The Merchant of Venice, 1596. Portia speaks: The quality of mercy is not strain’d, It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest; It blesseth him that gives and him that takes: ‘Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes The throned monarch better than his crown; That being [...]

From the NY Times, March 21, 2010 The Supreme Court ruled that lawyers for people thinking of pleading guilty to a crime must advise their clients who are not citizens about the possibility that they will be deported. “It is our responsibility under the Constitution to ensure that no criminal defendant — whether a citizen [...]

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge James Peck in New York ruled for La Toya Jackson on Aug. 5 in rejecting a motion to reopen her Chapter 11 case. Jackson filed in 1995 and emerged from bankruptcy in 1999. A trust representing four unsecured creditors who were receiving monthly royalty payments from Jackson had not received any of [...]

In common law, a writ of qui tam is a writ whereby a private individual who assists a prosecution can receive all or part of any penalty imposed. Creating qui tam and whistleblower protection is the best way to root out fraud in the government. On July 15, 2010 Congress passed the Wall Street Reform [...]

No one doubts that on the whole lawyers are among the most incompetent people in any profession. They are also among the least honest, and now it turns out they are the most litigious, too. National Law. During 2009-2010 term, some 20 percent of the decision docket involved cases on lawyering. Marcia Coyle From client [...]

Despite the fact that the liberal press is condemning Arizona for its new, anti-immigrant law, most Americans are happy with it. The PEW Research Center reports these depressing findings. Fully 73% of Americans say they approve of requiring people to produce documents verifying their legal status if police ask for them. Two-thirds (67%) approve of [...]

from National Law Journal……………..Dozens of lawsuits against Toyota Motor Corp. claiming unintended acceleration of its vehicles are moving along in state courts. Lobbyists for Toyota are scrambling to rebuild its image with lawmakers……………Since 2003, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened — and closed — five investigations of sudden unintended acceleration in Toyota and Lexus [...]

Mexico leader fires up immigration row at start of US visit. By Jordi Zamora, Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON—President Felipe Calderon hit out Wednesday at “discrimination” against Mexican immigrants in Arizona, as the row over the state’s draconian new immigration law risked overshadowing his US visit. Calderon refused to hold his punches at the start of his [...]

Roanoke.com…………By Julian Walker The (Norfolk) Virginian-Pilot and Michael Sluss Felons who have fully paid their debts to society and properly applied to regain voting rights will receive a decision on their request to have their rights restored within 60 days under a plan Gov. Bob McDonnell called “the fastest and fairest procedure for restoring people’s [...]

A new Cornell University study found unattractive defendants are 22% more likely to be convicted and are likely to receive sentences that average 22 months longer than their better-looking counterparts. The study, “When Emotionality Trumps Reason,” was based on responses from 169 Cornell psychology students. Jack King, spokesman for the National Association of Criminal Defense [...]

Mr. Obama does not like the “historic” health care bill he shepherded in and inflicted on the American people. At least, he does not like it for himself. He boasted that it will affect every American family but the new health care law exempts the president from having to participate in it. It also exempts [...]

Skip the cops or it is no contest. There is not a single honest cop in any city whose population is over 250,000. In fact, there isn’t one who doesn’t commit at least two felonies per week – and if you want, I can prove that. However, the battle for the next most awful subculture [...]

Not all is lost in the war against the war. Sane people are trying to change the mad laws against the use of marijuana. Among them is Steve Fox, the director of state campaigns for the Marijuana Policy Project, the nation’s largest organization dedicated to reforming marijuana laws. Previously, from 2002-2005, Steve lobbied Congress for [...]

National Law Journal – The U.S. Supreme Court announced late Monday that it had dismissed an important pending case over prosecutorial immunity after being alerted that the dispute had been settled. The action stops in its tracks a case that could have produced a landmark decision that many believed would have reined in the longstanding [...]

National Law Journal picks the most important law stories of the last ten years. For fuller accounts, please CLICK HERE. 1. War on terror tests the limits of law 2. Accounting scandals flood the courts 3. Court splits on race and gender 4. Prosecutors behaving badly 5. The ruling that picked a president 6. Death [...]

Bad health care is bad business, no doubt about it. Still, the problem pales in comparison to injustice and corruption. Take a peek at these facts – just for starters: 48 states prohibit prisoners from voting. 30 states also exclude felons on probation. In Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi, Nevada, Tennessee, and Virginia, certain ex-felons [...]

[SG: Law students never go through a phase that medical students do. That phase is an interest in one's future profession for the good that profession does. Almost half the people who go to medical school say they went into the field because they wanted to make sick people well. That is a pretty astoundingly [...]

A bill that was passed yesterday by a vote 223-202. Every Republican and about 2 dozen Democrats voted against it. Introduced by Barney Frank, its title is: To provide for financial regulatory reform, to protect consumers and investors, to enhance Federal understanding of insurance issues, to regulate the over-the-counter derivatives markets, and for other purposes. [...]

Tricky Dick Posner is not one of my favorite judges but he sure hit the nail on the head this time. Chicagobreakingnews.com (A division of the Chicago Tribune.) It was a sentence that stunned Chicago when it was handed down in February: Former Ald. Edward Vrdolyak, long known as “Fast Eddie,” wouldn’t be spending a [...]

Reprinted in its entirety fromThe Blog of Legal Times Please CLICK HERE to read the blog. A federal appeals court today revived a suit filed by the owner of a Virginia security company who was targeted, but not arrested, for prosecution in the District of Columbia on an unregistered firearms charge. The suit, filed last [...]

Never mind Big Brother. Big Ugly is now on the job. From Ars Technica comes this frightening report. Christopher Soghoian, a graduate student at Indiana University’s School of Informatics and Computing, has made public an audio recording of Sprint/Nextel’s Electronic Surveillance Manager describing how his company has provided GPS location data about its wireless customers [...]

The National Law Journal……….The defense lawyers representing five Blackwater security guards on manslaughter charges are not entitled to a government security escort to travel in and around Iraq to investigate the criminal allegations, a federal judge in Washington ruled Monday. The lawyers argued that they should be given the same level of security as the [...]

From John Hoadley, Kalamazoo, Michigan. We’re trying to raise $2500 (media is cheaper in Kalamazoo) to support the ad and have already raised $685. Any help promoting it is appreciated. http://www.actblue.com/page/commercial Below I’ve included the release we sent out, too. Thanks for everyone who’s been covering Kalamazoo. With so many incredibly important elections happening around [...]

Legal Times………….A federal judge in Washington today ordered Judicial Watch founder Larry Klayman to reimburse his former organization $69,358 for unpaid personal expenses. U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly of the District of Columbia had ruled in June that Klayman was liable for charges he rang up during his time with the group. Rightwingwatch.com…………A once-obscure trade [...]