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SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in New York has ordered Google to turn over to Viacom a database linking users of YouTube, the Web’s largest video site by far, with every clip they have watched there. The order raised concerns among users and privacy advocates that the online video viewing habits of tens of millions of people could be exposed. But Google and Viacom said they were hoping to come up with a way to protect the anonymity of YouTube viewers. Viacom said that the information would be safeguarded by a protective order restricting access to the data to...

Judge seals files on gov interviewBY NATASHA KORECKI Federal Courts Reporter nkorecki@suntimes.com June 28, 2008 A day after it was made public, a federal judge on Friday sealed a court filing that revealed that Gov. Blagojevich had been interviewed by federal agents. According to the document, Blagojevich denied having conversations described in court by two key prosecution witnesses in the corruption trial of Tony Rezko, a former Blagojevich adviser and fund-raiser. The witnesses testified that the governor made statements tying state business to financial support for his campaign. U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve ordered the document sealed again, without...

WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline)-U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts has named a panel to conduct the judicial misconduct investigation of 9th U.S. Circuit Chief Judge Alex Kozinski. Kozinski himself had called for the investigation after the Los Angeles Times reported that there were sexually explicit images on Kozinski's personal computer, which his wife, attorney Marcy J.K. Tiffany, told Legal Newsline belonged to their family.

<p>I can't imagine the Obama campaign is psyched that this USA Today photo of an anti-death penalty judge in Ohio shows two posters in his office — one of Che and one of Barack.</p>

A judge in Ohio has been pictured with his two idols above his head ... Barack Obama and .... Somebody else. Go ahead folks. Look at the picture. Don't you love these Obama supporters? I'm sure Barack would just as soon see this picture disappear.

A federal appeals court judge today recused himself from a closely-watched obscenity trial in Los Angeles, three days after acknowledging that he had posted sexually explicit material on a publicly accessible personal website. "In light of the public controversy surrounding my involvement in this case, I have concluded that there is a manifest necessity to declare a mistrial," said Alex Kozinski, chief judge for the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. "I will recuse myself from further participation in the case and will ask the chief judge of the district court to reassign it to another judge." The obscenity trial in...

ELYRIA -- Framed posters of Barack Obama, Che Guevara and Henry David Thoreau hang in the office of Lorain County Common Pleas Judge James Burge. The judge, who is conducting hearings on the constitutionality of Ohio's method for putting prisoners to death, said he respects those who back up words with action and that Thoreau, the 19th-century philosopher, was his first role model. ''I tend to admire people who in my opinion go beyond their speech -- they actually do what they say,'' Burge said. For Burge, that will mean putting aside personal opinions on the death penalty -- he...

In a saga with all the elements of a Hollywood thriller, an appeals court judge who is one of America's leading legal intellectuals stands accused of maintaining a public stash of online fetish pornography just as he has begun overseeing a criminal trial involving the distribution of sexually explicit scatological videos. Judge Alex Kozinski of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and Chief Judge Mary Schroeder during oral arguments in San Francisco in 2003. Kozinski is accused of maintaining a public stash of online fetish pornography. Opening arguments were getting under way in the obscenity case in federal court...

(AP) Judge Alex Kozinski, of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, gestures as Chief Judge Mary... SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Alex Kozinski is more accustomed to appearing on lists to fill U.S. Supreme Court vacancies than headlines involving pornographic scandals. But on Wednesday, the chief judge of the country's largest federal appeals court was forced to suspend an obscenity trial he was presiding over after sexually explicit images posted to his personal Web site became public. The Los Angeles Times reported on its Web site that Kozinski had posted sexual material on his personal Web site and then blocked...

As U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III began to speak yesterday, American flags fluttered in the breeze and military aircraft zoomed overhead. The graves of soldiers, freshly dug and from centuries past, bore silent testimony. The 70 people summoned before him had committed no crime -- it was the happiest day of their lives. Ellis had moved his Alexandria courtroom to Arlington National Cemetery to swear in immigrants from more than 30 countries as U.S. citizens, the first time a naturalization ceremony was held on the hallowed grounds in the cemetery's 144-year history. He wanted to impress upon the new...

A federal judge suspended the obscenity trial of a Los Angeles porn distributor Wednesday following a newspaper report that the judge had sexually explicit material on his own Web site. Judge Alex Kozinski on Wednesday granted a joint motion to suspend the trial after the prosecution said it needed time to look into the issue of the judge's Web site. The judge told the jury to return on Monday. The panel spent hours at the Pasadena offices of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals watching videos depicting bestiality and extreme fetishes. Kozinski is chief justice of the 9th Circuit...

Maureen Monks, about to become the newest judge of the Middlesex Probate and Family Court, is a long-time radical lesbian activist attorney. She specializes in "gay" family issues. Last week, when her nomination hit some rocky waters getting through the Governor's Council, Governor Deval Patrick simply ignored their official vote and announced he will swear her in. Monks' nomination - and the governor's action -- was strongly supported by both the Boston Globe and Boston Herald on their editorial pages.

Alex Kozinski, who is presiding over an obscenity trial in L.A., admits he posted sexually explicit photos and videos. He says he didn't think the public could see the site, which is now blocked. One of the highest-ranking federal judges in the United States, who is currently presiding over an obscenity trial in Los Angeles, has maintained his own publicly accessible website featuring sexually explicit photos and videos. Alex Kozinski, chief judge of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, acknowledged in an interview with The Times that he had posted the materials, which included a photo of naked women...

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) ― The home of the San Angelo judge who ordered the removal of 440 children from a polygamist ranch is under guard after Utah and Arizona authorities warned of "enforcers" from the sect, a newspaper reported Wednesday. Police assigned to Judge Barbara Walther's San Angelo house were provided dossiers and photos of 16 men and women deemed a threat, the Deseret News said. "There are many individuals who are willing to give up their life for the cause and you can never underestimate what a religious fanatic is capable of," said e-mails obtained from the Washington...

One of the highest-ranking federal judges in the United States, who is currently presiding over an obscenity trial in Los Angeles, has maintained a publicly accessible website featuring sexually explicit photos and videos. Alex Kozinski, chief judge of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, acknowledged in an interview with The Times that he had posted the materials, which included a photo of naked women on all fours painted to look like cows and a video of a half-dressed man cavorting with a sexually aroused farm animal. Some of the material was inappropriate, he conceded, although he defended other sexually...

SAN ANGELO, Texas -- A Texas judge today signed an order that said hundreds of children seized during a raid on a polygamous sect's ranch must immediately be released to their families. Signed by 51st District Judge Barbara Walther, the order provides for parents to retrieve their children from the various foster care facilities where they have been placed beginning today at 8 a.m. and extending through 8 p.m.

SANTA ANA – A Washington Times reporter has been subpoenaed by a federal judge who wants him to reveal the sources for a story he wrote about an engineer convicted of conspiracy to export U.S. defense technology to China. National security reporter Bill Gertz was ordered to appear before U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney in June, the newspaper reported Saturday. The judge has also requested e-mail messages, files and correspondences. Gertz cited U.S. government sources in a 2006 story saying that Justice Department officials approved an indictment against Tai Mak and that four of Mak's relatives would also be charged....

A federal judge has refused to dismiss bribery charges against Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.). Jefferson is accused of orchestrating a complicated, and multi-layered scheme to receive bribes from companies seeking business in Western Africa. Proving bribery against a lawmaker is difficult because prosecutors must show that the defendant provided an “official act” such as a voting a certain way or sponsoring legislation in return for money or items he received. His lawyers argued that Jefferson didn’t do anything in his capacity as a congressman that could be considered a bribe. U.S. District Court Judge T.S. Ellis III turned that legal...

LAS VEGAS, (AP) -- Elizabeth Halverson is a judge. But the way courthouse staffers see it, she expects to be treated like a queen. Her former bailiff, for example, says Halverson made him feel like a "houseboy." He says the judge — who is obese and uses a motorized scooter to get around — made him put her shoes on her feet, massage her back, cover her with a blanket for naps and make sure her oxygen tank was filled. He says she asked him, "Do you want to worship me from near or afar?" Halverson also surrounded herself with...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A former judge who lost a $54 million law suit against a dry cleaners over a missing pair of pants is suing to get his job back and at least $1 million in damages. In the suit filed in federal court, Roy Pearson he was wrongfully dismissed for exposing corruption within the Office of Administrative Hearings, the department where he worked. In court documents, Pearson said he was protected as a whistle-blower and that the city used the fact that he was being "vilified in the media" to cut him out of his job.

The Recording Industry Association of America suffered a legal setback this week in a music piracy case where a judge ruled that the sole act of making a music file available in a "shared folder" does not violate copyright laws. In Atlantic v. Howell, the RIAA made the legal assertion that a "sound recording" that is ripped to a computer and stored in any kind of a shared folder is unauthorized. This was an interesting statement because a shared folder can be a very broad category that wasn't entirely made clear by the RIAA.

Justice Antonin Scalia on Sunday characterized himself as a social conservative and "a law-and-order guy" whose views do not impact his interpretation of the Constitution. In an interview on CBS' "60 Minutes," Scalia addressed issues from abortion to flag-burning. Were he to approach his job differently, Scalia said, he would adopt the position of abortion opponents who interpret the Constitution to mean that a state must prohibit abortion. But the authors of the Constitution did not write about abortion, so he does not support the approach favored by abortion opponents, said the justice, who is promoting a new book, "Making...

What's Not To Like? Why Fondness Makes Us Poor Judges, But Dislike Is Spot-on ScienceDaily (Apr. 23, 2008) — How good are we at guessing other people's likes and dislikes? Ever bring a favorite dish to a potluck -- only to watch it go uneaten? Or receive an unwelcome shock when a cherished product is discontinued for lack of sales? People have the tendency to assume the whole world likes what we like, reveals new research from the June 2008 issue of the Journal of Consumer Research. However, we don't generalize the same way when it comes to things we...

MIAMI — A judge ordered jurors to keep deliberating Tuesday after they announced a second time they were deadlocked in the retrial of six men accused of scheming to blow up Chicago's Sears Tower and bomb FBI offices. U.S. District Judge Joan Lenard refused a defense request for mistrial, instead urging them to reach verdicts if at all possible. "If you fail to reach a verdict, this case will be left open and may have to be retried again," Lenard told jurors in a set of instructions known as an Allen charge. The ethnically diverse panel of seven men and...

(April 2) - An Atlanta, Georgia, judge who ordered white lawyers out of his courtroom so he could lecture African-American defendants called that decision a "mistake" Tuesday night. Judge Marvin Arrington says he is fed up with the defendants he keeps seeing in his courtroom. "In retrospect, it was a mistake," Judge Marvin Arrington told CNN. "Because my sheriff said to me, 'Judge, that message should be given to everybody' -- 'Don't violate the law, make something out of yourself, go to school, find a role model, somebody that will help you advance your life.'" Arrington, who is African-American, is...

ATLANTA -- Judge Marvin Arrington insists he's not a racist; despite ordering white lawyers out of his courtroom on Thursday. The Fulton County Superior Court judge said he was just fed up seeing a parade of young black defendants in his courtroom. "I came out and saw the defendants, about 99.9 percent Afro-Americans, and some point time I excused some of the lawyers, most of them white, and said to the young people in here 'What in the world are you doing with your lives,'" he told WSB-TV Channel 2 reporter JaQuitta Williams. Arrington said he thought his message might...

Judge allegedly showed jockstrap at party Saturday, March 29, 2008 By Barton Deiters The Grand Rapids Press GRAND RAPIDS -- A 63rd District Court employee claims Rockford District Judge Steven Servaas sat in such a way that exposed his jockstrap at a 2007 court staff Christmas party, according to testimony introduced Friday by the Judicial Tenure Commission's prosecutor. The surprise allegation by Detroit-based Commission Director Paul Fischer, who is seeking to remove Servaas from the bench, had Servaas' defense attorney James Brady seeing red during the opening day of testimony in the state's case against the judge. "It's a slime-ball...

SAN FRANCISCO - The Homeland Security Department is appealing a judge's ruling against its proposal to force employers to fire workers whose names don't match their Social Security numbers, and promises to try to make the policy a law. A federal judge in San Francisco blocked the "no-match rule" in October, saying it would likely impose hardships on businesses and their workers. Employers would incur new costs to comply with the regulation that the government hasn't evaluated, and innocent workers unable to correct mistakes in their records in time would lose their jobs, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer wrote. In...

A federal judge ruled in favor of the defendant and has stopped deportation proceedings against a Danbury family. The judge said that deporting Tereza Pereira and Carlos Lima would result in an exceptional hardship on their two American-born sons, one of which is an honor student at Danbury High School. "Thank God it's over, now we can return to peace," Pereira said immediately after the decision. About a dozen supporters of Pereira and Lima were in the court room. The room erupted in cheers when the judge ruled in favor of the defendant. They are expected to receive their green...

Anti-war judge rejects foster teen's bid to join military By Dana Bartholomew, Staff Writer Article Last Updated: 03/07/2008 07:16:45 AM PST SIMI VALLEY - Shawn Sage long dreamed of joining the military, and watching "Full Metal Jacket" last year really sold him on becoming a Marine. But last fall, a Los Angeles Superior Court commissioner dashed the foster teen's hopes of early enlistment for Marine sniper duty, plus a potential $10,000 signing bonus. In denying the Royal High School student delayed entry into the Marine Corps, Children's Court Commissioner Marilyn Mackel reportedly told Sage and a recruiter that she didn't...

SIMI VALLEY - Shawn Sage long dreamed of joining the military, and watching "Full Metal Jacket" last year really sold him on becoming a Marine. But last fall, a Los Angeles Superior Court commissioner dashed the foster teen's hopes of early enlistment for Marine sniper duty, plus a potential $10,000 signing bonus. In denying the Royal High School student delayed entry into the Marine Corps, Children's Court Commissioner Marilyn Mackel reportedly told Sage and a recruiter that she didn't approve of the Iraq war, didn't trust recruiters and didn't support the military. "The judge said she didn't support the Iraq...

Judge delays setting trial in Clinton fraud caseBut accuser begins seeking sworn testimony from high-profile witnesses Posted: February 22, 2008 1:00 am Eastern © 2008 WorldNetDaily A judge in Los Angeles yesterday allowed Hollywood mogul Peter F. Paul to begin taking sworn testimony in his $17 million fraud suit against former President Bill Clinton, but a technicality delayed establishment of a trial date. California Superior Court Judge Aurelio N. Munoz ruled Paul's legal team can begin seeking depositions from a host of big names – including Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton – that allegedly were witnesses to an effort by...

FRESNO The estranged wife of a former Fresno administrative-law judge has been sentenced to life in prison for attacking another woman with an aluminum baseball bat. Forty-six-year-old Robyn Sotelo of Sacramento was sentenced Wednesday for the 2006 attack on Marian Wells. Prosecutors say Sotelo broke into Wells' Fresno home and attacked her because she was infuriated over a relationship Wells was having with her husband, Louis Sotelo. At the time, Louis Sotelo was an administrative-law judge for the state Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board in Fresno. Robyn Sotelo will be eligible for probation in seven years. Wells survived the attack.

A 63-year-old Massachusetts federal bankruptcy judge has resigned a week after he was arrested for driving under the influence in New Hampshire while reportedly wearing a woman’s dress, heels and stockings, and carrying a purse. Judge Robert Somma, a Newbury resident, pleaded no contest to the drunken driving charge in New Hampshire and agreed to have his license suspended for 12 months, the Manchester Union Leader reported. “He decided with the media coverage the way it had been, it was best to put this behind him,� Gary Wenta, circuit executive for Boston’s First Federal Circuit, told the Herald. Wenta said...

The Louisiana Supreme Court has permanently removed Shreveport City Judge LaLeshia Walker-Alford from the bench and declared her seat vacant. In the ruling handed down on Friday afternoon, the court also said Alford cannot attempt to qualify for a judicial office for five years. She's also been fined $5,000 by the court to cover investigation and prosecution fees. Alford's term would have expired at the end of this year. Elections for the judgeship will be in October. In April 2006, the state Judiciary Commission ordered Judge Laleshia Walker-Alford off the bench. Alford has been on paid administrative leave since she...

MANCHESTER – A Boston-based federal judge wore a black cocktail dress, fish-net stockings and high heels when police arrested him for drunk driving after he rear-ended a pickup truck last week, sources said U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Robert Somma, 63, struck a plea deal with the city Wednesday in which he pleaded no contest to a first-offense misdemeanor driving while intoxicated charge in Manchester District Court. In exchange, the judge agreed to pay $600 in fines and penalties and a 12-month license suspension, which can be reduced to six months if he proves he successfully completed a driver education and...

Services will be Friday for Joseph Sneed of San Francisco, a conservative judge on a liberal federal appeals court for more than three decades and a member of the judicial panel that appointed Kenneth Starr to look into President Bill Clinton's financial dealings. Judge Sneed, a senior judge on the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, died Saturday at his home. He was 87. Among his survivors is daughter Carly Fiorina, who was chief executive of Hewlett-Packard Co. from 1999 to 2005.

A federal judge on Wednesday tossed out a lawsuit that accused a Boeing Co. subsidiary of illegally helping the CIA secretly fly terrorism suspects to overseas prisons to be tortured. U.S. District Court Judge James Ware ruled that national security could be jeopardized if the lawsuit was allowed to go forward. CIA Director Gen. Michael Hayden had earlier invoked the government's so-called "state secrets privilege," which lets intelligence agencies bar the use of evidence in court cases that jeopardize national security. In public and confidential statements filed with the court, Hayden urged the judge to dismiss the lawsuit filed by...

Judge refuses to toss out indictment against La. congressman2/6/2008, 6:07 p.m. CST The Associated Press ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A judge has refused to toss out an indictment against a Louisiana congressman accused of taking bribes, rejecting the argument that the indictment unconstitutionally infringed on his privileges as a congressman. The ruling Wednesday could prompt a delay in the trial of Rep. William Jefferson, D-Louisiana, who faces up to 235 years in prison on bribery and other charges. According to court papers, defense lawyers have indicated they will likely appeal the ruling. Normally defendants are only allowed to appeal such...

Who does is the judge according to the beliefs of your faith (and please disclose the church in your response)? Some pertinent scriptures: * Eccl 3: 17 (God shall judge the righteous and the wicked) * Matt 19:28 (ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel) * Rom 2:16 (God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel) * Rom 14:10 (all stand before the judgment seat of Christ) * Heb 12:23-24 (God the Judge of all ...And to Jesus the mediator of the new ccovenant) * Rev 20:12 (And...

Retired cop Mike Rose chomped on an unlit stogie and took one last peek at his cards, then shoved the remainder of his poker chips toward the dealer. "All in," he announced. Another player called the bet. Rose shook his head ruefully, turned up a losing hand and muttered, "He just caught me bluffing." The exchange Thursday night occurred not at an Indian gaming center or a Las Vegas casino but in a Sierra Vista storefront with a sign advertising Judge Lee's Arizona Card Room & Social Club. The place, open every night, is run by Harold S. Lee, a...

The judge who presided over Zacarias Moussaoui's trial questioned the government's decision to seek a death sentence against the Sept. 11 conspirator, and offered a strong defense of federal courts' ability to handle terror trials. U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema said in a speech Friday at the American University law school that the government's decision to seek a death sentence against Moussaoui appeared to be politically motivated, and that the zealous pursuit of a death sentence opened up numerous issues of exposing classified information that otherwise could have been avoided. "The war on terror is an important piece of political...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. federal judge on Thursday removed the lawyer for Bernard Kerik, a former New York police commissioner and protege of Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani who faces federal corruption charges. The ruling stands to postpone the start of Kerik's trial, which could help Guiliani if the potentially negative publicity of a trial is delayed past the upcoming nominating contests. Kerik has 30 days to find a new attorney. The next pre-trial hearing is scheduled for February 6, the day after "Super Tuesday" when more than 20 states will hold primary elections or caucuses. No trial...

Jay Grodner, the Chicago lawyer who keyed a Marine's car in anger because the car had military plates and a Marine insignia, finally got his day in court last week. Grodner pleaded guilty in a Chicago courtroom packed with former Marines. Some had Marine pins on their coats, or baseball jackets with the Marine insignia. They didn't yellor call him names. They came to support Marine Sgt. Michael McNulty, whose car Grodner defaced in December, but who couldn't attend because he's preparing for his second tour in Iraq. Grodner was late to court for the second time in the case....

Jay Grodner, the Chicago lawyer who keyed a Marine's car in anger because the car had military plates and a Marine insignia, finally got his day in court last week. Grodner pleaded guilty in a Chicago courtroom packed with former Marines. Some had Marine pins on their coats, or baseball jackets with the Marine insignia. They didn't yellor call him names. They came to support Marine Sgt. Michael McNulty, whose car Grodner defaced in December, but who couldn't attend because he's preparing for his second tour in Iraq. Grodner was late to court for the second time in the case....

The case was called at 13:33, and the Defendant did not show up. There were 2 heavy hitter State's Attorneys here to handle it. The Judge increased his bond to $20,000.00 or 10 percent cash, and put out a warrant for his arrest. The Defendant called at 13:40 to say that he will be a half an hout late and was waiting for the media to leave. The Judge said in open court that if he does shows up he will be taken into custody, and if he doesn't he is fair game for any law enforcement agency that wants...

OJ Simpson slammed by judge in US By Catherine Elsworth in Los Angeles Last Updated: 8:11pm GMT 16/01/2008 An infuriated judge doubled OJ Simpson's bail in an armed robbery case after he breached a court order by attempting to contact a co-defendant. OJ Simpson in court after breaching a court order The disgraced former sports star, who was jailed in Las Vegas on Friday after the breach came to light, was ordered to post bail of $250,000 (£120,000) and put his Florida home up as additional surety. Judge Jackie Glass told the ex-footballer he would not be released until 15...

A Benton County judge has apologized for telling a woman with cancer to take a knitted cap off her bald head or leave his courtroom. "Words can't express how sorry I am," Judge Holly Hollenbeck told the Herald on Monday, a few hours after he spoke with Bev Williams by phone and offered an unconditional apology. Williams, 43, said the District Court judge told her the no-hat rule would no longer apply in his courtroom, but that his apology had nothing to do with the criticism he had drawn for his comments to her on Friday. Williams, who lost her...

WASHINGTON - A federal judge refused on Wednesday to delve into the destruction of CIA interrogation videos, saying there was no evidence the Bush administration violated a court order and the Justice Department deserved time to conduct its own investigation. The decision by U.S. District Judge Henry H. Kennedy was a victory for the Bush administration, which had urged the courts not to wade into a politically charged issue already being investigated by the Justice Department, CIA and Congress. The CIA acknowledged last month that in 2005 it destroyed videos of officers using tough interrogation methods while questioning two al-Qaida...

A judge has ruled that disgraced political donor Norman Hsu's 16-year-old plea to a fraud charge remains in effect, meaning the one-time Democratic rainmaker is likely headed to state prison. Superior Court Judge Stephen Hall rejected Hsu's bid Friday to dismiss his 1992 no contest plea, and was set to sentence him to three years in state prison. Hsu also faces federal charges in New York. Hsu's lawyers asked the judge to toss his plea, arguing his right to a speedy trial was violated because authorities weren't actively pursuing him during his years as a fugitive. They could easily have...