ABA Journal Top Stories

Ginsburg: War Crimes Charges Against Bush Officials Unlikely

Jul 4, 2008, 03:48 pm CDT

Prosecutions of Bush administration officials for their conduct of the fight against terrorism are unlikely, said speakers at a panel held today during the World Justice Forum in Vienna. As George W. Bush's time as U.S. president nears its end and in the wake of recent Supreme Court rulings rejecting…

‘Profile’ Investigations By FBI Being Considered at DOJ

Jul 3, 2008, 02:04 pm CDT

The Department of Justice is considering a policy change that would allow the FBI to investigate individuals within the U.S. without any basis other than that they fall within a "profile" considered to be suspicious. The change, which is being considered as part of a planned revision of investigative guidelines…

World Justice Project Reveals ‘Rule of Law Index’

Jul 3, 2008, 01:09 pm CDT

Anyone anxious to start chewing on the results of the initial findings of a new Rule of Law Index being developed by the World Justice Project will have to wait a little longer. A much-anticipated report on the Rule of Law…

Judge Nixes Execution Date for Longest-Serving Texas Inmate

Jul 3, 2008, 12:35 pm CDT

A state court judge has withdrawn the scheduled July 22 execution date for Lester Bower, Texas' longest-serving death row inmate, in order to address Bower's long-standing request for DNA testing of cigarette butts and hair strands found at the scene of the multiple murder of which he was convicted in…

Texas Judge and Law Prof in Civil Rights Case is Arrested

Jul 3, 2008, 12:10 pm CDT

A part-time Houston municipal judge and Texas Southern University law professor who is one of five plaintiffs in a federal civil rights suit against Harris County apparently spent at least several hours in jail yesterday after sheriff's deputies arrested her. April Jill Walker was arrested yesterday evening in the driveway…

IRS Isn’t Just Pursuing UBS Clients; Auditors to Look at Other Foreign Banks

Jul 3, 2008, 09:19 am CDT

In the wake of a precedent-setting federal court ruling earlier this week that the IRS can seek the names of Americans holding secret accounts from Swiss-based UBS AG, the agency is stepping up enforcement efforts at other foreign banks. It is asking auditors at major accounting firms to help identify…

Judge Tosses Suit Claiming Government Wiretapped Lawyers’ Conversations

Jul 3, 2008, 08:49 am CDT

A federal judge in San Francisco has dismissed a lawsuit that claimed the government illegally wiretapped conversations between lawyers and a client, a now-defunct charity suspected of terrorism. The lawsuit relied on a classified call log the government turned over by mistake to the client, the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation. U.S.…

Justice Department Admits Snafu in Death Penalty Case

Jul 3, 2008, 07:25 am CDT

The U.S. Justice Department has admitted it erred when it failed to inform the U.S. Supreme Court that a law adopted in 2006 authorized the death penalty for child rape in military cases. The solicitor general’s office did not file a brief in the case, Kennedy v. Louisiana, the

Lawyer Kept License After Civil Judgment in Child Sex Assault Case

Jul 3, 2008, 07:01 am CDT

Updated: A Houston lawyer recently arrested on child pornography charges had kept his law license despite a civil judgment against him for an alleged sexual assault of a child, the Houston Chronicle reports. Warren Reid Williamson entered a not guilty plea yesterday to charges of receiving and…

Student Loses Suit Claiming Unaccredited Law School Induced Him to Stay

Jul 3, 2008, 06:19 am CDT

A federal appeals court has tossed a lawsuit by a former student who claims the Southern New England School of Law fraudulently induced him to stay by promising that accreditation was imminent. The Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled plaintiff Joseph Rodi failed to show he relied on…