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Court justice suspended over role in porn scandal
Legal News |
2014/10/22 13:41
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The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Monday suspended one of its members over his participation in a state government pornographic email scandal that involved employees of the attorney general's office.
The court justices issued an order saying Justice Seamus McCaffery may not perform any judicial or administrative duties while the matter is reviewed by the Judicial Conduct Board, which investigates allegations of judicial misconduct.
The main order also noted allegations about McCaffery's actions related to a traffic citation received by his wife, who is a lawyer, and referral fees she obtained while working for him as an administrative assistant. It also noted he "may have attempted to exert influence over a judicial assignment" in Philadelphia.
The Judicial Conduct Board was given a month to determine whether there is probable cause to file a misconduct charge against McCaffery, a Philadelphia Democrat elected to the seven-member bench in 2007.
McCaffery's lawyer, Dion Rassias, said they were confident he will be cleared and will soon return to the bench.
The court's action followed disclosures last week by Chief Justice Ronald Castille, a Republican, that McCaffery had sent or received 234 emails with sexually explicit content or pornography from late 2008 to May 2012. McCaffery apologized, calling it a lapse in judgment, but blasted Castille for "a vindictive pattern of attacks" against him.
A third justice, Michael Eakin, also a Republican, on Friday went public with a claim McCaffery had threatened to leak "inappropriate" emails Eakin had received if he didn't side with McCaffery against Castille.
McCaffery denied threatening Eakin, who reported the matter to the Judicial Conduct Board. Neither Eakin nor McCaffery participated in the court's decision.
Castille was among the four justices voting to suspend McCaffery with pay, along with Max Baer, Corry Stevens and Thomas Saylor. Justice Debra Todd dissented, saying she would have referred the matter, including the question of suspension, to the Judicial Conduct Board. |
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Court hears dispute over pay for security checks
Lawyer Media News |
2014/10/13 16:54
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Workers who fill customer orders for Internet retailer Amazon might be out of luck in their quest to be paid for time they spend going through security checkpoints each day.
Several Supreme Court justices expressed doubts Wednesday during arguments over whether federal law entitles workers to compensation for security measures to prevent employee theft.
The case is being watched closely by business groups concerned that employers could be liable for billions of dollars in retroactive pay for security check procedures that have become routine in retail and other industries.
Workers have battled for decades with employers over what tasks they should or shouldn't be paid for. The Supreme Court has previously ruled that workers must be paid for time putting on protective gear for work, but not for time waiting to take it off. And the court has found that butchers deserve to be paid for time sharpening their knives, which are essential to working at a meatpacking plant.
The latest dispute involves two former workers at a Nevada warehouse who say their employer, Integrity Staffing Solutions, Inc., made them to wait up to 25 minutes in security lines at the end of every shift. Integrity provides staffers for Amazon warehouses.
Amazon spokeswoman Kelly Cheeseman says the company's data shows that warehouse employees walk through security screenings "with little or no wait."
A federal appeals court ruled last year that the workers, Jesse Busk and Laurie Castro, deserved to be paid because the anti-theft screenings were necessary to the primary work performed by warehouse workers and it was done for the employer's benefit. |
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Egypt court sentences 3 Islamists to 15 years each
Legal News |
2014/10/13 16:52
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A Cairo court has convicted a leading Muslim Brotherhood figure and two other Islamists and sentenced them to 15 years in prison each on charges of torturing a man during the 2011 protests against then-President Hosni Mubarak.
State MENA news agency says the court on Saturday found Mohammed el-Beltagy along with a preacher and a junior member of the group guilty of holding and beating a man in an office overlooking Tahrir square they suspected was an undercover policeman spying on the 18-day sit-in against Mubarak.
El-Beltagy was a regular speaker at the sit-in, which eventually led to the ouster of the longtime autocrat.
El-Beltagy has already been sentenced to 20 years for allegedly torturing two police officers during last summer's protest against the ouster of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi. |
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Court-martial for Missouri drill sergeant resumes
Court Line News |
2014/09/29 15:40
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The military court-martial of a Missouri sergeant accused of sexually assaulting eight female soldiers has resumed.
A verdict is expected Wednesday after a three-day trial for 30-year-old Army Staff Sgt. Angel M. Sanchez, who is accused of using his supervisory position with the 14th Military Police Brigade to threaten some of the women he was tasked with training.
Sanchez pleaded guilty to three charges at the outset of the military judicial hearing. His accusers said the incidents took place in the bathroom of the female barracks as well as in an office shared by drill sergeants.
Most of the allegations involved women at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri, but some involved women in Afghanistan and Fort Richardson, Alaska. |
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German court: church facilities can ban headscarf
Court Line News |
2014/09/29 15:39
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A German federal court has ruled that church-run institutions are within their rights to refuse to allow Muslim employees to wear headscarves at work.
The Federal Labor Court ruled Wednesday on a case brought by a former nurse at a Protestant church-linked hospital.
In 2010, the woman offered to return to work after maternity and sickness leave totaling four years and said she wanted to wear her headscarf at work. The hospital said no, and the woman went to court to seek compensation.
The federal court ruled that wearing a headscarf as a religious symbol isn't compatible with a contractual obligation to "neutral behavior" in a church-run facility. But it sent the woman's case back to a lower court, citing doubts over whether the hospital was technically a church institution. |
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Miley Cyrus date barely makes court appearance
Topics in Legal News |
2014/09/22 16:15
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A massively famous celebrity meets a young homeless man in Hollywood and introduces him to an audience of millions. Then, just when it looks like the man is going to triumph, his dark past comes back to haunt him.
As in any Hollywood script, there are two possible endings: The young man can overcome his past, or he can never escape it.
For 45 minutes Tuesday, it appeared Jesse Helt was choosing an unhappy ending.
The young homeless man who accompanied Miley Cyrus to the MTV Video Music Awards arrived 45 minutes late for his arraignment Tuesday on a charge that he violated his probation in Oregon.
Polk County Judge Monte Campbell was ready to wrap up his court hearings for the day, and likely issue an arrest warrant for Helt, when Helt's lawyer announced that he received a text message: His client had arrived.
Helt, 22, gained worldwide attention last month when Cyrus let him accept her award for video of the year, to help raise awareness for youth homelessness. Reporters eager to learn the story behind the sudden celebrity discovered that Helt was wanted in his home state for a probation violation stemming from a 2010 arrest. |
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