The city council of Littleton, Colorado, said Tuesday that although it was "disappointed and saddened" by the situation, it had decided to fire Municipal Judge James Kimmel after almost 30 years of service. Matters came to a head after a 19-year-old…
They are not.
The term "due process" is hard to define exactly, but one thing it doesn't mean is "we do this all the time," a lesson that a judge in Tennessee learned the hard way. Judge Durwood Moore was censured last year,…
"No, I did not," Judge Michael Hecht testified in a Tacoma courtroom last week, in his own defense. He said this repeatedly. What had he not done, you ask? Have a seat. Hecht was on trial for felony harassment and…
In a dramatic reversal, the High Court of Australia has overturned the convictions of two men because the judge in their trial slept through much of the proceedings. An appellate court had ruled 2-1 that although the judge’s tendency to…
The last identical-twin-swap story I wrote about involved two sisters who changed places when one had a final exam and a probation hearing on the same day. That got them in trouble, but at least they weren’t lawyers. Italian newspapers…
I'm back from Greece, without much to report in terms of legal developments there, at least during the last 2500 years or so. Not that they didn't come up with some interesting stuff, like ostracizing unpopular politicians for ten years…
Embattled Nevada judge Elizabeth Halverson, who as you may recall has been under investigation for some time based on charges that she mistreated staff, improperly met with jurors, fell asleep on the bench, and so on, was soundly defeated in…
Here’s an important tip: the Court of Appeal for Ontario, Canada, has ruled that lawyers who notice that their trial judge is sleeping must awaken him or her at the time and object, rather than waiting to raise the issue…
Earlier this month, a panel of British judges recommended a number of changes to the country’s judicial-dress requirements, which have been roughly the same for hundreds of years. Wigs will no longer be worn in civil and family courts, and…