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Access to Justice
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July 03, 2023
NJ Gets Rid Of Public Defender Fees With New Law
New Jersey residents will no longer have to pay fees, liens and warrants issued for public defender services in the state, thanks to a bill newly signed into law by Gov. Phil Murphy.
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June 30, 2023
Justices Pass On Acquitted Conduct Review — For Now
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday declined to take up several cases challenging the practice of acquitted conduct sentencing as the U.S. Sentencing Commission reassesses the controversial practice, but multiple justices made it clear that future high court review may be in the cards.
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June 30, 2023
High Court To Look At Gun Rights In Domestic Violence Cases
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday said it will rule on whether a federal law forbidding people subject to domestic violence restraining orders from possessing firearms violates the Constitution, one year after issuing a landmark decision that expanded gun rights.
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June 29, 2023
6th Circ. Says Private Juvenile Lockup Must Face Death Suit
A split panel of the Sixth Circuit has reversed a Michigan federal judge's dismissal of a civil rights case brought against a private juvenile detention center operator, with the majority ruling that the complaint over a teenage detainee's suicide sufficiently alleged that the company is a state actor.
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June 28, 2023
Are Attys Being Held Accountable For Client Sexual Contact?
When the Missouri Supreme Court recently declined to disbar an attorney accused of sexually assaulting his clients, it was not an anomaly. A Law360 investigation of attorney discipline records found that of more than 100 attorneys disciplined for having sexual contact with clients, the vast majority were allowed to keep their law licenses.
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June 28, 2023
ACLU Wants NJ To Push Forward On Incarceration Reforms
The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey urged state officials on Wednesday to continue efforts to decrease incarceration by eliminating mandatory minimum sentences, expanding clemency and compassionate release, and decriminalizing drug offenses.
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June 28, 2023
NJ Judge Forced To Quit For Airing Bias Concerns, Suit Says
A New Jersey municipal judge suffered retaliation in the form of lost disability accommodation and was forced to resign after he made widely publicized allegations that local courts discriminated against Hispanic defendants, the jurist alleges in a new lawsuit.
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June 23, 2023
Atty Bias Eyed As New Path For Mass. Conviction Challenges
A recent Massachusetts high court decision to toss a Black Muslim man's conviction based on his defense attorney's racist and xenophobic online posts is being hailed as a win for racial justice, and advocates say it could lead to other cases being challenged on grounds of bias by appointed counsel.
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June 23, 2023
More Cases Involving Convicted Ex-Cops Axed In Manhattan
While the Manhattan District Attorney's Office announced this month that it would throw out over 300 mostly misdemeanor convictions tied to discredited New York City cops, information gathered by local advocates suggests prosecutors have a long road ahead of them in accounting for damage done by police officers they no longer trust.
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June 23, 2023
New Maine Law Protects Atty-Client Privilege In Jail Calls
The Maine Legislature approved a bill this week that seeks to protect attorney-client privilege for incarcerated people using jail phones. The legislation came in response to outrage over recent revelations that authorities had eavesdropped on confidential calls at several jails in the state.
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June 23, 2023
How Simpson Thacher Beat Kansas Vote-By-Mail Restrictions
When Kansas lawmakers enacted legislation that made it a crime for out-of-state groups to send mail-in ballot applications to voters, attorneys with Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP sprang into action and recently notched a major First Amendment victory in challenging the law.
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June 23, 2023
Minnesota Joins Prosecutor-Led Resentencing Law Movement
Joining a growing number of states beginning with California in 2018, a newly adopted law in Minnesota is set to give prosecutors a chance to ask courts to resentence convicted criminals who have shown rehabilitation during their time in prison.
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June 23, 2023
DC Circ. Judge Tatel To Join Hogan Lovells' Litigation Practice
After serving for 29 years, Senior D.C. Circuit Judge David S. Tatel will step down from the bench in August to join Hogan Lovells' litigation practice in Washington, where he'll focus on pro bono work.
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June 23, 2023
Justices Side With Gov't Over Use Of Redacted Confessions
The Supreme Court ruled in a split decision Friday that a criminal defendant's constitutional rights were not violated when the trial judge allowed prosecutors to admit into evidence the confession of a non-testifying codefendant, since the defendant's name was redacted and jurors were given limiting instructions.
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June 22, 2023
5th Circ. Axes Challenge To Louisiana Bail System
The Fifth Circuit has sent a Louisiana lawsuit that challenged bail practices in the state back to district court for dismissal, ruling that because relevant challenges were still possible on the state level, the lower federal court had moved too fast when it denied relief.
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June 22, 2023
Justices Say No Habeas For Retroactively Innocent Inmates
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that federal prisoners are barred from petitioning federal courts to get their sentences overturned after new case law makes them retroactively innocent, dealing the latest blow to a legal process known as habeas corpus.
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June 20, 2023
Young Thug Trial Illustrates System's Strain On Jurors
Prospective juror No. 1,616 sits in the witness box of the downtown Atlanta courtroom and tells the judge he has three children, ages 2, 4 and 6, making it especially difficult for him to serve in what is expected to be Georgia's longest trial.
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June 16, 2023
Justices Say Gun Crime Sentences Can Run Parallel To Others
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday unanimously ruled that criminal defendants convicted of certain federal gun crimes could be allowed to serve concurrent sentences if they were also convicted of other crimes, rebuking the government's view that sentences must run consecutively.
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June 15, 2023
Wash. High Court Asks If Police Evictions Trigger AG Scrutiny
Washington Supreme Court justices asked Thursday how far-reaching local civil rights violations needed to be before the state attorney general could get involved, as they considered the state's claims that a small city police force had a practice of illegally evicting residents.
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June 15, 2023
Arizona Releases Man Who Spent 29 Years On Death Row
An Arizona man who spent 29 years on death row for the murder of a little girl he said he didn't commit was freed on Thursday after the state admitted that he was never given a fair trial.
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June 13, 2023
Conn. AG Talks Unregulated Cannabis 'Danger,' Abortion
Explaining that unlicensed and unregulated THC products pose a "danger" because they could subject consumers, especially youths, to medically unsafe doses, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said during a wide-ranging interview with Law360 that his office would continue to target cannabis sellers who try to skirt his state's recreational marijuana laws.
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June 08, 2023
Businesses Sue Seattle Over 2020 Protest Response
A Seattle-based ice cream chain and a property owner sued the city in federal court this week, accusing officials of encouraging and condoning a protest zone in 2020 that shut down parts of the business's neighborhood, which they say resulted in lost revenue and an illegal taking by the local government.
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June 07, 2023
Homeowners Say NY Courts Defy Law On Foreclosure Aid
Two Brooklyn homeowners accused New York's court administrators and justices of the state's Supreme Court in Brooklyn of failing to implement a state law requiring courts to assess if homeowners who are facing foreclosure and cannot afford an attorney should be given free legal representation, according to court documents filed Wednesday.
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June 06, 2023
Legal Ethicists Back Inmate's Innocence Case At High Court
A group of renowned legal ethics scholars has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case of an Oklahoma death row inmate whose murder conviction has been deemed by the state's attorney general to be plagued by errors and possible prosecutorial misconduct, court filings show.
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June 05, 2023
Davis Wright Among ABA's 2023 Pro Bono Honorees
Davis Wright Tremaine LLP and four individuals are set to receive honors from the American Bar Association later this year for their pro bono efforts in areas such as gender-based violence and Social Security disability fraud, the ABA announced Monday.
Expert Analysis
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Acquitted Conduct Should Not Be Considered At Sentencing
Congress should advance the Prohibiting Punishment of Acquitted Conduct Act, which seeks to explicitly preclude federal judges from a practice that effectively eliminates the democratic role of the jury in the criminal justice system, says Robert Ehrlich, former governor of Maryland.
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Thank A Female Veteran With Access To Legal Services
Women returning from military deployment often require more legal assistance than their male counterparts, and Congress can alleviate some of these burdens by passing the Improving Legal Services for Female Veterans Act, says Rep. Susan Wild, D-Pa.
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California Should Embrace Nonlawyer Providers
Despite criticisms from the legal profession, a California proposal to allow some legal service delivery by nonlawyers is a principled response to the reality that millions of Americans currently must face their legal problems without any help, says Chris Albin-Lackey, legal and policy director at the National Center for Access to Justice.
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Calif. Law Offers New Hope For Child Sexual Abuse Victims
The recent passage of A.B. 218 in California — extending the statute of limitations for child sexual abuse cases — will pose challenges for the justice system, but some of the burdens posed by abuse will finally be shifted from survivors to accused abusers and the organizations that enabled them, says retired Los Angeles Superior Court judge Scott Gordon.
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Core Rights Of Accused At Issue In High Court's New Term
The U.S. Supreme Court's upcoming decisions in several criminal cases this term will determine whether certain rights of the accused — some that many people would be surprised to learn are unsettled — are assured by the Constitution, say Harry Sandick and Jacob Newman at Patterson Belknap.
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Bill Limiting Forced Arbitration Is Critical To Real Justice
Real justice means having access to fair and independent courts, but that will only be a reality when Congress bans predispute, forced arbitration under federal law with the Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal Act, which passed the House on Friday, says Patrice Simms at Earthjustice.
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3 Ways DOJ Is Working To Improve Justice In Indian Country
As both a federal prosecutor and a member of the Choctaw Nation, I am proud of the U.S. Department of Justice's current efforts to address crime in Indian Country while respecting tribal sovereignty, says Trent Shores, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Oklahoma.
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Rules Of Evidence Hinder #MeToo Claims In Court
If women and men who bring sexual harassment allegations in court will ever have a level playing field with their alleged harassers, the rules regarding what evidence is relevant in a sexual harassment trial must be changed, says John Winer at Winer Burritt.
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Sealing Marijuana Convictions Is A Win For Justice System
As a result of a novel class action, hundreds of New Yorkers' old convictions for marijuana-related crimes are being sealed, an important step toward a more equal justice system where the needless collateral consequences of marijuana criminalization are eliminated, says Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance Jr.
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DOJ's Latest Effort To Undermine Impartial Immigration Bench
The U.S. Department of Justice's recent petition to decertify the National Association of Immigration Judges on the grounds that members are “management officials” and precluded from unionizing is part of a continuing effort to curb judicial independence in immigration court, says former immigration judge Jeffrey Chase.
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Electronic Monitoring Technology Must Be Regulated
Based on my research into the electronic monitoring technologies that are increasingly becoming part of the criminal justice system, it is clear that they must be regulated, just as medical devices are, says Shubha Balasubramanyam of the Center for Court Innovation.
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What You Should Know About Courtroom Closures
At attorney Greg Craig’s trial in D.C. federal court this week, the courtroom was cleared so prospective jurors could answer sensitive questions. Even seasoned litigators were left wondering about the nature of this subtle, yet significant, issue involving Sixth Amendment public trial rights, says Luke Cass at Quarles & Brady.
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Addressing Health Care Liens In Sexual Assault Settlements
When litigating sexual assault cases that result in settlement, plaintiffs attorneys should thoroughly investigate how the plaintiff's medical bills were paid, and proactively prepare for insurers' potential health care liens, says Courtney Delaney of Epiq.
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2nd Circ.'s Approach To Bail Is Backward
The Second Circuit's decision in United States v. Boustani correctly identifies the dangers of a "two-tiered" bail system, but the proper solution is to make bail more accessible to everyone, not to fewer people, says Alexander Klein of Barket Epstein.
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Death Penalty Return May Undermine Criminal Justice Reform
The last two years have been a watershed moment for bipartisan criminal justice reform, but with one swift edict — the July 25 announcement that federal executions will be reinstated after 16 years — the Trump administration risks throwing this forward momentum into reverse, says Laura Arnold of Arnold Ventures.