Lowered bar pass cut scores mean better bar pass rates in 4 states

Of the five states that lowered the minimum score required for passing the bar last year, four of them had increases in their February 2024 bar passage rates, according to the latest data compiled by the National Conference of Bar Examiners.

May 7, 2024 10:23 AM CDT

10 temporary federal judgeships would become permanent under Senate bill approved on voice vote

The U.S. Senate on Saturday approved by voice vote a bipartisan bill that would make permanent 10 temporary federal district court judgeships.

Apr 23, 2024 9:36 AM CDT

Lawyers representing transgender plaintiffs face possible sanctions for alleged ‘judge shopping’

A federal judge in Alabama has directed 11 lawyers to show cause why they shouldn’t be sanctioned for alleged "judge shopping" in lawsuits challenging a ban on some gender-affirming medical procedures for transgender minors in the state.

Mar 25, 2024 12:45 PM CDT

Alabama governor signs IVF bill giving patients, providers legal cover

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) on Wednesday signed a bill to protect providers and patients doing in vitro fertilization from legal liability if embryos they create are damaged or destroyed, a move that comes weeks after a state Supreme Court ruling threatened the treatment’s use.

Mar 7, 2024 2:25 PM CST

Fourth couple sues Alabama clinic at heart of IVF court ruling

A Florida couple has sued the Alabama in vitro fertilization (IVF) clinic at the heart of the state’s consequential state Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos are children, becoming the fourth set of plaintiffs to pursue a wrongful-death claim over destroyed frozen embryos from a 2020 incident that in recent weeks has thrown the state’s legal landscape for IVF into uncertainty.

Mar 5, 2024 2:45 PM CST

Alabama justice who quoted Bible in IVF case often invokes religion

In the Alabama Supreme Court ruling that said frozen embryos are people, Chief Justice Tom Parker wrote a concurring opinion that sought to define the “sanctity of unborn life,” citing heavily from scripture and theology. His opinion, which drew criticism from abortion rights activists for instilling religious beliefs into a judicial decision, was the latest in nearly 20 years on the bench in which he has repeatedly invoked religion on his way to laying the groundwork to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Feb 27, 2024 1:45 PM CST

Justice Thomas hires clerk accused of sending racist text; was she set up by rogue employee?

A graduate of the George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School will be clerking for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, despite a prior allegation that she sent a racist text while working at a conservative group.

Feb 26, 2024 9:51 AM CST

Frozen embryos are children, Ala. high court says in unprecedented ruling

The Alabama Supreme Court ruled Friday that frozen embryos are people and someone can be held liable for destroying them, a decision that reproductive rights advocates say could imperil in vitro fertilization (IVF) and affect the hundreds of thousands of patients who depend on treatments like it each year.

Feb 20, 2024 9:00 AM CST

Indictment accuses judge of using public funds to employ his son, travel, buy couch and alcohol

The presiding judge of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit in Lauderdale County, Alabama, has been charged with lying to a grand jury and using public funds for personal purchases and his son’s employment.

Feb 1, 2024 9:12 AM CST

Alabama ready to help other states with ‘humane’ nitrogen executions after gas caused inmate to ‘shake and writhe’

Alabama is ready to help other states carry out “humane” nitrogen gas executions after using it for the first time Thursday to kill inmate Kenneth Smith, the state’s attorney general has said.

Jan 30, 2024 8:58 AM CST

Supreme Court doesn’t stop nation’s first execution using nitrogen gas

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to block the execution of a death row inmate who claims that he would be subjected to cruel and unusual punishment if Alabama tries to execute him again—this time using nitrogen hypoxia.

Jan 25, 2024 10:26 AM CST

Only 7 states imposed new death sentences in 2023; 1 of them has passed new laws likely to expand number

Texas and Florida accounted for more than half of the executions this year, with Florida putting six inmates to death and Texas executing eight, according to a report by the Death Penalty Information Center.

Dec 5, 2023 8:15 AM CST

Alabama inmate may be first person to be executed this way

An Alabama inmate may be the first person in the United States to be executed with the use of nitrogen asphyxiation.

Nov 7, 2023 12:24 PM CST

Racist remarks about Obamas didn’t constitute workplace harassment, appeals court rules

A Black nurse who heard her white co-workers make racist statements about the Obamas and about their patients did not establish a hostile-work-environment claim, a federal appeals court has ruled.

Oct 10, 2023 10:13 AM CDT

Supreme Court rejects Alabama’s bid to avoid crafting second Black-opportunity voting district

Updated: The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to stay a decision finding that Alabama had defied court opinions when it failed to create a second Black-opportunity congressional district.

Sep 26, 2023 11:12 AM CDT