Federal Judiciary

Sacrificial Judge

Posted on April 02, 2008
By Leah Nelsonlnelson@judicialstudies.com Posted 04-02-08 A case involving the rights of homeless families in New York City is now roiling its fourth mayoralty. For years, it has been overseen by one of Manhattan's premier jurists. Whatever the merits of the underlying arguments, however, there's one word for the attacks on Justice Helen Freedman...

POISONED FRUIT By Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com

Posted on April 02, 2008
POISONED FRUIT By Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com Posted 04-02-08Queens County Justice Arthur Cooperman, one of the most oft reversed of New York City’s criminal judges, got reversed again, this time for allowing evidence into trial that was gathered during an illegal police search of an apartment...

LexPress: Coloring Juries, Capping Caseloads

Posted on April 02, 2008
By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 04-02-08 The court system caps the number of cases law guardians can handle at 150. In other news, "maverick" Eastern District Judge Jack Weinstein declares a mistrial in a child porn case he had overseen himself...

LexPress: The Post-Modernist Court

Posted on April 01, 2008
By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 04-01-08 In an unusual hearing, all the judges from the Second Circuit ponder the possibly inherent subjectivity in departing from federal sentencing guidelines as allowed under U.S. v. Booker...

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Lexpress: The Fen-Phen, 9/11 Connection

Posted on March 31, 2008
By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 03-31-08 An attorney for 9/11 cleanup workers fights his own legal battle. In other news, an Eastern District Judge allows thousands of misdemeanor arrestees to sue Nassau County over illegal strip-searches.

LexPress: Navigational Circumstances

Posted on March 28, 2008
By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 03-28-08The Second Circuit rejects the City of New York's bid to limit its liability in lawsuits stemming from the 2003 Staten Island ferry disaster. In other news, a Queens judge rules that a prosecutor's alleged attempt to have her attorney-boyfriend appointed counsel to a suspected drug dealer wasn't enough to appoint a special prosecutor.

LexPress: Hellerstein Central

Posted on March 27, 2008
By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 03-27-08Two important rulings are made regarding cases filed by 9/11 cleanup workers who have developed health problems. In other news, an Eastern District judge must decide the cause of beach erosion in Southampton...

NO PLEAS IN LEGALESE By Mark

Posted on March 26, 2008
NO PLEAS IN LEGALESE By Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com Posted 03-26-08New York County Justice Ronald A. Zweibel, the defense attorney and prosecutor all clearly understood the lingo tossed around at Lester Achaibar’s plea hearing. The trouble is, according to the Appellate Division, there is no indication in the record that Achaibar had a clue what was going on...

Bulletproofing the Bench

Posted on March 26, 2008
By Jason Boogjasonboog@judicialstudies.comPosted 03-26-08 An attack in federal court, plus a Brooklyn judge's laments about parking problems, have thrust courthouse security back into the news. How safe are the halls of justice?

Lexpress: Patterson to Tap Justice Yates

Posted on March 26, 2008
By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 03-26-08 Manhattan Supreme Court Justice James Yates is reportedly in line to become counsel to new Governor David A. Patterson. In other news, the Court of Appeals weights in on two big questions regarding warrants and searches.

LexPress: Spies Like Us

Posted on March 25, 2008
By Jesse Sunenblick jsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 03-25-08 Attorneys for two Albany-area Muslim men challenging their convictions on terror charges ask the Second Circuit to make public government evidence that may prove the men were illegally spied upon by the National Security Agency...

LexPress: Warrantless Wiretapping Goes to Court

Posted on March 24, 2008
By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 03-24-08 The Second Circuit today hears the appeals of two Muslim Albany-area men who were caught by an FBI sting and convicted of laundering money connected to an alleged terror plot. In other news, a new proposal aims at streamlining New York's town and village courts...

LexPress: The Follies of Duane Hart

Posted on March 21, 2008
By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 03-21-08 The Commission on Judicial Conduct for the second time censures Queens Supreme Court Justice Duane Hart. In other news, judge-mocking protesters take to downtown Brooklyn.

LexPress: Run-on Sentences

Posted on March 20, 2008
By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 03-20-08A Suffolk County judge hands down a controversial sentence to the man convicted of gunning down his son's aggressor. In other news, a Manhattan judge allows a defamation case to continue against the creator of "Law & Order...

UNDUE PREJUDICEBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com

Posted on March 19, 2008
UNDUE PREJUDICEBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com Posted 03-19-08Kings County Justice Bernadette Bayne gave an ambulance driver named Alice McGloin such a rough ride in a trial that the Appellate Division threw out the verdict. The jurors concluded that a traffic accident on the FDR Drive was McGloin’s fault, but according to the appellate panel, several bad rulings from Bayne on evidence and jury instructions may have had something to do with that...

The Judicial Lock Box

Posted on March 19, 2008
By Leah Nelsonlnelson@judicialstudies.comPosted 03-19-08 The monitors who collect data on federal judges' docket management keep most of the statistics locked up, only making public the lists of late and languishing matters. Why are they putting their worst foot forward? 

LexPress: Ex-Judge Steaming

Posted on March 19, 2008
By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 03-19-08 Nixzmary Brown's stepfather is convicted of manslaughter, in a decision jurors called a "compromise." In other news, a judge removed from the bench for favoritism is irate over the dismissal of his appeal for improperly binded paperwork.

LexPress: Merger (and Acquisitions)

Posted on March 18, 2008
By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 03-18-08 The merger of the Bronx's Criminal and Supreme Courts runs into trouble: more cases (and, according to the DA, the "unconscious factor" of "low morale").

Lexpress: Parking Problems

Posted on March 17, 2008
By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 03-17-08 Brooklyn judges prepare to sue the city over the loss of parking spaces in Columbus Park. In other news, 11 months after an Erie justice was acquitted of impaired driving charges, she has yet to return to the bench.

Lexpress: New Governor, No Raise

Posted on March 14, 2008
By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 03-14-08 In his first news conference since the resignation of Eliot Spitzer, soon-to-be governor David Paterson reflects on the unlikelihood of judicial pay raises any time soon.

LexPress: 'Mad Dog' and the MS-13's

Posted on March 13, 2008
By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 03-13-08A federal judge refuses to recuse himself after referring to members of the Latin American gang MS 13 as "animals" and "mad dogs." In other news, The New York Law Journal discusses the difficult decision about whether or not to prosecute former Governor Eliot Spitzer.

SHUNNING THE BRONXBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com

Posted on March 12, 2008
SHUNNING THE BRONXBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com Posted 03-12-08Plaintiffs in personal injury suits often stretch for reasons to file their cases in the plaintiff-friendly environs of the Bronx, while defendants angle for ways to move tort suits elsewhere...

The End of Judge Days

Posted on March 12, 2008
By Jason Boogjasonboog@judicialstudies.com Posted 03-12-08Like many states, New York has long kept a record of when judges show up for work — on the bench, in chambers, wherever. Until now. 

Bronx County Election 2008 Fact Sheet

Posted on March 12, 2008
Twelfth Judicial District: Bronx County Supreme Court Positions Authorized By Election Law: 24 Number of Assembly Districts Within Judicial District: 11 Incumbent Supreme Court JusticesAlexander W. Hunter, Jr. Supreme Court Justices Reaching Age LimitNone New York State Bronx County Board of Elections1780 Grand Concourse-5th Floor Bronx, NY 10457Phone: 718-299-9017 New York State Bronx County Board of Elections Officers Joseph J...

LexPress: Ramos Recusal Refusal

Posted on March 12, 2008
By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 03-12-08 An Appellate Division panel rules that Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Charles Ramos can continue to preside over the excessive compensation case against former New York Stock Exchange Chairman Richard Grasso.

LexPress: Now Hear This

Posted on March 11, 2008
By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 03-11-08The administrative judge presiding over the relicensing hearing of Indian Point nuclear power plant threatens to boot court watchers who complained about the lack of microphones. In other news, the Commission on Judicial Conduct sanctions a Brookfield town justice.

Lexpress: New Fed Complaint Rules

Posted on March 10, 2008
By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comPosted: 03-10-08 Reforms are expected on how courts handle complaints against federal judges. In other news, a former State Supreme Court Justice steps down as a Judicial Hearing Officer amid allegations he transported a prostitute across state lines to perform at a fraternal event.

LexPress: Kitchen Sink Approach

Posted on March 07, 2008
By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comand Leah Nelsonlnelson@judicialstudies.comPosted: 03-07-08 The New York Times offers another analysis of the prosecution's tactics in the Sean Bell case. In other news, a traffic ticket quagmire persists in Seneca County, and Clarence Norman's lawyer says his client's not such a bad guy after all.

LexPress: Passenger Law Grounded?

Posted on March 06, 2008
By Jesse Sunenblickjsunenblick@judicialstudies.comand Leah Nelsonlnelson@judicialstudies.comPosted: 03-06-08 The Eastern District seems poised to repeal New York's Passenger Bill of Rights. In other news, a Southern District judge clarifies the unlawful exclusion of West Indians from a jury in the Bronx.

HASTY JUSTICEBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com

Posted on March 05, 2008
HASTY JUSTICEBy Mark Thompsonmarkthomp@yahoo.com Posted 03-05-08New York County Justice Richard B. Lowe III keeps getting reversed for too quickly jumping to conclusions about complicated disputes that, according to the Appellate Division, are not quite as easy to untangle as the judge would like to think...

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