SAN FRANCISCO — In most courtrooms, spontaneous applause could get you thrown out. But in this San Francisco court, it’s expected — and strongly encouraged for the defendants. Bowls of hard candy rest in front of the judge’s bench, as ...

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Under Maryland Judiciary rules, judges may list “no change” on their annual State of Financial Interests if the asset or liability has not changed from the prior year.

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Six of the seven judges on Maryland’s top court own more than one home, two are carrying more than $10,000 in non-mortgage debt, two have car payments and one is ruing a bad investment from 25 years ago.

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MARYLAND COURT OF APPEALS Criminal Procedure, Post-conviction relief: Defendant was not entitled to post-conviction relief to re-litigate the allegation that the trial court erred by excluding expert testimony, because that issue had already been finally litigated and cases decided after ...

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Calling conditions at Baltimore’s two circuit courthouses “deplorable,” Clerk of Court Frank M. Conaway Sr. sent a letter to Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake asking for help making the long-sought fixes to the aging facilities. Conditions at the Clarence M. Mitchell Jr. ...

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The U.S. magistrate judge’s chambers at the Maude R. Toulson Federal Building in Salisbury is among the 10 court sites most likely to face closure as the federal government looks for ways to cut costs, according to documents obtained by ...

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LOS ANGELES — Foreclosure activity surged last month across about half of the nation’s states, as banks tackled a backlog of homes with mortgages that had gone unpaid yet remained in limbo due to delays stemming from foreclosure-abuse claims. The ...

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A change in appellate procedure that took effect last month may not be as electrifying a piece of news as the lead story about William Hall, which I read in the Bangor Daily News on one of my recent trips ...

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WASHINGTON — Antwain Black was facing a few more years in Leavenworth for dealing crack. But on Tuesday, he was on his way home to Illinois, a free man. Black, 36, was among the first of potentially thousands of inmates ...

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The Judicial Compensation Commission unanimously voted to recommend that the General Assembly increase judges’ salaries by $29,006 phased in over three years and starting in fiscal 2014 — a similar recommendation to the one it made in December 2009, which ...

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