U.S. District Court

Despite State Ban, Federal Inmate Ronell Wilson Is Sent to Death Row

Federal Court Rules NYPD's Mass Arrests During 2004 Republican National Convention Unlawful

A U.S. District Court judge ruled yesterday that the NYPD unlawfully arrested and fingerprinted hundreds of protestors during the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York City.U.S. District Court Judge Richard Sullivan found that the NYPD acted unlawfully when it carried out mass arrests of d ... More >>

Medical Marijuana: Montana Cannabis Under Fire From Feds

The Department of Justice's crackdown on California medical marijuana might be the most well known in the country, but it's worth paying attention to legal developments in Montana, where U.S. Attorneys are also doing battle with dispensaries. As detailed by the Helena Independent Record, federal pr ... More >>

A Contraceptive Calamity in Colorado

Next Wednesday, against the Obama administration's will, a political firestorm will be unleashed: the provision in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that forces businesses to pay for employees' contraceptives without a co-pay goes into effect. You may remember this little ticking time b ... More >>

Occupy Wall Street Sues Bloomberg And New York City Over Library Destruction

Six months after the New York Police Department launched a secretive dead-of-night military-style operation to evict Occupy Wall Street protesters from Zuccotti Park, conducting mass arrests and destroying thousands of dollars worth of property, Mayor Bloomberg, Police Chief Ray Kelly, and others ar ... More >>

IP Address Does Not Even ID a State, Judge Decides in Landmark BitTorrent Lawsuit

Just a few weeks after a New York judge decided that an internet protocol address is not enough evidence for lawsuits against accused illegal file-sharers, a California judge has ruled that an IP address can't even pinpoint one's state. As detailed by CNET, the judge tossed out lawsuits against 15 ... More >>

Judge Dora Irizarry Calls for Special Master to Oversee Redistricting Process

As Albany continues to struggle with redistricting, a federal judge from Brooklyn has formally called for a "special master" to oversee the process, signaling a lack of faith in the state legislature to get things done in a timely or fair manner. Judge Dora Irizarry, who serves in the US District ... More >>

Organic Farmers Challenge Monsanto Patents in NY Court Hearing

A U.S. District Court hearing in downtown New York today could determine the eventual fate of several organic farmers from across the country, including some in upstate New York. The hearing centered on a "pre-emptive" suit led by the Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association (OSGTA), against agr ... More >>

California Supreme Court Grants Standing in Prop 8 Case to Opponents of Same-Sex Marriage

​The California Supreme Court ruled today that opponents who sued to appeal U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker's 2010 ruling, which found Prop 8 to be unconstitutional, have "standing" to do so. Walker's ruling in the case Perry v. Schwarzenegger would have, effectively, allowed same-sex marri ... More >>

Paul Oetken, First Openly Gay Judge, Confirmed to Federal Bench

​James Paul Oetken was confirmed to the United States District Court yesterday for the Southern District of New York. He was the first ever openly gay man ever appointed to the federal bench.

Prop 8 Backers Lose Key Fight

In a victory for gay rights, a California federal judge today rejected an attempt by Prop 8's backers to vacate Judge Vaughn Walker's previous ruling that overturned Prop 8, the Metro Weekly's Chris Geidner reports this afternoon. Prop 8's supporters had argued that because Walker was himself gay a ... More >>

Adrian Schoolcraft, Police Officer, Wins Round One In Legal Battle With City, Jamaica Hospital

​Adrian Schoolcraft, the police officer forced into the Jamaica Hospital psychiatric ward by police three weeks after he reported misconduct to investigators, has won round 1 in his legal battle against the city. Schoolcraft's saga was the subject a five-part Village Voice series published la ... More >>

The Looming NFL Strike: Get Ready for Clueless Coverage

​Why is the looming NFL strike different from all other strikes? Well, first, it's not a strike, it's a lockout. Or at least it will be on March 4, when the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the National Football League and the player's union expires and the owners padlock the gates. A ... More >>

When Can Mexican Workers Speak Spanish Freely?

Furloughs? David Paterson Backs Himself Into a Bad Position, Again

​Maybe it's just David Paterson fatigue. The media is so tired of kicking the governor around that we're letting him posture as a bulwark against fiscal madness when he's one of its causes. It took a federal judge a minute or two to figure out that Paterson's furlough plan was an illegal vio ... More >>

FDNY Ordered to Hire More Blacks -- But Budget Woes May Scuttle That for Now

​By Alana Horowitz and Sara Gates Three months ago, when a federal judge ruled that the FDNY had discriminated against minority applicants, it appeared that diversity in the ranks might improve. But at least now, with the city's budget a shambles, that looks unlikely. U.S. District Court Ju ... More >>

Hiram Monserrate Loses Suit, Will Remain Ex-Senator, May Try Again in State Court

The judge didn't go for the suit brought in U.S. District Court by ex-state senator Hiram Monserrate and the New York Civil Liberties Union, and today declined to grant the injunction that would reinstate him to his lost seat. In his decision, Judge William H. Pauley III drops some laugh lines. ... More >>

Voice Video Shows NYPD Snapping Photos of School Demonstrators at Mayor Bloomberg's House -- Protestors Call It A Legal No-No

Civil Rights attorney Norman Siegel called a press conference Sunday, "outraged" that the NYPD was taking photographs of demonstrators at last Thursday's school closing protest in front of Mayor Bloomberg's house. He was responding to a story posted by the Voice last Friday, in which our video sh ... More >>

No TV For Prop 8 Trial in San Francisco -- US Supreme Court

​The US Supreme Court has pulled the plug on broadcasting the historic Prop 8 federal trial, beginning today in San Francisco. Last week, Judge Vaughn Walker made the decision to allow delayed televised coverage of the trial. Video coverage was to be available regularly on YouTube, though Wal ... More >>

Turn Prop 8 Into a Reality Show

​That's what the Courage Campaign is urging us all to do. Seeing as the proceedings to reverse the hideous Prop will be a landmark case in equality, they want it to be watched and exposed and scrutinized by the public via the same cameras that have us glimpsing into the lives of real housewive ... More >>

FBI raid on G20 Twitter anarchist seizes mercury, ammunition, and pictures of communists

U.S. District Court Judge Dora Irizarry has halted FBI examination of materials seized in a Thursday raid on the Queens home of Elliot M. Madison, who was arrested outside Pittsburgh during the G20 Summit for allegedly using social media to help protesters avoid police. The FBI is said to have conf ... More >>

Bourke, Convicted in Bribe Scheme, Keeps Job, $

It turns out you can be a convicted felon and still keep your high-profile job. As reported here Tuesday, multimillionaire handbag manufacturer Frederic Bourke was found guilty late last week of participating in a $350 million bribery scheme, in which the corrupt president of Azerbaijan had planned ... More >>

Sotomayor Steps Up: "I Strive Never to Forget the Real-World Consequences of My Decisions"

Say what you will about identity politics, it plays well with crowds. The Sotomayor announcement began with prolonged, joyful applause. "Well, I'm excited too," said Obama. Then he tried to ground things a bit: "Of the many responsibilities granted to the President by the Constitution," he said, ... More >>

Andy Giuliani's Golf Team Suit Rejected; Judge Cites Precedent, Caddyshack

You may remember that last September Andrew Giuliani, the famously ill-behaved son of our former Mayor, filed suit against Duke University for cutting him from the school golf team. Giuliani fils said he was entitled to his place on the team by "contract"; Duke said they cut him for cause (including ... More >>

Garment Workers Win Suit Against Company Whose Subcontractors Didn't Pay

Liberty Apparel subcontracted its garment-building labor, done pretty much exclusively by Chinese-Americans at very low wages, to small companies of the fly-by-night sort; when the subcontractors folded, as unfortunately happens often in that business, Liberty could claim that the wages lost by empl ... More >>

2nd Man Pleads Guilty In S.I. Election Night Hate Spree

The second of the four guys who were accused of an Election Night hate-crime spree in Staten Island has pleaded guilty. The U.S. Department of Justice has announced that Brian Carranza, 21, admitted in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn to conspiring to assault African-Americans in retaliation for Oba ... More >>

Federal Court Defendants Joel Klein & Ray Kelly

Our Education Mayor remains silent about police abuses of students in public schools

Clip Job: Henry Miller, Free at Last!

The Spectacular Fall of Lou Pearlman

Rupert Murdoch to Troops: Get Me That Hooker!

Court Backs Council Metal Bat Ban

Tenants and Landlord Hit Pinnacle of a Dispute

The CIA's No-Questions-Asked Travel Agent

A private corporation joins Bush administration's conspiracy to obstruct justice

Daughter of the Constitution

A 73-year-old judge renews the law, to the anger of the commander in chief

George Bush: Recidivist

A judge who came out of the civil rights movement teaches Bush the Constitution.

Targeting the Testers

Animal rights activists move beyond fur and the circus

Outing Cardinal Egan

A priest's lawsuit alleges the Catholic Church is hiding pedophile clergy—and offers a stunning reason why

John Roberts v. One French Fry

Beneath his black robes, what does Roberts reveal of his values as a human being?

Attack? What Attack?

Difficult to Prove Bush Knew Anything, Then or Now

Analyze This!

Italians Iced From Federal Judicial Appointments

Exposé Energizes Court Battle

Ashcroft Could Face Reckoning on Detainee Mistreatment

When Peace Is a Threat

The City Labels Anti-War Marchers a Security Breach

Proceed With Caution

Lessons From a 9-11 Suspect Set Free

The Name Game

In Battle Over 9-11 Detentions, Feds May Be Hiding More Than Identities

Powers of Military Tribunals

A Jail Like a Slave Ship

‘I Thought I Was Dying Every Day’

HUD: The Horror Movie

A Big Fish Fries the Little Fish in Harlem-Brooklyn Mortgage Scam

I, Mitnick

After a Year in Solitary Confinement, the World’s Greatest Hacker Has a Lot to Say

Fighting Back

One Woman’s Campaign Against Her Former Union Employer

The 'Partial' Ploy

How the antichoice campaign against a nonexistent procedure threatens Roe