Lawsuits mount against minimum-wage employers
Lawyer losing license, fraternity facing family and barristers' bygone billing round out this week's Law Blog Roundup.
Terrorists seek return to less restrictive lockup
DENVER — Four convicted terrorists want a federal appeals court to return them to less restrictive prisons after they spent years in solitary confinement and other lockups that permitted little communication. An attorney for Omar Rezaq, who hijacked an EgyptAir jet in 1985, and Ibrahim Elgabrowny, El-Sayyid Nosair and Mohammed Saleh, co-conspirators in the 1993 […]
Hezbollah leader could get military tribunal in U.S.
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is considering a military trial in the United States for a Hezbollah commander now detained in Iraq, U.S. counterterrorism officials said, previewing a potential prosecution strategy that has failed before but may offer a solution to a difficult legal problem for the government. While the U.S. hasn’t made a decision, […]
Appeals court tosses 2 Abu Ghraib suits
RICHMOND, Va. — A federal appeals court on Wednesday dismissed two lawsuits by former Iraqi detainees who claimed civilian interrogators and translators participated in their torture at the Abu Ghraib prison. In a 2-1 decision, a panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the state law claims against contractors CACI International […]
Heroes and bad guys
On Sept. 11, 2001, I was a law clerk for Judge M. Brooke Murdock in Baltimore City Circuit Court, assisting her with her violation of probation docket in the Mitchell Courthouse. I had recently graduated from the University of Maryland School of Law and taken the bar exam a little over a month earlier. In […]
9/11 legacy: Will fear triumph over freedom?
In the heart-wrenching days after the terrorist attacks on 9/11, President George W. Bush acted boldly to prevent a backlash against Muslims and Islam in America and abroad. Speaking to a shaken nation before a joint session of Congress on Sept. 20, 2001, the president described the terrorists as “traitors to their own faith, trying, […]
Md. teen in secret custody in Pa. in ‘Jihad Jane’ plot
PHILADELPHIA — A source close to the family confirms that a Maryland teen from Pakistan is in secret U.S. custody, accused of helping recruit terrorists for the Pennsylvania woman known as “Jihad Jane.” Information was filed last month accusing the 17-year-old of helping Colleen LaRose in her alleged efforts to incite an Islamic holy war. […]
Maryland officials praise raid that killed bin Laden
WASHINGTON — Members of Maryland’s congressional delegation are praising a U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden, but say the country must remain vigilant. Sen. Barbara Mikulski said in a statement early Monday that bin Laden’s death marks “a historic day for our country.” She added, however, that “the hateful ideology he espouses will persist” […]
Families of USS Cole victims appeal punitive damages bar
RICHMOND, Va. — Relatives of the 17 sailors killed in the 2000 bombing of the Navy destroyer USS Cole are asking for the right to seek emotional-distress claims against the Republic of Sudan, which they say provided financial support and safe harbor for al-Qaida terrorists. An attorney representing 59 relatives on Tuesday asked a three-judge […]