Jan
30
Collecting Judges, Past and Present
Posted by: Joseph D. Kearney | January 30, 2012 | 1 Comment
Tom Shriner’s recent remembrance of Judge Dale Ihlenfeldt said to law students and new lawyers that “you can—must—learn the lessons of the law (and life) from everyone, not just your professors, but your colleagues, your adversaries, your clients, and even from judges.” This last (neatly phrased) is the case, in my estimation, both of judges [...]
Jan
9
A Lesson Learned from a Great Bankruptcy Judge
Posted by: Thomas L. Shriner, Jr. | January 9, 2012 | 1 Comment
Judge Dale Ihlenfeldt died right after Christmas. He was 92 years old and hadn’t sat on the bankruptcy court bench in Milwaukee for many years, though he remained active until fairly recently, including by teaching an annual CLE program in Madison in which I also participate. Teaching CLE required him to keep up on developments [...]
Oct
19
Budget Cuts Haven’t Meant Prosecution Cuts Here, Santelle Says
Posted by: Alan J. Borsuk | October 19, 2011 | Leave a Comment
In case any criminals reading this are hoping to avoid prosecution because budget cuts are reducing the reach of federal prosecutors, their hopes are ill-founded – at least for now, according to James Santelle, the U.S. Attorney for the eastern district of Wisconsin. But down the road and even now in places other than eastern [...]
Jun
27
Department of Justice Files Fair Housing Act Suit Against City of New Berlin
Posted by: Garrett Soberalski | June 27, 2011 | 2 Comments
On Thursday, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a complaint against the City of New Berlin. The complaint arises out of a series of events that led to the City’s denial of a “workforce” housing development proposal made by MSP Real Estate, Inc. (MSP). The DOJ alleges that the City of New Berlin ultimately denied the [...]
Apr
20
Springtime for Daubert: Insights From the EDWBA Panel
Posted by: Daniel D. Blinka | April 20, 2011 | Leave a Comment
In late January the “tort reform” package imposed the staid Daubert rules on the Wisconsin Rules of Evidence. Now it’s spring, although the weather feels a lot like January, and we must get serious about what to do with this gift that the judiciary did not want. The new rules require that expert testimony be [...]
Feb
16
Racial Disparities in the Federal Death Penalty: Uncovering the Key Role of Geography
Posted by: Michael M. O'Hear | February 16, 2011 | 1 Comment
The federal death penalty is plagued by two important types of disparity. One is racial: as of last year, nearly half of federal death row inmates (28 of 57) were black. The other is geographic: out of the 94 federal districts, just 16 have produced 75 percent of the death sentences, and nine have produced nearly [...]
Jul
15
How Toxic is Thomas?
Posted by: Richard M. Esenberg | July 15, 2010 | Leave a Comment
Pat McIlheran has an interesting find in today’s Journal Sentinel, commenting on Judge Randa’s underreported decision in Gibson v. American Cyanamid. Judge Randa held that application of the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s Thomas decision (which applied something called risk contribution theory to hold lead paint pigment manufacturers collectively responsible for all harm from that product) would [...]
Jun
11
What’s Good for the Goose . . .
Posted by: Daniel Suhr | June 11, 2010 | 5 Comments
Earlier this week, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit issued its decision in In Re Sherwin-Williams Co. The court upheld Judge Lynn Adelman’s decision not to recuse himself from a case pending before him in the Eastern District of Wisconsin, Burton v. American Cyandamid, et al. Sherwin-Williams is currently [...]
Feb
23
A Broadening of Diversity Jurisdiction
Posted by: Joseph D. Kearney | February 23, 2010 | 3 Comments
Students of civil procedure—which should mean just about everybody interested in using the formal processes of the law to vindicate rights—will be interested in a decision today by the United States Supreme Court. The opinion concerned the provision in the statutory grant of diversity jurisdiction that deems a corporation “to be a citizen of any [...]
Nov
5
Myron Gordon, R.I.P.
Posted by: Richard M. Esenberg | November 5, 2009 | 1 Comment
I only really knew Myron Gordon as a judge on senior status and tried only one case before him. It was a challenge by the NAACP to the method of electing judges in Milwaukee County. The plaintiffs alleged that county-wide elections of judges denied black voters the opportunity to elect candidates of their own choice [...]
Jul
20
Seventh Circuit Criminal Case of the Week: “A Total Breakdown of Justice”
Posted by: Michael M. O'Hear | July 20, 2009 | Leave a Comment
In January 2003, Milwaukee police officers found two guns in the home of the estranged wife of Rashid Salahuddin. Salahuddin himself was arrested shortly afterwards. Now, more than six years later, after many rounds of legal proceedings in state and federal court, Salahuddin still awaits final resolution of criminal charges stemming from the discovery of [...]
Jun
13
Seventh Circuit Case of the Week: The Jude Saga Continues
Posted by: Michael M. O'Hear | June 13, 2009 | Leave a Comment
For a resident of Milwaukee, there can be no question about the marquee Seventh Circuit case last week: the court decided the appeals of three of the defendants convicted in the notorious Frank Jude beating. In United States v. Bartlett, the court (per Chief Judge Easterbrook) affirmed the convictions of all three defendants and the sentences of two. [...]
Blog Editors
- Alan Borsuk
- Bruce E. Boyden
- Edward A. Fallone
- Melissa L. Greipp
- Scott C. Idleman
- Lisa Mazzie
- Michael M. O'Hear
- Ryan Scoville
