How To Kill A Person: A Legal Battle Over Execution Methods

By Marco Poggio

As botched executions pile up and states reach for untested methods like nitrogen hypoxia, prisoners are turning to the courts for a say in how they will die — and are being met with a legal framework stacked against finding execution methods unconstitutional.

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Non-Attys Could Help Close Georgia's Civil Justice Gap

By Emily Johnson

Low-income Georgians and rural Georgians face several barriers to accessing legal services, including living in a legal desert, according to a Georgia Supreme Court committee’s report. The panel's proposal allowing "limited licensed legal practitioners" to assist with civil housing and consumer debt matters could improve access to justice across the state.

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Pro Bono Spotlight

Hogan Lovells Secures Landmark $6.75M Prison Reform Deal

By Chris Villani

After four days, Demetrius Goshen just wanted to take a shower. But, when he got the attention of corrections officers, it came with a beating, part of a wave of abuse against more than 150 other incarcerated individuals that sparked a lawsuit brought by Hogan Lovells and led to a $6.75 million settlement and a slew of reforms.

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Can States Prosecute ICE Agents? It Depends

By Brandon Lowrey

Video showed a masked federal agent walking out of the gates of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Durango, Colorado. He stepped around a small line of protesters seated on the street and lumbered past a petite, gray-haired woman as she recorded him on her smartphone last month.

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NY Jury Awards $112M To Migrants Detained Unlawfully

By Lauren Berg

A New York federal jury on Friday found Suffolk County and the Suffolk County Sheriff's Office liable for violating the due process rights of a class of hundreds of migrants detained past their release dates on behalf of federal immigration authorities, awarding the immigrants $112 million in damages.

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Dems' Bill Would Give DHS Detainees Right To Talk To Atty

By Gina Kim

Democratic lawmakers unveiled a bill Friday that would guarantee immigrant detainees the right to contact their families and speak to legal counsel in custody, amid the Trump administration's push to ramp up major enforcement efforts that have led to arrests of people while dropping off children at school or grocery shopping.

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Roundup

Up Next At High Court: Religious Rights & Gov't Contracts

By Katie Buehler

The U.S. Supreme Court will return Monday for a short week of arguments, in which the justices will consider whether state and local government officials can be held personally liable for alleged religious rights violations, and whether government contractors are entitled to immediately appeal denials of derivative sovereign immunity.

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Justices Say Trump Admin Can Implement Trans Passport Ban

By Katie Buehler

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that the U.S. Department of State can stop issuing passports to transgender and nonbinary individuals that reflect their gender identity, lifting a nationwide order that required the Trump administration to continue the longtime policy pending litigation.

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Mass. Justices Consider Raises To Address Counsel Shortage

By Julie Manganis

Justices on Massachusetts' highest court grappled at a hearing Wednesday with its ability to address an ongoing shortage of attorneys willing to represent indigent defendants, after lawyers in two of the state's busiest counties stopped taking cases in May in protest over the low pay compared with other states.

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Justices Hint Early Release Factors 'Countermand' Congress

By Matthew Santoni

Justices in the U.S. Supreme Court's conservative faction questioned Wednesday whether the U.S. Sentencing Commission overstepped when it said reductions in mandatory minimum sentences could be part of a court's consideration when weighing "compassionate release" for federal prisoners.

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New Loan Forgiveness Rule Targets Trump Critics, States Say

By Julie Manganis

Two lawsuits filed Monday, one by a coalition of states and the other by a group of cities, unions and advocacy organizations, are challenging a new Trump administration rule imposing "intentionally vague" and allegedly illegal restrictions on student loan forgiveness for public employees intended to stifle dissent.

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Mich. Justices To Review If Indigent Defendant Must Pay Atty

By Carolyn Muyskens

Michigan's highest court has said it will review a judge's decision to order a homeless man convicted of assault to pay his court-appointed counsel.

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Hartford Wants Ex-Murder Suspect's Civil Rights Suit Tossed

By Elizabeth Daley

The city of Hartford, Connecticut, has urged a federal court to dismiss a lawsuit brought against it and its police detectives by a man who was falsely accused of murder, arguing the city cannot be liable for the alleged conduct of its employees and that statutory deadlines weren't met.

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Okla. Pardon Board Recommends Commuting Death Sentence

By Marco Poggio

The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board on Wednesday recommended that the death sentence of a man whose 2004 conviction was clouded by evidence of inadequate counsel representation, claims of prosecutorial misconduct and racial bias be commuted to one of life without possibility of parole, one week before his scheduled execution.

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University Blocks Trans Athlete, Citing Trump Executive Order

By Jonathan Capriel

A transgender sprinter is suing Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, claiming that the school violated New York state law by barring her from competing in a track event out of "fear" of going against President Donald Trump's executive order banning transgender athletes from women's sports.

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Wash. AG Launches Public Records Unit To Up Transparency

By Ben Adlin

The Washington State Office of the Attorney General is launching a new unit designed to expand access to government records, the office announced on Tuesday, noting that public records requests in the state have nearly doubled over the past decade.

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4 Sue Mormon Church Over 'Known Pedophile' High Priest

By Mike Curley

Four men are suing the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the state of Washington, alleging the church reinstated a known pedophile to the position of high priest without warning members, allowing him to continue sexually abusing children as young as 5 years old. 

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'Extraordinary' NC Atty Janet Ward Black Dies At 66

By Hayley Fowler

Prominent North Carolina personal injury attorney Janet Ward Black, who founded the Greensboro firm Ward Black Law, has died at 66.

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Perspectives

3 Ways To Boost Access To Justice In NYC Small Claims Court

The New York City Small Claims Court is a critical venue for pro se litigants seeking civil justice, but the system is under strain, and three practical reforms are needed to help strengthen fairness, consistency and access, says Charles Montorio-Archer at the New York City Civil Court.

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