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Trump Has Successfully Gamed the Courts
Attorney Blog News |
2019/12/14 13:44
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At its simplest level, the impeachment of President Donald Trump looks like a collision between the legislative and executive branches of government. In that fight, each side is trying to defend its prerogatives as it sees them: For Congress (or at least the Democratic-led House), this includes the power to appropriate foreign aid, and the power to conduct oversight; for the executive branch, this means the power to make foreign policy as it sees fit, and to protect its internal deliberations.
What is missing from this portrait is the crucial role of the third branch of government, the judiciary, which has powerfully shaped the impeachment process by declining to exercise its prerogatives, rather than defending them. By choosing to treat the current moment as business as usual, federal courts have effectively removed themselves from the process. In effect, that has dictated what arguments can be mounted in the impeachment fight and what witnesses Congress, and the public, can hear?narrowing and obscuring the case against Trump.
None of this absolves Democrats of the decisions they’ve made. The House majority could have chosen to fight in court to compel testimony from current and former administration officials, especially former National Security Adviser John Bolton. Those fights would not have been resolved in time to hold an impeachment vote before Christmas, but that deadline is self-imposed and politically motivated. Democrats could have waited, or they could have pursued the court battle while also charging ahead.
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Afghanistan probe appeal begins at Hague international court
Attorney Blog News |
2019/12/04 20:40
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The International Criminal Court opened a three-day hearing Wednesday at which prosecutors and victims aim to overturn a decision scrapping a proposed investigation into alleged crimes in Afghanistan’s brutal conflict.
Fergal Gaynor, a lawyer representing 82 Afghan victims, called it “a historic day for accountability in Afghanistan.”
In April, judges rejected a request by the court’s prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, to open an investigation into crimes allegedly committed by the Taliban, Afghan security forces and American military and intelligence agencies.
In the ruling, which was condemned by victims and rights groups, the judges said that an investigation "would not serve the interests of justice" because it would likely fail due to lack of cooperation.
The decision came a month after U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo banned visas for ICC staff seeking to investigate allegations of war crimes and other abuses by U.S. forces in Afghanistan or elsewhere.
“Whether the two events are in fact related is unknown, but for many ? victims as well as commentators ? the timing appeared more than coincidental,” said lawyer Katherine Gallagher, who was representing two men being held at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility.
The United States is not a member of the global court and refuses to cooperate with it, seeing the institution as a threat to U.S. sovereignty and arguing American courts are capable of dealing with allegations of abuse by U.S. nationals. |
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New North Dakota Supreme Court chief justice to be chosen
Attorney Blog News |
2019/11/22 12:41
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North Dakota is getting a new Supreme Court chief justice.
The new chief justice will be chosen by their colleagues and district court judges on Monday. Ballots will be counted at 4 p.m. at the state Capitol in Bismarck.
Justices Daniel Crothers, Lisa Fair McEvers, and Jon Jensen filed to fill the chief justice position that was left open after 86-year-old Chief Justice Gerald VandeWalle announced in September he would not seek reappointment to the top post when his term expires at the end of the year.
Justice Jerod Tufte was the only justice who did not express interest.
VandeWalle was elected chief justice five times since 1993. The chief justice is appointed to five-year terms.
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EU Court slams Bosnia over 11-year election gap in Mostar
Attorney Blog News |
2019/11/01 20:40
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The European Court of Human Rights has ruled in favor of a Bosnian politician who has sued the state because local elections in the central city of Mostar have not been held since 2008 over a legal problem.
The court in Strasbourg on Tuesday gave Bosnia-Herzegovina six months to amend the election laws so a vote can be held.
The deadlock in Mostar stems from the authorities' failure to enforce a 2010 decision by Bosnia's Constitutional Court. Mostar politician Irma Baralija has argued the legal void has prevented her from voting or running in a local election.
The court has rejected authorities' claim that the delay was caused by efforts to agree on a power-sharing formula. The case reflects political problems in ethnically-divided Bosnia following its devastating 1992-95 war. |
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Court OKs conviction of pharma executive Shkreli's ex-lawyer
Attorney Blog News |
2019/10/30 20:35
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An appeals court in New York says the former lawyer of a notorious pharmaceutical executive was properly convicted in a financial fraud case.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday rejected Evan Greebel's challenge to his December 2017 conviction at a Brooklyn trial.
Prosecutors say Greebel helped Shkreli (SHKREL'-ee) steal millions of dollars when he was chief executive of biopharmaceutical company Retrophin.
Greebel's lawyer declined to comment. Greebel was the company's outside counsel from 2011 to 2014.
Shkreli was dubbed Pharma Bro and is perhaps best known for boosting the price of a life-saving drug and trolling his critics on social media.
He was convicted in 2017 of fraud for looting Retrophin of $11 million to pay back investors in failed hedge funds he operated. Shkreli is serving a seven-year prison sentence.
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