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Selections from National Law Journal Daily Headlines July 13, 2009

By David Badertscher, PLL

Source: NLJ.com, July 13, 2009.

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Sotomayor hearing revives old battle

"As the Senate hearings unfold on Sonia Sotomayor's historic nomination to the Supreme Court, a nearly century-old battle over what questions can be asked and answered likely will continue with undiminished fervor. This battle triggers repeated complaints that the hearings are meaningless or useless because nominees and their supporters on the Senate Judiciary Committee use the shield of judicial ethics to fend off substantive questions by other senators."

 

Turning the Tables

"Julian Wendrow, a father of two with no criminal history, and owner of a small painting business in West Bloomfield, Mich., was charged with sexually abusing his daughter and jailed for 80 days with no bond. His wife, Tali, a lawyer, was charged with failing to protect the girl. Their two children were taken away. Four months after they were arrested, the charges were dropped due to a lack of evidence. Now, the couple is suing the prosecutor, police and 23 other defendants for malicious prosecution, alleging that prosecutors were 'vicious and malicious' in aggressively pursuing a case that was largely based on weak evidence and unreliable statements."

 

Burnout, stress plague immigration judges

"Immigration judges, who day in and day out listen to horrific personal stories of asylum seekers, suffer from significant job burnout and secondary traumatic stress, which may affect their rulings, according to a recent study. After analyzing data from 96 immigration judges who participated in the study, researchers from the Langley Porter Psychiatric Institute at the University of California, San Francisco found that the judges, especially female judges, are more burned out than hospital-based doctors who care for the gravely ill and prison wardens who oversee society's most dangerous members."

 

Six months and waiting for Johnsen

"Dawn Johnsen has waited around for six long months since President Barack Obama chose her to head one of the most influential and controversial offices in the U.S. Department of Justice. She's likely to wait a while longer. Supporters of Johnsen's nomination to lead the Office of Legal Counsel now see dwindling chances that the U.S. Senate will confirm her before September. Repub?li?cans are using the Senate's complex procedures to prevent Democrats from scheduling a vote. Activists on the right and left have turned her nomination into a proxy fight for abortion and torture debates, making it difficult for senators to strike a deal over an office that was already a political battleground."

 

Senate and House clash over permanency of E-Verify

"E-Verify, the online system that lets employers make sure workers are eligible to work in the United States, won key reauthorizations from the House and Senate recently. Trouble is, they didn't agree on how long to keep the program around."

 

Challenge to diploma privilege revived

"A federal appeals court has rekindled a challenge to a Wisconsin rule that allows graduates of the state's two law schools to become licensed attorneys without taking the state bar examination. The 7th Circuit's July 9 ruling remanded a class action launched by two graduates of out-of-state law schools who allege that Wisconsin's "diploma privilege" rule is unconstitutional"

 

L.A. plaintiff withdraws complaint against Madoff agent, defers to SEC

"A Los Angeles woman who lost millions of dollars after investing funds through Stanley Chais ? who is alleged to have funneled those funds to Bernard L. Madoff ? has voluntarily dismissed her class action against the California investment manager."

 

 

Full post as published by New York Supreme Court Criminal Term Library on July 13, 2009 (boomark / email).