies.comPosted 09-21-2008A combination of kabuki theater and the wisdom of (informed) crowds was on display at Manhattan's judicial convention last week. A fly on the wall reports.
LexPress: Shelter Standards and Homeless Goals
Posted on September 18, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.com Posted: 09-18-08New York City settles a longstanding battle with Legal Aid over homeless shelter standards. In other news, the mob cops' acquittal is reversed.
LexPress: Convention Contention
Posted on September 18, 2008By Jason Boogjasonboog@judicialstudies.comand Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.com Posted: 09-19-08The Manhattan Democratic Party picks four new justices. Meanwhile, a federal judge grants a record-breaking award to a victim of the 2003 Staten Island ferry crash.
Judges Must Police Police
Posted on September 17, 2008By Scott H. Greenfieldshglaw@aol.comPosted: 09-17-08 As recent (recorded) events have shown, members of the bench should revisit knee-jerk skepticism when charges of police brutality are raised.
TRANSFUSION CONFUSIONBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com
Posted on September 17, 2008TRANSFUSION CONFUSIONBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com Posted 09-17-08 Kings County Justice Joseph S. Levine was too quick to blame a hospital for the fact that a patient who was a Jehovah’s Witness received a blood transfusion against her wishes, the Appellate Division said...
LexPress: Staten Island's Lucky #13
Posted on September 17, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.com Posted: 09-17-08 Staten Island Democrats nominate a candidate to vie for Robert Gigante's former Supreme Court seat. In other news, SDNY Judge Alvin Hellerstein makes an organizational ruling in how to group the thousands of Ground Zero respiratory cases.
LexPress: Private Land and Public Schools
Posted on September 16, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.com Posted: 09-16-08A Nassau judge nixes a New York Power Authority land grab in Long Island.
LexPress: Post-Kaye Court
Posted on September 15, 2008By Jason Boogjasonboog@judicialstudies.comPosted 09-15-2008Handicapping the governor's choice for the State's next Chief Judge.
LexPress: Soares and Steroids
Posted on September 12, 2008By Jesse Sunenblick jsunenblick@judicialstudies.com Posted: 09-12-08 The steroids probe by Albany DA David Soares, three years in the making, is dismissed.
LexPress: Party Problems
Posted on September 11, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.com09-11-08Primaries results threaten leadership in the Bronx Democratic Party.
CAVEAT PASSENGERBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com
Posted on September 10, 2008CAVEAT PASSENGERBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com Posted 09-10-08The Appellate Division is making it steadily easier for New York City police and prosecutors to nail automobile passengers for possession of any drugs found in the car.In its latest lesson on the new rules that henceforth will govern car searches in the city, a unanimous First Department appellate panel reversed a decision by New York County Supreme Court Justice Charles J...
The Finish Line
Posted on September 10, 2008By Jason Boogjasonboog@judicialstudies.comPosted 09-10-2008As the New York City primary results roll in, Judicial Reports analyzes the shifting judicial landscape in the five boroughs.
LexPress: Assumptions and Appearances
Posted on September 10, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 09-10-08Fulton County Family Court Judge David Jung appeals the Commission on Judicial Conduct's removal recommendation before the Court of Appeals. Meanwhile, a Surrogate Court candidate could face some hefty fines for campaign posters.
LexPress: A "Ring of Steel" Around Manhattan
Posted on September 09, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 09-09-08The New York Civil Liberties Union seeks information on the NYPD's futuristic plans for downtown security and surveillance.
LexPress: Disclosure and Eli Lilly
Posted on September 08, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 09-08-08 Eastern District Judge Jack Weinstein makes a ruling in the Zyprexa class action case. In other news, Weinstein is also called to make an important decision about race and life expectancy in a Staten Island ferry disaster damages case...
LexPress: Jury Reform Rules Revolt
Posted on September 05, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 09-05-08 Corporation Counsel Michael Cardozo raises the banner against a proposal to change the appellate process on jury selection.
LexPress: Invoking the 1800s
Posted on September 04, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.com Posted: 09-04-08The judicial pay raise case Maron v. Silver is argued before the Court of Appeals.
LexPress: Family Stability
Posted on September 03, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.com Posted: 09-03-08As gay marriage advocates score an appellate victory, the Tyco lawyers return to court, hoping for a rematch. Meanwhile, New York City is allowed to pursue cigarette vendors who are allegedly dodging city taxes.
LexPosition: The Strange Case of the Silent Seal
Posted on September 02, 2008By Jim Edwardsjimedwards123@hotmail.comPosted 09-03-08 A journalist litigant tries to get a judge to make a ruling. Any ruling.
Lex Press: End Times
Posted on September 02, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.com Poste: 09-02-08As Staten Islanders fight for their own judicial island, party officials on both sides are gearing up for a legal battle. And, one of New York's most celebrated jurists contemplates her final term...
LexPress: Evaluating Harassment
Posted on August 29, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.com Posted: 08-29-08 The Villager examines the suit against a new City law empowering tenants to sue harassing landlords. And the judge pay raise litigation gets fast-tracked.
LexPress: Patriot Act Provisions
Posted on August 28, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.com Posted: 08-28-08 A Second Circuit panel hears an appeal of a case that resulted in a Southern District Judge voiding a key provision of the Patriot Act.
In Search of Real Reform
Posted on August 27, 2008By Jason Boogjasonboog@judicialstudies.comPosted 08-27-2008 The Surrogate Court has a checkered reputation. In Manhattan, three candidates are pledging to fix it. Their plans are quite different. But there's a common theme: change.
BALLOT MANEUVERSBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com
Posted on August 27, 2008BALLOT MANEUVERSBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com Posted 08-27-08With election season looming, the Appellate Division resuscitated two campaigns that had been knocked off track by a couple of Queens County Supreme Court judges.Justice Charles Thomas rejected the petition of a candidate who sought to be listed on the ballot for the Democratic primary, apparently without even bothering to examine any of the evidence presented by either side...
LexPress: Casinos and "Bawdy Houses"
Posted on August 27, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.com Posted: 08-27-08 A Western District Judge refuses to enforce his earlier ruling outlawing a Buffalo casino operated by the Seneca Indian Nation. In other news, a Bronx Judge rules the DA's office can't represent a landlord in an eviction proceeding.
LexPress: Ferry Finality
Posted on August 26, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.com Posted: 08-26-08 The final cases in the Staten Island ferry disaster approach closure. In other news, the bookkeeper for the escort service frequented by former Governor Eliot Spitzer pleads guilty...
LexPress: Dissenting Views
Posted on August 25, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.com Posted: 08-25-08 The New York Law Journal examines a recent trend of dissent at the Court of Appeals, and one set of influential judicial endorsements are released.
LexPress: Gerald Garson V. The Media
Posted on August 22, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.com Posted: 08-22-08 An Albany Justice denies a bid for temporary release by Gerald Garson, a former Judge convicted on bribery charges.
LexPress: Insider Baseball
Posted on August 21, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.com Posted: 08-21-08 In judicial races in Manhattan and Brooklyn, insider candidates play the outsider card.
The Impossible Dream
Posted on August 20, 2008By Jason Boogjasonboog@judicialstudies.comPosted 08-20-2008A Brooklyn judicial delegate has mounted a campaign to clean up the judge picking process.
HARD HARTBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com
Posted on August 20, 2008HARD HARTBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com Posted 08-20-08Queens County Justice Duane Hart decided, even before the trial in his court got underway, that a high school student’s effort to blame the school district for a rape by a fellow student was “deficient,” according to the Appellate Division...
LexPress: Won't Back Down
Posted on August 20, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.com Posted: 08-20-08 A Hudson Falls Village Court Judge who says the Commission on Judicial Conduct broke a promise to keep his removal stipulation private has reversed his intent to step down from the bench, and will fight the charges...
LexPress: 10 Days Till Contempt
Posted on August 19, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.com Posted: 08-19-08 Southern District Judge Alvin Hellerstein threatens the CIA with contempt.
LexPress: Identity Problems
Posted on August 18, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.com Posted: 08-18-08 A former judge booted off the bench for campaign improprieties defends a Democratic State Assembly candidate who opponents claim is a Republican in disguise. In other news, the Second Circuit decides to rehear the rendition case of Maher Arar...
LexPress: Saudi Immunity and "Merit Selection"
Posted on August 15, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.com Posted: 08-15-08 The Second Circuit reaffirms the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's protection under the Foreign Services Immunity Act from lawsuits filed by 9/11 victims.
LexPress: Feeder Steps Down
Posted on August 14, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.com Posted: 08-14-08 A Hudson Falls judge steps down after admitting to various improprieties. In other news, John Steinbeck's son fails in his attempt to renegotiate his father's publishing rights.
Show Me the Money
Posted on August 13, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.com Poste: 08-13-08 Two Civil Court campaigns spar over the meaning of campaign money. One claims conniving. The other claims an innocent mistake. Both involve well-regarded Law Secretaries. Is this any way to run a judiciary?
NO-FAULT FLAWSBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com
Posted on August 13, 2008NO-FAULT FLAWSBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com Posted 08-13-08The Appellate Division’s Second Department keeps trying to reign in trial judges in Brooklyn in suits brought by plaintiffs trying to get past the threshold set by the Insurance Law and escape the confines of the no-fault compensation system...
LexPress: Shoot the Messenger
Posted on August 13, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.com Posted: 08-13-08 The home of a Queens judge gets shot up. In other news, a Southern District Judge orders the carpenters union to remain under government supervision for another year.
LexPress: Preppy Pleas
Posted on August 12, 2008By Jason Boogjasonboog@judicialstudies.comPosted 08-12-2008The "Preppy Killer" will go back to prison, and a natural medicine expert will stay out of the poorhouse. Meanwhile, an 8-year-old witness helps convince a judge to throw the book at a convicted murderer...
LexPress: 10-Year Minimum
Posted on August 11, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.com Posted: 08-11-08 A Schenectady County Court Judge takes a stand against gun violence. In other news, a Rochester-area court battle seeks to define the parameters of a living will.
Bashed Judges Bash Media
Posted on August 08, 2008By Jason Boogjasonboog@judicialstudies.comPosted 08-06-2008Brought together to compare notes on the current state of judge bashing, a trio of jurists on Friday engaged in a little media bashing.
LexPress: The FBI and Immigrant Voters
Posted on August 08, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.com Poste: 08-08-08 A Southern District Judge says the FBI can't be compelled to quicken citizenship requests in time for the 2008 presidential election. In other news, a Bronx Supreme Court Justice presides over the first legal challenge to Governor Paterson's decision to recognize out-of-state gay marriage licenses.
LexPress: Rubbing Raw Wounds
Posted on August 07, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.com Posted: 08-07-08Lawyers for 9/11 victims whose massive damages settlements were rejected by Southern District Judge Alvin Hellerstein file papers to have the awards reinstated.
Attack of the Video-Bloggers
Posted on August 06, 2008By Jason Boogjasonboog@judicialstudies.comPosted 08-06-2008Judges are accustomed to objections and exceptions. Many have even grown inured to protests on the courthouse steps. But now, a new series of complaints against a Southern District judge have taken the form of cyber-threats.
‘HAVING’ REGATTASBy
Posted on August 06, 2008‘HAVING’ REGATTASBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com Posted 08-06-08New York County Justice Herman Cahn relied on “strained English usage” to misinterpret the phrase “having for its annual regatta,” according to a divided panel of the Appellate Division...
LexPress: The Vacancy Control Program
Posted on August 06, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 08-06-08 Citing the State's downtrodden economy, Chief Administrative Judge Ann Pfau outlines a plan to rid the courts of excess employees.
LexPress: DVR Rules
Posted on August 05, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 08-05-08 The Second Circuit rules that Cablevision's proposed network DVR system is legal.
LexPress: The Eye Contact Court
Posted on August 04, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 08-04-08 A look at the Brooklyn Mental Health Court, where for more than a decade Presiding Judge Matthew D'Emic has employed unusual communication methods to ensure treatment for some of the City's most violent, and mentally unstable, defendants...
LexPress: Courtroom In-Securities
Posted on August 01, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 08-01-08 Class-action securities lawsuits are skyrocketing in New York. Meanwhile, a Guilderland, New York town Supervisor demands that the firm of a lawyer and Town Board Member stop trying cases at the local Town Court, where the official controls the pay to judges.
LexPress: Lucky 13
Posted on July 31, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 07-31-08 The U.S. Justice Department approves a plan to give Staten Island its own Judicial District, making it the State's 13th.
When Selection Trumps Election
Posted on July 30, 2008By Leah Nelsonlnelson@judicialstudies.com Posted 07-30-08Nearly half the members of the State Supreme Court are Acting Justices who received their seats by an appointment process that is practically invisible.
SMOKED OUTBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com
Posted on July 30, 2008SMOKED OUTBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com Posted 07-30-08For the second time in less than a month, New York County Supreme Court Justice Charles E. Ramos found himself in the news, and on the opposite side of the law from a unanimous Appellate Division panel, for a ruling he made to perpetuate a long-running, landmark lawsuit...
LexPress: Judge in Danger?
Posted on July 30, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 07-30-08 A report on an apparent plot against a Suffolk Justice. And another judge recuses himself from Donald Trump's lawsuit against the State over being denied a permit to build a catering hall at Long Beach...
LexPress: Al Sharpton Fights On
Posted on July 29, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 07-29-08 Al Sharpton decided to go to trial to fight disorderly conduct charges stemming from organized protests in the wake of the acquittal of three officers in the Sean Bell shooting trial...
LexPress: Return of the Jedi
Posted on July 28, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 07-28-08 A Brooklyn judge allows a terrorism case to continue against a woman charged with providing material support for a group that has worked with the U.S. military in Iraq. In other news, The New York Post challenges the appointment of former Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Helen Freedman to the Appellate Division, and a venerable former Southern District Judge, Charles Brieant, passes away at the age of 85.
LexPress: Lazy Lawyers and Landlords
Posted on July 25, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 07-25-08 Rebuking excessive legal fees, Southern District Judge Alvin Hellerstein tosses four lucrative settlements in cases filed on behalf of 9/11 victims. In other news, a Manhattan judge makes a first impression ruling in the case of an allegedly illegal immigrant being evicted from his rent controlled apartment in apparent violation of the city's Human Rights Law.
LexPress: A Jibe and a Tribe
Posted on July 24, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 07-24-08 A Manhattan judge rules against a group of taxpayers seeking a judicial inquiry into the City Council for its practice of earmarking funds to fictitious groups. In other news, the Justice Department pulls all stops in an effort to get a casino built in Buffalo...
TAMPER-PROOFBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com
Posted on July 23, 2008TAMPER-PROOFBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com Posted 07-23-08Justice Richard D. Carruthers let prosecutors get away with piling on one too many charges against a lawyer who helped a con man loot over $27 million from the Evergreen Securities Fund, the Appellate Division said...
LexPress: Bloody Knives and the Rosenbergs
Posted on July 23, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 07-23-08 Eastern District Judge John Gleeson sets a standard for allowing certain criminal defendants access to post conviction DNA evidence. In other news, a Manhattan judge refuses to unseal the grand jury testimony of a controversial witness in the Julius and Ethel Rosenberg atomic espionage case.
Car Wars
Posted on July 22, 2008By Leah Nelsonlnelson@judicialstudies.com Posted 07-23-08 One Brooklyn AJ made a parking promise no one has kept. And the current AJ, with a little help from one colleague, seems to have done as much harm as good. What now?
LexPress: Lions and Lambs
Posted on July 22, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 07-22-08 Former Southern District Judge Charles Brieant has died. In other news, the Appellate Division gets set to hear an appeal from a Manhattan Supreme Court judge's order to the Legislature to raise judicial salaries...
LexPress: Of Cronies and Rent Control
Posted on July 21, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 07-21-08 The New York Daily News exposes the mismanagement of estates lacking wills in the Bronx, where a surrogate judge is under investigation. In other news, The New York Times profiles a Bronx apartment building where numerous, some say too many, public officials have scored rent controlled apartments.
LexPress: Shams and Scams
Posted on July 18, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 07-18-08 The Second Circuit tosses a man's gun possession conviction after a judge suggested prosecutors introduce new evidence during jury deliberations. In other news, SDNY Judge Jed Rakoff goes off on a potential lead plaintiff in a securities fraud class-action case.
Price Fight ? Live!
Posted on July 17, 2008By Jason Boogjasonboog@judicialstudies.comPosted 07-17-08 The referee in Thursday's judge salary slugfest seemed to be leaning to one side.
LexPress: Reasonable Regulations Required
Posted on July 17, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 07-17-08 A Brooklyn judge upholds New York's "reasonable" fire arm permit regulations. In other news, a Manhattan judge rules that Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver's "cavalier" attitude during a sex case against his former chief counsel does not mean he has to foot the bill for the State's settlement in the case.
Price Fight
Posted on July 16, 2008By Jason Boogjasonboog@judicialstudies.comPosted 07-16-08As the judicial salary fight reaches the final rounds, both sides are on the offense. One wants you to think of judges as high-end clerks. The other wants you to think of them as altruists who gave up a corner office at some large firm...
LexPress: Diabolical Schemes
Posted on July 16, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 07-16-08 Judith Leekin is sentenced for her "diabolical" adoption scam. In other news, a Sullivan County judge issues a stern warning to the Legislature about a loophole in the state's law protecting mental disabled children from sexual abuse...
REVERSAL REPORT FOR JULY 16By Mark
Posted on July 15, 2008REVERSAL REPORT FOR JULY 16By Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com Posted 07-16-08
LexPress: Adopting a Lavish Lifestyle
Posted on July 15, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 07-15-08 A woman who bilked the State's adoption system out of nearly $2 million will be sentenced today in Manhattan Federal Court. In other news, the standoff between New York State and foes of the Seneca Indian Nation's casino in Buffalo continues.
LexPress: Peripheral Damages
Posted on July 14, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 07-14-08 The state Independence Party chimes in on the judicial pay raise debate. In other news, despite a federal court ruling, New York State continues to defend the Seneca Indian Nation's casino in Buffalo...
LexPress: It's the Economy, Stupid
Posted on July 11, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 07-11-08 A stale economy might have been responsible for the shelving of number of judicially-themed bills before the State legislature this year. In other news, a Town Justice is accused of stealing $155 in fines from his own court.
LexPress: The Judiciary Strikes Back
Posted on July 10, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comand Jason Boogjasonboog@judicialstudies.comPosted 07-09-08 The judge salary imbroglio takes a new turn, and a prosecutor is sentenced as a "disgusting monster."
An Undisciplined System
Posted on July 09, 2008By Leah Nelsonlnelson@judicialstudies.com Posted 07-09-08The system for adjudicating accusations of misconduct against attorneys sounds relatively fair and efficient on its face. So why does the system put such a mask on its administration?
BURNED BY GRASSOBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com
Posted on July 09, 2008BURNED BY GRASSOBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com Posted 07-09-08Justice Charles E. Ramos, the most often-reversed judge in New York County Supreme Court’s Commercial Division so far this year, picked up another reversal—in the Appellate Division ruling dismissing the last remaining causes of action in the long-running suit over former New York Stock Exchange Chairman Richard Grasso’s hefty paycheck...
LexPress: Gambling with the Law
Posted on July 09, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 07-09-08 A Western District Judge rules the Seneca Indians must halt construction on a massive casino in Buffalo. In other news, the Fourth Department vacates a drug conviction and accuses the Chautauqua District Attorney's Office of prosecutorial misconduct.
LexPress: The Remains Remain the Same
Posted on July 08, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 07-08-08 Southern District Judge Alvin Hellerstein rejects a variety of claims by the group WTC Families over the mishandling of 9/11 remains at the closed Fresh Kills landfill.
LexPress: Lessening Budgets And Sentences
Posted on July 07, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 07-07-08 City District Attorneys and the Legal Aid Society will have to get by will reduced funds next year. In other news, Iraq war veteran's groups look to take an innovative Buffalo veteran's Treatment Court national.
LexPress: Missiles, Muslims, and Azerbaijani Oil
Posted on July 03, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 07-03-08The Second Circuit upholds the convictions of two Albany-area Muslim immigrants who were caught in a government sting operation's fictitious terror plot.
When Judges Get the Blues
Posted on July 02, 2008By Jason Boogjasonboog@judicialstudies.comPosted 07-02-08Judges are expected to be fair but firm, empathetic but efficient. But with a crushing workload and an often ungrateful public, what happens when a member of the bench reaches the breaking point? A special report on the mental health of the judiciary.
INTENT MATTERSBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com
Posted on July 02, 2008INTENT MATTERSBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com Posted 07-02-08The Appellate Division has reversed two more convictions handed down by New York City trial judges for depraved indifference murder. They are the latest in a stream of reversals of convictions flowing from a series of Court of Appeals decisions, issued between 2004 and 2006...
LexPress: Ellicotville Town Justice Resigns Under Pressure
Posted on July 02, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comand Leah Nelsonlnelson@judicialstudies.com Posted: 07-02-08 Ellicotville Town Justice June P. Chapman resigns, dodging likely sanctions by the Commission on Judicial Conduct. In other news, the Appellate Division dismisses the remaining charges against former New York Stock Exchange chairman Dick Grasso, and former Brooklyn Supreme Court Judge Michael Garson is sentenced for his role in depleting his aunt's estate.
LexPress: When Guardians Need Guarding
Posted on July 01, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 07-01-08 A Brooklyn judge lowers the boom on one of former judge John Phillips' profiteering law guardians. In other news, the state declines to retry Martin Tankleff, who was exonerated in December for the murder of his parents.
LexPress: Morgenthau Responds
Posted on June 30, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 06-30-08 Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau responds to a New York Times story about a skeptical prosecutor who says he tanked a case against a man he believed to be innocent.
LexPress: The Sarcasm of Judge Pines
Posted on June 27, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 06-27-08 The Commission on Judicial Conduct admonishes a Broome County judge for using sarcastic and angry language.
LexPress: Judge Complaint Scorecard
Posted on June 26, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 06-26-08 New York's judge police are getting more complaints, but finding fewer that merit investigation. And the Court of Appeals tosses most of the charges against former New York Stock Exchange chairman Richard Grasso...
Foreclosure Courts: Fix or Fake?
Posted on June 25, 2008By Leah Nelsonlnelson@judicialstudies.comPosted 06-25-08 The court system has asked judges to help solve the homeowner loan crisis. Problem is, judges don't have the authority to suspend the laws of economics or the ability to make invisible litigants appear out of thin air.
MORE PROSE, LESS POETRYBy Mark
Posted on June 25, 2008MORE PROSE, LESS POETRYBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com Posted 06-25-08New York County Justice Edward J. McLaughlin imperiled yet another criminal case, the Appellate Division ruled last week, because he laid down the law to the jury with a poetic flourish of his own rather than hewing to the boring, standardized jury instructions...
LexPress: The Ground Zero Common Cold
Posted on June 25, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 06-25-08 A review of the medical records of the 10,000 ground zero clean up workers suing New York City finds that 30 percent of the claims are for nothing more than common cold symptoms. In other news, federal prosecutors release grand jury testimony in the atomic spy case of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg...
LexPress: Supreme Denial
Posted on June 24, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 06-24-08 The U.S. Supreme Court declines to hear an appeal in the Atlantic Yards case. In other news, a judge allows the Times Square naked cowboy's copyright infringement case against candy maker Mars Inc...
LexPress: Morganthau's Mole
Posted on June 23, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 06-23-08 An attorney in District Attorney Robert Morganthau's office purposefully loses a case. In other news, the Indian couple from Muttontown, Long Island convicted of harboring slaves will be sentenced later this week...
LexPress: Sorry About That, Chief
Posted on June 20, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 06-20-08 The search is on for a new Chief Judge. In other news, the City subpoenas the very same videos that helped bolster activists' claims that they were unfairly arrested at the 2004 Republican National Convention.
LexPress: Foreclosure Fallout
Posted on June 19, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 06-19-08 Chief Judge Judith Kaye implements a program designed to educate homeowners facing foreclosure and move such cases through the courts. In other news, a settlement is finalized in a closely watched wage discrimination case...
SANCTIONING THE SANCTIONERBy Mark
Posted on June 18, 2008SANCTIONING THE SANCTIONERBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com Posted 06-18-08For the fourth time this year, the Appellate Division rapped Bronx County Justice Alison Y. Tuitt for too harshly sanctioning a defendant in a tort suit for relatively minor violations of discovery orders...
Policing the Judge Police: Part II
Posted on June 18, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted 06-18-08 Litigants are prevented, under the doctrine of judicial immunity, from suing jurists over the content of their decisions. But when it comes to discipline, the Commission on Judicial Conduct doesn't feel similarly constrained.
LexPress: Public Safety and Power Plants
Posted on June 18, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 06-18-08 The battle continues over what to do about hundreds of inmates whose post-release supervision was ruled invalid by the Court of Appeals. In other news, an Administrative Law Judge nixes a mega merger between global and regional energy giants.
LexPress: Not Liable for Libel
Posted on June 17, 2008By Jason Boogjasonboog@judicialstudies.comPosted 06-17-08One judge saves an appellate jurist from a libel suit, while another judge saves the Bush administration from a security suit.
On the Road Again
Posted on June 16, 2008By Jason Boogjasonboog@judicialstudies.comPosted 06-16-08The Long Island highways become a hotbed of litigation this week, while a dog loses $10 million in Manhattan courts.
LexPress: The Oath of Truthfulness and Jacuzzis
Posted on June 13, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 06-13-08 Albany DAs ponder a possible wave of criminal reversals. In other news, former Brooklyn assemblywoman Diane Gordon is imprisoned for attempting to bribe a contractor to build her a free house.
LexPress: The Lehner Linkage
Posted on June 12, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 06-12-08 Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Edward Lehner orders a pay raise for 1300 New York judges. In other news, Lehner has been asked to dismiss a similar suit seeking a judicial pay raise, filed by Chief Judge Judith Kaye...
Selective Judicial Prosecution?
Posted on June 11, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted 06-11-08 Misconduct by Town and Village justices might well have provided the impetus for Albany to increase the budget for the Commission on Judicial Conduct. But is that where the Commission should be training its sights?
ONE THAT GOT AWAY By Mark
Posted on June 11, 2008ONE THAT GOT AWAY By Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com Posted 06-11-08Bronx County Supreme Court Justice Joseph Fisch is going to have to accept the fact that a previously convicted felon, identified in this case as Allen A, got away with one when he was classified as a “youthful offender” by Justice Robert Straus in a sentencing proceeding in 2002...
Summary Salary Judgment
Posted on June 11, 2008By Jason Boogjasonboog@judicialstudies.comPosted 06-11-08 In one of the three salary suits by New York judges that are pending against the State, round one goes to the plaintiffs. And now?
LexPress: Of Medication and Reverse Batson Challenges
Posted on June 11, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 06-11-08 A ruling by a Manhattan judge exposes the difficulties of bringing the mentally ill to court. In other news, the Second Circuit upholds a ruling preventing attorneys for black defendants from exploiting peremptory challenges to strike white jurors...
Policing the Judge Police
Posted on June 10, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted 06-11-08 The Commission on Judicial Conduct recently doubled its resources. Now, are they serving and protecting the court system or engaging in 'judge police' brutality?
LexPress: Indignant About Indigent Defense
Posted on June 10, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 06-10-08 The state Legislature continues to drag its heels over revamping New York's indigent defense system. In other news, the plan to rebuild Nassau County's Family Court hits a snag.
LexPress: Holdman Hangs em High
Posted on June 09, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 06-09-08 The Appellate Division again reduces a sentence imposed by Acting Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Robert K. Holdman. In other news, juveniles arrested over the weekend no longer have to wait till Monday to be processed by the court system.
LexPress: Restaino Removed
Posted on June 06, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 06-06-08 The Court of Appeals upholds the Commission on Judicial Conduct's recommendation to remove Niagara City Court Judge Robert Restaino from the bench.
LexPress: Copied Bags and Hostile Mags
Posted on June 05, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 06-05-08 One Southern District Judge dismisses Louis Vuitton's copyright allegation against a competing hand bag, while a Magistrate from the same court recommends allowing a legal malpractice suit by a disgruntled former employee of The Source magazine to go forward.
Crisis? What Crisis?
Posted on June 04, 2008By Jason Boogjasonboog@judicialstudies.comPosted 04-03-08The Legislature's nearly decade-long inaction on a judicial pay raise has prompted fears that jurists will engage in mass recusals involving any cases connected with legislator-lawyers. A report from the field...
SEX AND THE CITY SCHOOLS By Mark
Posted on June 04, 2008SEX AND THE CITY SCHOOLS By Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com Posted 06-04-08New York County Justice Marilyn Shafer is considerably more tolerant of teachers who engage in sexually explicit banter with their students than four judges on the Appellate Division, who recently reviewed – and reversed – her decision in a disciplinary proceeding...
LexPress: Cuomo's Grasso Problem
Posted on June 04, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 06-04-08 Richard Grasso's excessive compensation case is argued before the Court of Appeals. In other news, a Christian organization, with support from five State lawmakers, files suit trying to stop Governor Patterson from enabling State agencies to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states.
Rensselaer Family Court Judge Censured
Posted on June 03, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comand Leah Nelsonlnelson@judicialstudies.com Posted: 06-03-08The Commission on Judicial Conduct censured an Upstate Family Court Judge and the Georgia gun retailer facing trial for straw purchases that led to crimes in New York City abruptly dismantles his defense, setting the stage for an appeal...
LexPress: Crisis and Cops
Posted on June 02, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 06-02-08The New York Times calls out the Governor and the State Assembly for not addressing a judiciary in "crisis." In other news, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Marylin Diamond orders the NYPD to turn over a database detailing its stop-and-frisk procedures...
Murphy's Law
Posted on May 30, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 05-30-08A part time Binghamton City Court Judge resigns rather than fight the Commission on Judicial Conduct over charges he allowed attorneys in his law firm to appear in the court. In other news, The New York Law Journal examines the "critical issue" in one of three suits trying to force a judicial pay raise.
LexPress: Dell Dinged
Posted on May 29, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 05-28-08 An Albany judge rules against computer retailer Dell's practice of false advertising. In other news, the Court of Appeals starts its summer docket.
LexPress: Ready, Willing, and Random
Posted on May 29, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 05-29-08A Nassau County Court Judge validates the practice of asking prospective Grand Jurors if they are "willing to serve," a phrase one attorney said endangered the necessary randomness of the proceedings...
A Brooklyn Bridge?
Posted on May 28, 2008By Leah Nelsonlnelson@judicialstudies.com Posted 05-28-08The City’s most populous borough was ahead of the curve in addressing the high default rate among residential foreclosures. Alas, its effort to date has largely been in vain.
Subprimal Therapy
Posted on May 28, 2008By Leah Nelsonlnelson@judicialstudies.com Posted 05-28-08 The governor has charged New York's courts with fixing the foreclosure crisis. Never mind the lack of money, time, transparency, or judicial authority to get the job done.
NO DOCTOR NEEDEDBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com
Posted on May 28, 2008NO DOCTOR NEEDEDBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com Posted 05-28-08Kings County Justice Bruce Balter summarily kicked a lawsuit out of court simply because the plaintiffs didn’t bother to obtain a medical opinion asserting that a nursing home should have taken steps to assure that a 91-year-old patient wouldn’t keep clambering out of bed on her own...
LexPress: Payraise Suit Slowed
Posted on May 27, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 05-27-08 Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Edward Lehner denies Bernard Nussbaum's plea for an expedited trial date in Chief Judge Judith Kaye's payraise suit. In other news, an Eastern District Judge rules that judicial candidates' petition signatures for primary campaigns must all come from their respective political parties.
LexPress: Weinstein's "Media Show"
Posted on May 23, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 05-23-08 Eastern District Judge Jack Weinstein says Mayor Bloomberg can't testify in the City's upcoming trial against a Georgia gun dealer. In other news, Newsday adds fuel to the unfolding public pension benefits scandal.
LexPress: Georgia Leech
Posted on May 22, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 05-22-08Eastern District Judge Jack Weinstein allows New York City's suit against a Georgia gun retailer to go forward. In other news, angry critics of the Oneida Indian land trust deal vow to take the matter back to court, and a Justice conceives of an unborn parole officer.
More Sun, Fewer Secrets
Posted on May 21, 2008By Jason Boogjasonboog@judicialstudies.comPosted 05-20-08The U.S. Congress is debating a law to sharply cut federal judges' latitude to seal settlements. The New York Legislature has been wrestiing with a similar proposal for years. Guess why it's gone nowhere?
BACKHANDED COMPLIMENTBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com
Posted on May 21, 2008BACKHANDED COMPLIMENTBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com Posted 05-21-08New York County Supreme Court Justice Jane S. Solomon’s order settling a dispute over the sale of a townhouse was perfectly sensible “from a dispute resolution viewpoint” because “the final result seems to resolve the matter in a manner advantageous to both parties,” the Appellate Division said...
LexPress: Policing its Own
Posted on May 21, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 05-21-08 The NYPD brings administrative charges against seven officers involved in the shooting death of Sean Bell. In other news, a Queens judge makes interesting recommendations concerning procedures in cases in which defendants allege a coerced confession.
LexPress: Judge Not (Anymore)
Posted on May 20, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comand Leah Nelsonlnelson@judicialstudies.com Posted: 05-20-08 Southport's Town Justice turns in his robes after an investigation by the Commission on Judicial Conduct. In other CJC news, an infusion of new funds helps the Commission cuts its backlog...
LexPress: Ramos Vamoosed!
Posted on May 19, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 05-19-08 The Appellate Division removes Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Charles Ramos from presiding of future litigation concerning the 1998 nationwide tobacco settlement. In other news, The New York Times profiles a specialty felony sex offender court in Westchester.
LexPress: I'm no Contractor, Mr. Cuomo
Posted on May 16, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 05-16-08 Attorneys in the sights of Attorney General Andrew Cuomo for receiving public pension benefits strike back with a lawsuit. In other news, a judge rules the Red Cross can license the logo it shares with Johnson & Johnson for commercial use.
LexPress: Taking Money and Babies
Posted on May 15, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 05-15-08 A Manhattan judge allows a declaratory judgment claim against the PLO for its role in the 1996 death of an American rabbinical student to proceed to trial. In other news, facing criticism from another battered baby case, the City passes a new policy letting it claim newborns from parents with open child neglect cases.
Recuse or Lose
Posted on May 14, 2008By Scott H. GreenfieldPosted 05-14-08 Various governmental leaders have been telling the judges in the State of New York who have gone a decade without a raise that they should uphold the dignity of their offices. That's rich.
SEE NO ERRORBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com
Posted on May 14, 2008SEE NO ERRORBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com Posted 05-14-08 New York County Supreme Court Justice John A. K. Bradley let a prosecutor get away with an "egregious violation" of the rules of evidence, depriving Ronald Moye of a fair trial, said the majority of an Appellate Division panel, in a divided opinion that re-exposed a split in perspectives among appellate judges on police and prosecution tactics...
LexPress: Hardcore Thugs and Human Beings
Posted on May 14, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 05-14-08Rapper Remy Ma is sentenced to eight years in prison. In other news, The Albany Times Union takes a shot at Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's "zealous" investigation of attorneys public retirement benefits for which they were not eligible.
LexPress: Constrained to Consider
Posted on May 13, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 05-13-08 The Commission on Judicial Conduct warns judges not to recuse themselves as a tactic in the ongoing pay raise litigation, calling the maneuver an ethics breach. In other news, former Justice Leslie Crocker Snyder prepares another bid for Manhattan District Attorney.
LexPress: "Testilying" and the NYPD
Posted on May 12, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 05-12-08The New York Times examines the NYPD's disturbing tendency to lie when defending itself against suppression motions. In other news, the judge overseeing the grand jury investigating the deaths of Seymour and Arlene Tankleff recuses himself.
LexPress: Torture Memo Fight, Con.
Posted on May 09, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 05-09-08 A Southern District Judge might make public a CIA memo that allegedly specifies the use of waterboarding as an interrogation technique. In other news, the office of State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announces its latest targets: politically connected lawyers illegally receiving public pension funds.
LexPress: Walking While Black
Posted on May 08, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 05-08-08 The New York Civil Liberties Union files another suit attacking the NYPD's stop-and-frisk policies. In other news, an Upstate judge allows a lawsuit to continue against the General Electric Company for its contamination of homes with an industrial solvent decades ago.
The Recuse Fuse
Posted on May 07, 2008By Jason Boogjasonboog@judicialstudies.comPosted 05-07-08 With judges furiously suing lawmakers, members of the bench are finding more and more reasons to excuse themselves from presiding over certain firms' cases. This could get explosive.
JUDGES V. PLAINTIFFSBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com
Posted on May 07, 2008JUDGES V. PLAINTIFFSBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com Posted 05-07-08The Appellate Division rescued plaintiffs in a pair of cases from trial court rulings that, in the appellate panels’ view, unfairly hamstrung the personal injury lawsuits.In one of the cases, an appellate panel tossed out a verdict for the city in a suit brought by an injured employee because Kings County Justice Joseph Levine allowed the city to ambush the plaintiff with a late-disclosed witness...
LexPress: Judge Sues News
Posted on May 07, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 05-07-08 Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Larry D. Martin files a $10 million defamation suit against The Daily News. In other news, Uma Thurman's stalker is convicted.
LexPress: Public Calamity, Punitive Pirro
Posted on May 06, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.com Posted: 05-06-08 New York City begins enforcing its new health code requiring certain restaurants to prominently display calorie counts on menus. In other news, here comes Court Pestilence.
LexPress: Silver Tongue Lashing
Posted on May 05, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.com Posted: 05-05-08 Sheldon Silver takes on the pay raise recusal movement. A Brooklyn Surrogate Judge receives a death threat. And the Southern District tosses the lawsuit of the MTA's disgruntled former security director.
LexPress: Suit Storm Swells
Posted on May 02, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.com Posted: 05-02-08 While Judith Kaye sends an email to judges warning against any behavior that could hurt their cause for a raise, an Erie County Supreme Court Justice tries to remove the law firm of Assembly Speaker (and pay raise impeder) Sheldon Silver from representing the County in a major suit against 77 drug companies.
LexPress: Lawyers, Guns, and Money
Posted on May 01, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.com Posted: 05-01-08New York City's lawsuit against the gun industry is dismissed. In other news, another judge recuses himself over accusations of judicial pay raise interference.
Justice Plays Detective
Posted on April 30, 2008By Leah Nelsonlnelson@judicialstudies.com Posted 04-30-08When Governor David Paterson chose Justice Joseph Fisch to serve as the State's Inspector General, he was reaching back across more than a quarter century of personal history.
LOOSE LIPSBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com
Posted on April 30, 2008LOOSE LIPSBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com Posted 04-30-08New York County Justice Edward J. McLaughlin, who has regularly gotten into trouble with the Appellate Division for hectoring and badgering jurors, was reversed again, this time for overbearing behavior towards a criminal defendant and his supporting witnesses...
LexPress: Stoking Fears, Calming Fears
Posted on April 30, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.com 04-30-08Chief Judge Judith Kaye reassures the Governor that judges won't grind their dockets to a halt amid the pay raise lawsuit. In other news, the Appellate Division finds the Port Authority liable for damages stemming from the 1993 World Trade Center terrorist bombing...
LexPress: Judges Gone Wild
Posted on April 29, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.com Posted: 04-29-08 In an apparent gesture of unity to Chief Judge Judith Kaye's ongoing judicial pay-raise lawsuit, more judges recuse themselves in cases involving legislator-attorneys. In other news, Queens Supreme Court Justice Arthur Cooperman shoots back at the media for blitzing his home over the weekend.
LexPress: Pay Suit Warning
Posted on April 28, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.com Posted: 04-28-08 Governor Patterson has some words of caution for participants in the lawsuit filed by state judges to encourage a pay raise. And various parties weigh in on the Sean Bell verdict.
LexPress: Day of Reckoning
Posted on April 25, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 04-25-08The city waits with bated breath for a verdict in the Sean Bell case. In other news, in a 3-2 decision the Appellate Division refuses to dismiss charges against former New York Stock Exchange chair Kenneth Langone.
LexPress: Judges in Flux, but Club Kalua Stays
Posted on April 24, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 04-24-08Bound for Albany as the new counsel to Governor David Patterson, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice James Yates decides to stay on the bench. In other news, after losing its liquor license a resilient strip club hardly misses a beat...
Justice in the Eye of the Storm
Posted on April 23, 2008By Jason Boogjasonboog@judicialstudies.comPosted 04-23-08Conflict claims are swirling all around the judicial salary litigation. Judicial Reports takes a closer look at the Justice involved in two of these suits, Edward H...
HASTY BRONX JUSTICEBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com
Posted on April 23, 2008HASTY BRONX JUSTICEBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com Posted 04-23-08In two cases last week, the Appellate Division reinstated complaints that were summarily dismissed by Bronx County Justice Betty Owen Stinson, a judge with an apparent propensity for too hastily sending worthy plaintiffs packing...
LexPress: Brothers in Arms
Posted on April 23, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 04-23-08Case closed for another Garson brother. In other news, the Second Circuit dismisses a class action suit against former EPA chief Christine Todd Whitman over allegedly untrue statements she made about New York's air quality after 9/11.
LexPress: Bacterium Tremens
Posted on April 22, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 04-22-08After four years, a University of Buffalo art professor is acquitted of mail fraud charges (and the inference of terrorism) for using illegally obtained bacteria in an art installation...
LexPress: Willing to Serve
Posted on April 21, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 04-21-08A lawsuit takes aim at Nassau County's allegedly biased method of selecting grand juries. In other news, two Rochester-area brothers sue the Monroe County DA's office over a botched insurance fraud investigation that ruined their auto repair shop.
LexPress: The Masquerade
Posted on April 18, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 04-18-08The City of Newburgh's Police Chief squares off against a City Court judge over an alleged incident of anti-law-enforcement bias. In other news, the tabloids break down the indictment of two City Council staffers on embezzlement charges.
LexPress: Counting Calories
Posted on April 17, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 04-17-08 A judge OKs a city health code enforcing the display of caloric information on restaurant menus. In other news, J.K. Rowling and her nemesis fight to the bitter end.
Quest to Suppress
Posted on April 16, 2008By Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com Posted 04-16-08 The Appellate Division split over police tactics in an otherwise legal traffic stop. The majority ruled that the officer's inventory of vehicle contents became the pretext for an illegal search.
LexPress: Avenues of Escape
Posted on April 16, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 04-16-08The NYPD agrees to alter its crowd control procedures for political demonstrations. In other news, the Court of Appeals takes a field trip to the Bronx.
LexPress: Shadowy Rememberances
Posted on April 15, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 04-15-08 Vito Lopez prepares to reenact some legendary Brooklyn patronage games. In other news, The New York Times reveals the troubling pattern of ineffective attorneys filing substandard immigration cases before the Second Circuit.
LexPress: Judge Slips, Falls, Sues!
Posted on April 14, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 04-14-08 A Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice files a $1 million slip-and-fall case after fracturing his knee in his own courthouse. In other news, Governor Patterson makes two appointments to the Appellate Division, First Department.
Breaking the Bank
Posted on April 11, 2008By Jason Boogjasonboog@judicialstudies.comPosted 04-11-08 Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye has taken grief from some of her colleagues for months, even years, for demurring on litigation over the appalling lack of a pay raise for the judiciary...
LexPress: Rather, Redstone, and Righteous Railing
Posted on April 11, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 04-11-08After multiple dismissals by Judge Ira Gammerman, has the heart really been cut from the Dan Rather lawsuit? And what happens when a judge "patriotically" dismisses a speeding ticket for the wife of a soldier in Iraq?
Kaye To Announce Pay Suit
Posted on April 10, 2008By Jason Boogjasonboog@judicialstudies.comPosted 04-10-08Following 10 years without a raise, Chief Judge Judith Kaye is poised to sue on behalf of hundreds of frustrated judges this afternoon. While the press release didn't specify who would be named in the suit, the formal announcement is set for 1 pm today.
LexPress: Shotgun Justice
Posted on April 10, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 04-10-08 Judges in a security-lapsed Long Island courthouse plead with the Town Board for a new facility. In other news, a Southern District Judge allows heroin charges to continue against an Afghan warlord who was duped into coming to America by a private security firm that thought he knew the whereabouts of Osama Bin Ladin...
HOLDMAN CENTRAL RAILROAD By Mark
Posted on April 09, 2008HOLDMAN CENTRAL RAILROAD By Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com Posted 04-09-08Kings County Justice Robert Holdman kept the Appellate Division busy over the past year reversing convictions entered after plea and sentencing hearings that he oversaw in 2006...
Judicial Abacus
Posted on April 09, 2008By Dirk Olindirkolin@judicialstudies.comPosted 04-09-08The room was packed with the brightest of legal luminaries — from Sandra Day O'Connor and Stephen Breyer to the Chief Justice of Ghana. Academic and bar heavyweights were all around. A forum of self-congratulatory blather? Hardly...
Lexpress: The Eggman's Revenge
Posted on April 09, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 04-09-08 A Long Island Rail Road passenger with a history of aggressively defending his right to privacy gets his day in court — and somehow wins. In other news, Donald Trump, who has "a Ph...
LexPress: Bronx Cheer
Posted on April 08, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 04-08-08 The new Bronx Hall of Justice has long lines, radio dead spaces, and a lot of hard feelings. In other news, the self-described "adopted son" of John Gotti fingers two allegedly corrupt judges in Queens, one of whom is still on the bench.
LexPress: The "Petty Tyrant"
Posted on April 07, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 04-07-08 A Niagara judge removed from office for jailing 46 defendants over a ringing cell phone gets his day in court. In other news, a new lawsuit alleges the city cherry-picked scholars to vet a study in favor of its controversial calorie display regulation.
Lexpress: Light Cigs, No Dice
Posted on April 04, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 04-04-08 The Second Circuit dismisses a class action suit filed by millions of smokers who claimed they were duped by the alleged health benefits of light cigarettes. But Starbucks — and its tip-hungry shift supervisors — might not be so lucky.
LexPress: Borat's Newsworthy Nature
Posted on April 03, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 04-03-08 A Southern District Judge dismisses a lawsuit filed by a man who says Sasha Baron Cohen illegally used footage of him in the movie "Borat." In other news, an Eastern District Judge allows a landmark racial discrimination suit against the NYPD to go forward.
Sacrificial Judge
Posted on April 02, 2008By Leah Nelsonlnelson@judicialstudies.com Posted 04-02-08 A case involving the rights of homeless families in New York City is now roiling its fourth mayoralty. For years, it has been overseen by one of Manhattan's premier jurists. Whatever the merits of the underlying arguments, however, there's one word for the attacks on Justice Helen Freedman...
POISONED FRUIT By Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com
Posted on April 02, 2008POISONED FRUIT By Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com Posted 04-02-08Queens County Justice Arthur Cooperman, one of the most oft reversed of New York City’s criminal judges, got reversed again, this time for allowing evidence into trial that was gathered during an illegal police search of an apartment...
LexPress: Coloring Juries, Capping Caseloads
Posted on April 02, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 04-02-08 The court system caps the number of cases law guardians can handle at 150. In other news, "maverick" Eastern District Judge Jack Weinstein declares a mistrial in a child porn case he had overseen himself...
LexPress: The Post-Modernist Court
Posted on April 01, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 04-01-08 In an unusual hearing, all the judges from the Second Circuit ponder the possibly inherent subjectivity in departing from federal sentencing guidelines as allowed under U.S. v. Booker...
Lexpress: The Fen-Phen, 9/11 Connection
Posted on March 31, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 03-31-08 An attorney for 9/11 cleanup workers fights his own legal battle. In other news, an Eastern District Judge allows thousands of misdemeanor arrestees to sue Nassau County over illegal strip-searches.
LexPress: Navigational Circumstances
Posted on March 28, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 03-28-08The Second Circuit rejects the City of New York's bid to limit its liability in lawsuits stemming from the 2003 Staten Island ferry disaster. In other news, a Queens judge rules that a prosecutor's alleged attempt to have her attorney-boyfriend appointed counsel to a suspected drug dealer wasn't enough to appoint a special prosecutor.
LexPress: Hellerstein Central
Posted on March 27, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 03-27-08Two important rulings are made regarding cases filed by 9/11 cleanup workers who have developed health problems. In other news, an Eastern District judge must decide the cause of beach erosion in Southampton...
NO PLEAS IN LEGALESE By Mark
Posted on March 26, 2008NO PLEAS IN LEGALESE By Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com Posted 03-26-08New York County Justice Ronald A. Zweibel, the defense attorney and prosecutor all clearly understood the lingo tossed around at Lester Achaibar’s plea hearing. The trouble is, according to the Appellate Division, there is no indication in the record that Achaibar had a clue what was going on...
Bulletproofing the Bench
Posted on March 26, 2008By Jason Boogjasonboog@judicialstudies.comPosted 03-26-08 An attack in federal court, plus a Brooklyn judge's laments about parking problems, have thrust courthouse security back into the news. How safe are the halls of justice?
Lexpress: Patterson to Tap Justice Yates
Posted on March 26, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 03-26-08 Manhattan Supreme Court Justice James Yates is reportedly in line to become counsel to new Governor David A. Patterson. In other news, the Court of Appeals weights in on two big questions regarding warrants and searches.
LexPress: Spies Like Us
Posted on March 25, 2008By Jesse Sunenblick jsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 03-25-08 Attorneys for two Albany-area Muslim men challenging their convictions on terror charges ask the Second Circuit to make public government evidence that may prove the men were illegally spied upon by the National Security Agency...
LexPress: Warrantless Wiretapping Goes to Court
Posted on March 24, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 03-24-08 The Second Circuit today hears the appeals of two Muslim Albany-area men who were caught by an FBI sting and convicted of laundering money connected to an alleged terror plot. In other news, a new proposal aims at streamlining New York's town and village courts...
LexPress: The Follies of Duane Hart
Posted on March 21, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 03-21-08 The Commission on Judicial Conduct for the second time censures Queens Supreme Court Justice Duane Hart. In other news, judge-mocking protesters take to downtown Brooklyn.
LexPress: Run-on Sentences
Posted on March 20, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 03-20-08A Suffolk County judge hands down a controversial sentence to the man convicted of gunning down his son's aggressor. In other news, a Manhattan judge allows a defamation case to continue against the creator of "Law & Order...
UNDUE PREJUDICEBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com
Posted on March 19, 2008UNDUE PREJUDICEBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com Posted 03-19-08Kings County Justice Bernadette Bayne gave an ambulance driver named Alice McGloin such a rough ride in a trial that the Appellate Division threw out the verdict. The jurors concluded that a traffic accident on the FDR Drive was McGloin’s fault, but according to the appellate panel, several bad rulings from Bayne on evidence and jury instructions may have had something to do with that...
The Judicial Lock Box
Posted on March 19, 2008By Leah Nelsonlnelson@judicialstudies.comPosted 03-19-08 The monitors who collect data on federal judges' docket management keep most of the statistics locked up, only making public the lists of late and languishing matters. Why are they putting their worst foot forward?
LexPress: Ex-Judge Steaming
Posted on March 19, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 03-19-08 Nixzmary Brown's stepfather is convicted of manslaughter, in a decision jurors called a "compromise." In other news, a judge removed from the bench for favoritism is irate over the dismissal of his appeal for improperly binded paperwork.
LexPress: Merger (and Acquisitions)
Posted on March 18, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 03-18-08 The merger of the Bronx's Criminal and Supreme Courts runs into trouble: more cases (and, according to the DA, the "unconscious factor" of "low morale").
Lexpress: Parking Problems
Posted on March 17, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 03-17-08 Brooklyn judges prepare to sue the city over the loss of parking spaces in Columbus Park. In other news, 11 months after an Erie justice was acquitted of impaired driving charges, she has yet to return to the bench.
Lexpress: New Governor, No Raise
Posted on March 14, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 03-14-08 In his first news conference since the resignation of Eliot Spitzer, soon-to-be governor David Paterson reflects on the unlikelihood of judicial pay raises any time soon.
LexPress: 'Mad Dog' and the MS-13's
Posted on March 13, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 03-13-08A federal judge refuses to recuse himself after referring to members of the Latin American gang MS 13 as "animals" and "mad dogs." In other news, The New York Law Journal discusses the difficult decision about whether or not to prosecute former Governor Eliot Spitzer.
SHUNNING THE BRONXBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com
Posted on March 12, 2008SHUNNING THE BRONXBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com Posted 03-12-08Plaintiffs in personal injury suits often stretch for reasons to file their cases in the plaintiff-friendly environs of the Bronx, while defendants angle for ways to move tort suits elsewhere...
The End of Judge Days
Posted on March 12, 2008By Jason Boogjasonboog@judicialstudies.com Posted 03-12-08Like many states, New York has long kept a record of when judges show up for work — on the bench, in chambers, wherever. Until now.
Bronx County Election 2008 Fact Sheet
Posted on March 12, 2008Twelfth Judicial District: Bronx County Supreme Court Positions Authorized By Election Law: 24 Number of Assembly Districts Within Judicial District: 11 Incumbent Supreme Court JusticesAlexander W. Hunter, Jr. Supreme Court Justices Reaching Age LimitNone New York State Bronx County Board of Elections1780 Grand Concourse-5th Floor Bronx, NY 10457Phone: 718-299-9017 New York State Bronx County Board of Elections Officers Joseph J...
LexPress: Ramos Recusal Refusal
Posted on March 12, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 03-12-08 An Appellate Division panel rules that Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Charles Ramos can continue to preside over the excessive compensation case against former New York Stock Exchange Chairman Richard Grasso.
LexPress: Now Hear This
Posted on March 11, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 03-11-08The administrative judge presiding over the relicensing hearing of Indian Point nuclear power plant threatens to boot court watchers who complained about the lack of microphones. In other news, the Commission on Judicial Conduct sanctions a Brookfield town justice.
Lexpress: New Fed Complaint Rules
Posted on March 10, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 03-10-08 Reforms are expected on how courts handle complaints against federal judges. In other news, a former State Supreme Court Justice steps down as a Judicial Hearing Officer amid allegations he transported a prostitute across state lines to perform at a fraternal event.
LexPress: Kitchen Sink Approach
Posted on March 07, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comand Leah Nelsonlnelson@judicialstudies.comPosted: 03-07-08 The New York Times offers another analysis of the prosecution's tactics in the Sean Bell case. In other news, a traffic ticket quagmire persists in Seneca County, and Clarence Norman's lawyer says his client's not such a bad guy after all.
LexPress: Passenger Law Grounded?
Posted on March 06, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comand Leah Nelsonlnelson@judicialstudies.comPosted: 03-06-08 The Eastern District seems poised to repeal New York's Passenger Bill of Rights. In other news, a Southern District judge clarifies the unlawful exclusion of West Indians from a jury in the Bronx.
HASTY JUSTICEBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com
Posted on March 05, 2008HASTY JUSTICEBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com Posted 03-05-08New York County Justice Richard B. Lowe III keeps getting reversed for too quickly jumping to conclusions about complicated disputes that, according to the Appellate Division, are not quite as easy to untangle as the judge would like to think...
Conservatives in Crossfire
Posted on March 05, 2008By Jason Boogjasonboog@judicialstudies.comPosted 03-05-08 For years Nassau and Suffolk Counties have been Republican red islands surrounded by a New York City sea of Democratic blue. Although the dynamic has given the Conservative Party outsize power when it comes to judge-picking, now that might all be changing.
LexPress: Jumping Off Point
Posted on March 05, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.com Posted: 03-05-08 Criminal charges are reinstated against skydiver Jeb Corliss, for his attempted jump from the Empire State Building. In other news, The Village Voice chats up city attorneys about the questionable strategy of prosecutors in the Sean Bell case.
Nassau/Suffolk Counties Election 2008 Fact Sheet
Posted on March 05, 2008Tenth Judicial District: Nassau/SuffolkSupreme Court Positions Authorized By Election Law Within Judicial District: 47Number of Assembly Districts Within Judicial District: 21 Incumbent Supreme Court JusticesRobert A. LifsonKenneth A. Davis Supreme Court Justices Reaching Age LimitPeter Fox CohalanWilliam J...
New York County Election 2008 Fact Sheet
Posted on March 05, 2008First Judicial District: New York CountySupreme Court Positions Authorized By Election Law Within Judicial District: 38Number of Assembly Districts Within Judicial District: 12 Incumbent Supreme Court JusticesMartin SchoenfeldMarcy L. KahnSupreme Court Justices Reaching Age LimitLouis B...
Richmond County Election 2008 Fact Sheet
Posted on March 05, 2008Second Judicial District: Richmond CountySupreme Court Positions Authorized By Election Law Within Judicial District: 52Number of Assembly Districts Within Judicial District: 24 Incumbent Supreme Court JusticesAriel BelenPlummer E. LottMarsha L...
LexPress: Capital Calculus Questions, Pt. II
Posted on March 04, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 03-04-08 More about the quiet mutiny among Brooklyn federal judges opposed to the glut of expensive and unrealistic capital cases. In other news, the horrific story of a man drugged and cavity-searched by Albany Sheriff's Department investigators.
Kings County Election 2008 Fact Sheet
Posted on March 04, 2008Second Judicial District: Kings and Richmond CountySupreme Court Positions Authorized By Election Law: 52Number of Assembly Districts Within Judicial District: 24 Incumbent Supreme Court JusticesAriel Belen Plummer E. Lott Marsha L. Steinhardt John M...
LexPress: To Plea, Or Not To Plea
Posted on March 03, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 03-03-08 The New York Law Journal offers a comparison of two judges' treatment of recent plea bargains. In other news, the Court of Appeals will hear entreaties from former Tyco executives Dennis Kozlowski and Mark Swartz.
LexPress: Second Crack at Sentences
Posted on February 29, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 02-29-08Federal judges get a jump on identifying crack defendants who may qualify for sentence reductions — not that the U.S. Attorney's Office necessarily plans on cooperating.
LexPress: Sending a Message
Posted on February 28, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 02-28-08The judge in the Bernard Kerik corruption case reiterates his order banning Kerik's former attorney, Kenneth Breen. In other news, noting the tension between the NYPD and school administrators, a Criminal Court Judge dismisses charges against a high school principal who intervened in a student's arrest.
SPINAL MANTRABy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com
Posted on February 27, 2008SPINAL MANTRABy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com Posted 02-27-08The Appellate Division’s Second Department called two more judges onto the carpet last week for a lesson about the state’s no-fault auto insurance law. They joined a list of approximately two dozen other judges who have been overturned by Second Department appellate panels in the past year for setting the “serious injury” threshold too low for lawsuits attempting to get past the state’s no-fault law and into court...
When Judge Is Jury
Posted on February 27, 2008By Leah Nelsonlnelson@judicialstudies.comPosted 02-27-08Supreme Court Justice Arthur Cooperman is reputedly tough on defendants. He's also shown no reluctance to lock up convicted cops. So why did the cop defendants in the Sean Bell shooting trial opt out of a jury and in favor of a bench trial?
LexPress: To Catch A Network
Posted on February 27, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 02-27-08 Southern District Judge Denny Chin allows a lawsuit against NBC and its controversial program "To Catch a Predator" to go forward. In other news, the City of New York settles a lawsuit stemming from a dark chapter in its employment history...
LexPress: The Gay Divorcee(s)
Posted on February 26, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.com Posted: 02-26-08 A Manhattan judge rules in favor of same-sex divorce. In other news, The New York Times blogs from day one of the Sean Bell murder trial.
LexPress: Losing Home Law
Posted on February 25, 2008By Jason Boogjasonboog@judicialstudies.comPosted: 2-25-2008 As the Commission on Judicial Conduct searches for a leader, presumptive GOP Presidential nominee John McCain battles conservative fears about his judge-picking instincts.
LexPress: Drain-O
Posted on February 22, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 02-22-08 The employee-friendly judge in the Delphi Corporation bankruptcy case slices a corporate compensation package.
LexPress: Katzmann's Message
Posted on February 21, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.com Posted: 02-21-08 A Second Circuit judge criticizes the "disturbing pattern of ineffectiveness" among immigration attorneys. In other news, a Bronx slumlord is sent to jail for repeated housing code violations.
The Price of Admission
Posted on February 20, 2008By Leah Nelson lnelson@judicialstudies.comPosted 02-20-08 Increasing evidence of wrongful convictions is focusing attention on new corners of the criminal justice system. One area is confessions. How should judges weigh competing claims about the viability of such admissions?
MIRANDA RARITYBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com
Posted on February 20, 2008MIRANDA RARITYBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com Posted 02-20-08 Justice James A. Yates allowed prosecutors to use a confession that, according to the Appellate Division, was extracted by a detective from Rufus Graham in violation of his Miranda rights...
LexPress: Expletive Deleted
Posted on February 20, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 02-20-08 Attorneys rally against a Spitzer plan to assume control of a board that divvies up $25 million in state funds to indigent defense services. In other news, the Commission on Judicial Conduct censures a Fulton County Family Court judge.
LexPress: Phillips' Sad Saga
Posted on February 19, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 02-19-08 Former Civil Court Judge John L. Phillips, whose assets were seemingly depleted by court-appointed guardians, has died. In other news, two federal judges allow employment discrimination suits to go forward.
LexPress: Detention Attention
Posted on February 15, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 02-15-08 The Second Circuit seems unwilling to let FBI director Robert Mueller or former Attorney General John Ashcroft be held personally responsible for the "crude," if not unconstitutional, detention of illegal Muslim immigrants after 9/11.
LexPress: Friends and Enemies
Posted on February 14, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 02-14-09 A judge rules that contact via MySpace qualifies as breaking an order of protection. In other news, Eastern District Judge John Gleeson assails federal sentencing rules in a speech...
GOLDEN SOMBREROBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com
Posted on February 13, 2008GOLDEN SOMBREROBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com Posted 02-13-08 February 5th wasn’t such a super Tuesday for Kings County Justice Francois A. Rivera. He was reversed by the Appellate Division four times on that day in a diverse array of cases...
The Color of Judge Money
Posted on February 13, 2008By Jason Boogjasonboog@judicialstudies.comPosted 02-13-08Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has sent New York Supreme Court incumbents and aspirants back to our local carnival of judicial selection, the time has come to start following the money again. And there's a lot of following to do.
LexPress: School Daze
Posted on February 13, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 02-13-08 A New York City school desegregation law is challenged. In other news, as the date approaches for 20,000 crack offenders to qualify for early release, the debate reaches a Senate subcommittee...
LexPress: Favors and Funds
Posted on February 12, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 02-12-08 A Brooklyn judge repays a campaign donor by giving his son a court attorney job, according to the tabloids.
LexPress: Thanks But No Thanks
Posted on February 11, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 02-11-08 Four judicial groups refuse to endorse a resolution urging "unwavering support" for the various players in the judicial pay raise standoff. In other news, the resentencing of crack convicts in Albany and Rochester hits a snag.
LexPress: Fear of Exposure
Posted on February 08, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 02-08-08 The Court of Appeals invalidates the state's six-month damages cap for people seemingly exposed to the AIDS virus. In other news, the City of Rochester was right to bankroll the tab for a now-defunct high speed ferry.
LexPress: Phones and Loans
Posted on February 07, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 02-07-08A state Supreme Court justice rules against a lender in a decision that hinges upon New York's new predatory lending law. Meanwhile, New York parents are fighting to keep cellphones in the school.
LexPress: Justifying a Judge Suit
Posted on February 06, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 02-06-08A Manhattan judge allows a second judicial pay raise suit to proceed on a separation of powers claim. In other news, will the Second Circuit reinstate the principal of a city Arabic-oriented high school who was fired for discussing the term "intifada" with the press?
TROUBLE IN EVIDENCE
Posted on February 06, 2008By Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.comPosted 02-06-08 Two rare reversals on motions to suppress criminal evidence reveal the relativity of search-and-seizure oversight.
LexPress: A Win for Hertz and Avis
Posted on February 05, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 02-05-08The Appellate Division issues a closely-watched decision about rental car agency insurance rules. In other news, a Manhattan judge is overruled for allowing a hospital to administer psychotropic drugs to an involuntarily-committed teenager.
LexPress: From Canada, With Love
Posted on February 04, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 02-04-08The Fourth Department rules that New York State must respect valid, out-of-state marriages of same-sex couples. In other news, Newsday explores shady political linkage in a case against 10 Long Island nurses charged with endangering patients at nursing homes.
LexPress: Official Victim
Posted on February 01, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 02-01-08The First Department reverses a Manhattan Surrogate's allegations of foul play and rules that a physician last seen on the evening of September 10, 2001 near the World Trade Center likely died from the next morning's terrorist attacks...
Lexpress: Pervert.com
Posted on January 31, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 01-31-08State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo joins with the Legislature in touting a new bill aimed at online sex predators. In other news, a Suffolk County judge disallows testimony on false confessions.
LexPress: Lynne Stewart's Knowledge and Intent
Posted on January 30, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 01-30-08 Lynne Stewart's appeal of her conviction for abetting a terrorist group before the Second Circuit touches on the finer points of the First Amendment. In other news, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Emily Jane Goodman writes about a new anti-harassment law that would allow tenants to sue neglectful landlords in Housing Court.
Name Recognition
Posted on January 30, 2008By Heidi Brugginkhbruggink@judicialstudies.comPosted 01-30-08Appellate court leader Gail Prudenti benefited early on from family political connections, but today her record speaks for itself.
NO-FAULT SCORECARDBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com
Posted on January 30, 2008NO-FAULT SCORECARDBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com Posted 1-30-08The Appellate Division’s Second Department has picked up this year where it left off last year in at least one respect: the appellate court is trying to teach some lessons about the ins and outs of the state’s no-fault auto insurance statute to a bunch of wayward judges in Brooklyn...
LexPress: Jumping Out of the Jury Pool
Posted on January 29, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.com Posted: 01-28-08What to make of the decision by defense attorneys for the three detectives on trial for killing Sean Bell to opt for a bench trial in Queens? And elsewhere, what to make of 1,200 Louisiana flood victims filing suit in New York, after their own state Legislature declined to grant payment of a $91 million verdict...
Lexpress: The Nominal Nussbaum
Posted on January 28, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 01-28-08 Does the enlisting of attorney Bernard Nussbaum in the judicial pay raise quagmire portend a lawsuit? Also, police investigate the possibility that a Brooklyn Surrogate Judge was targeted with racist graffiti.
LexPress: Too Many Questions
Posted on January 25, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 01-25-08The New York Times has an interview with Brooklyn Surrogate Court Judge Margarita López Torres, in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's rejection of her challenge to New York's judicial election system...
LexPress: In Queens We Trust
Posted on January 24, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comand Leah Nelsonlnelson@judicialstudies.comPosted: 1-24-08 The Appellate Division rules that the Sean Bell murder trial will stay in Queens. In other news, district attorneys from New York's 62 counties meet and discuss expanding the role of nonviolent drug offender courts...
Where Next?
Posted on January 23, 2008By Jason Boogjasonboog@judicialstudies.comPosted 1-23-2008Even members of the U.S. Supreme Court who rejected the constitutional challenge to New York's judicial selection system agreed that the status quo was arguably 'stupid.' So what avenues are still open to those who would air out the smoke filled rooms?
LexPress: Budgeted In
Posted on January 23, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 01-23-08 Governor Spitzer's proposed 2008 budget contains two judicial pay raise plans. In other news, a Court of Appeals judge's mass email urging solidarity on the issue gains support.
CORRALLING WAYWARD JURORSBy Mark
Posted on January 23, 2008CORRALLING WAYWARD JURORSBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com Posted 1-23-08Last year, the Appellate Division reversed a Manhattan judge for coming down too hard on a juror who the judge believed was trying to finagle his way off a jury. Last week, the appellate court reversed New York County Supreme Court Justice Lewis Bart Stone for cutting a possibly malingering juror way too much slack...
LexPress: Cuba (Not) Libre
Posted on January 22, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 1-22-08The city's Department of Education can investigate a high school field trip to Cuba, a Manhattan judge rules. In other news, a 500-pound retired cop is denied a hike in his disability pay, and the sale of the General Motors Building is stalled by a lawsuit alleging its last sale in 2003 was orchestrated through a "sham auction...
LexPress: The CIA and Hellerstein
Posted on January 18, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 1-18-08Southern District Judge Alvin Hellerstein has fighting words for the CIA as the interrogation tape scandal hits Manhattan Federal District Court. In other news, pedicab drivers are rebuffed, and the special prosecutors appointed to investigate the Martin Tankleff case have a court hearing.
LexPress: Party Time!
Posted on January 17, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 1-17-07 The New York Times, among others (including us, see below), discusses the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark decision yesterday upholding New York's method of electing its trial court judges...
The Geography of Justice
Posted on January 16, 2008By Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.comPosted 01-16-08 Whether you're representing construction worker with a highrise injury or a tenant with cat in a condo, when it comes to the law in New York, your borough is your destiny.
Borough Bashing
Posted on January 16, 2008By John Ennisjohnennis@judicialstudies.comPosted 1-16-08Do reversal rates differ by borough? Do we know why? Does it matter?
DRUG RESENTENCING REPORT CARDBy
Posted on January 16, 2008DRUG RESENTENCING REPORT CARDBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.comPosted 1-16-08More than a thousand incarcerated drug offenders were eligible to apply for more lenient sentences under the Drug Law Reform Acts of 2004 and 2005. Through the end of last year, 115 appeals from resentencing decisions by New York City trial judges had made it through the two local departments of the Appellate Division...
SCOTUS Unanimously Rejects Reformers
Posted on January 16, 2008By Jason Boogjasonboog@judicialstudies.comPosted 1-16-08 Why New York judicial reformers failed to win over the high court.
LexPress: Union Dues
Posted on January 16, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 1-16-08 A settlement is approved in a 37-year-old racial discrimination suit against the Sheet Metal Workers Union. In other news, Governor Spitzer names four appointments to the Appellate Division, Second Department.
LexPress: Expanding Dockets and Muscle Mass
Posted on January 15, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 01-15-07The numbers say Suffolk County needs more judges. In other news, the first doctor implicated in Albany District Attorney David Soares's steroid investigation is sentenced to prison.
LexPress: Dockets and Development
Posted on January 14, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 01-14-07 The latest federal court backlog statistics offer more questions than answers. In other news, a Manhattan Supreme Court justice dismisses one of the last remaining legal challenges to the Atlantic Yards development project...
LexPress: Public Space or Private School Sports?
Posted on January 11, 2008By: Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted:01-11-07 Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Shirley Kornreich will decide the fate of a city plan to turn over 66 athletic fields on Randall's Island to private schools. In other news, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Edward Lehner rules on a second pay raise lawsuit.
LexPress: Dissecting Spitzer's Speech
Posted on January 10, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 01-10-07The New York Law Journal reports on Governor Spitzer's State of the State speech, which ignored judicial pay raises. In other news, the NYPD is sued by groups who want access to its database of stop-and-frisk recordings, in an attempt to limn the department's use of racial profiling...
LexPress: Leaving in Droves?
Posted on January 09, 2008By: Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 01-09-07 The judicial pay raise scandal claims an Oneida County judge. In other news, after a settlement between New York City and two antiwar groups, Central Park is no longer closed to massive protest groups...
FIX WORSE THAN GLITCHBy Mark ThompsonPosted
Posted on January 09, 2008FIX WORSE THAN GLITCHBy Mark ThompsonPosted 1-9-08New York County Justice Donna M. Mills deprived the plaintiff in a medical malpractice action of a right to have each juror individually polled when they returned from deliberations and the foreman announced their unanimous verdict in favor of the defendants...
Ready for the Next Rung?
Posted on January 08, 2008By Jason Boogjasonboog@judicialstudies.comPosted 01-09-08 Governor Eliot Spitzer has made good on a promise to promote more diversity in the upper echelons of the judiciary. How do his two recent picks stand up?
Lexpress: Letters of the Law
Posted on January 08, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comand Leah Nelsonlnelson@judicialstudies.comPosted: 01-08-08 For the second time, a Southern District judge affirms a controversial settlement between European life insurance companies and the relatives of Holocaust victims...
LexPress: the Jury of John White
Posted on January 07, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 12-07-07 The jurors who say they were coerced into finding an African American man from Long Island guilty of manslaughter keep talking. In other news, a lawsuit filed by insurers against the Saudi Royal Family, alleging financial ties to Al Qaeda, moves forward.
LexPress: Failure to Disclose
Posted on January 04, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 01-04-08 Chief Judge Kaye offers an olive branch — or is it a fig leaf? — in the salary wars. Plus, the Appellate Division chastises the Bronx District Attorney's office for a blatant Brady violation...
LexPress: Feeling the Heat
Posted on January 03, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.com01-03-08 Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota says he won't retry vindicated parent killer Martin Tankleff. In other news, a Southern District magistrate bestows the right to protect confidential sources — traditionally the domain of journalists — on human rights groups like Amnesty International.
LexPress: Return to Sender
Posted on January 02, 2008By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 01-01-08The Legal Aid Society asks a judge to reconsider his dismissal of a sex abuse lawsuit filed by female prisoners. In other news, Governor Spitzer makes two appointments to New York's appellate bench.
Related Law Questions
Am I obligated to pay on a home equity line of credit that has been discharged through chapter 7?
The reaffirmation is done through the payments you have been making to the compa...
#1 Online Legal Resource
On 08-28 at 21:13PM
Ten months later, Fed must reveal names of emergency lending recipients #FOIA
On 08-25 at 19:02PM
Squeaky Fromme, would-be Ford assassin and Manson devotee, released from prison
On 08-14 at 15:19PM
Likely unintended consequence of cash-for-clunkers stimulus is dampening of 2010 spending
On 08-14 at 14:34PM
Palm seeks to halt Palm Pre Android theme on copyright and trademark ground
On 08-12 at 17:30PM
Congressional investigation demonstrates Karl Rove lied about his active role in US attorney's firing
On 08-12 at 16:20PM
Family of New York City swine flu victim to sue city for failure to secure school #nyc #swineflu
On 08-12 at 12:59PM
Real Network's DVD copying software deemed to break DMCA's anti-circumvention provisions
On 08-12 at 12:57PM
Prepaid funeral operators indicted for $100 Million fraud
On 08-12 at 12:53PM
NY Jets join Cincinnati, Dallas, Green Bay, Houston & Seattle #NFL teams offering branded state lottery games
On 08-12 at 12:43PM
Are you the author of this blog? Adding USLaw.com to your Blogroll increases relevance. You qualify to display a USLaw Network badge.
Suggest changes to this blog's description or nominate another for inclusion. Register for updates.
Am I obligated to pay on a home equity line of credit that has been discharged through chapter 7?
The reaffirmation is done through the payments you have been making to the compa...
 |
|
Contact Us | About Us | Celebrity Law Blog |
Our Partners | Disclaimer
| Law Blog Directory
| Law Jobs
| Law Tweets
| GoDaddy Hosting
All original material © 1999-2009 by USLaw.com. |