By Breaking Legal News, Breaking Legal News.

The Justice Department's Public Integrity Section has a storied 34-year history of pursuing corruption in government and safeguarding the public trust.

That trust was breached, however, when some of the unit's prosecutors failed to turn over evidence favorable to the defense in their high-profile criminal trial of Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, who died earlier this month in a plane crash.

Now Jack Smith, a 41-year-old prosecutor with a love for courtroom work and an impressive record, has been brought in to restore the elite unit's credibility.

Before Stevens, Public Integrity's renown was built on large successes — like the prosecution of the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal and convictions of federal and state judges, members of Congress and state legislators, military officers, federal lawmen and bureaucrats and their state counterparts over the years.

But its stumble — not disclosing exculpatory evidence as Supreme Court precedent requires — was equally large. It was so serious that Attorney General Eric Holder, one of Public Integrity's distinguished alums, stepped in and asked a federal judge to throw out Stevens' convictions.

At the time of the Stevens debacle, Smith was overseeing all investigations for the international war crimes office at The Hague in the Netherlands. He'd read about the Stevens case. Offered the chance to take over Public Integrity, he couldn't stay away.

Originally posted at Breaking Legal News. Please visit http://www.breakinglegalnews.com/.

By Breaking Legal News, Breaking Legal News.

A federal judge says the Nebraska Supreme Court should answer a legal question about whether a Nebraska city's ban on hiring and renting to illegal immigrants is allowed by state law.

U.S. District Judge Laurie Smith Camp ruled late Wednesday on briefs from parties in lawsuits filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska and the Mexican American Legal Defense & Educational Fund, also known as MALDEF. Those lawsuits challenging Fremont's ban have since been combined.

Smith Camp had asked for the briefs last month, saying she wasn't sure whether the lawsuit should be heard in federal or state court.

Lawyers have until Sept. 1 to craft the language of the question that Smith Camp will present to the Nebraska Supreme Court.

Originally posted at Breaking Legal News. Please visit http://breakinglegalnews.com/.

By Breaking Legal News, Breaking Legal News.

A group that filed a lawsuit over documents related to a June appearance by Sarah Palin at California State University, Stanislaus is claiming victory in a judge's ruling.

The open-government group Californians Aware says Stanislaus County Superior Court Judge Roger Beauchesne decided Wednesday that the university must release Palin's contract.

The group says the judge also ordered the release of any documents related to the use of university property or services during her visit.

CalAware filed a lawsuit in April after the school refused to disclose documents related to Palin's appearance.

The university has said negotiations with Palin were handled by its nonprofit foundation, which is not subject to the California Public Records Act.

The university did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday evening.

Originally posted at Breaking Legal News. Please visit http://breakinglegalnews.com/.

By Breaking Legal News, Breaking Legal News.

A group that filed a lawsuit over documents related to a June appearance by Sarah Palin at California State University, Stanislaus is claiming victory in a judge's ruling.

The open-government group Californians Aware says Stanislaus County Superior Court Judge Roger Beauchesne decided Wednesday that the university must release Palin's contract.

The group says the judge also ordered the release of any documents related to the use of university property or services during her visit.

CalAware filed a lawsuit in April after the school refused to disclose documents related to Palin's appearance.

The university has said negotiations with Palin were handled by its nonprofit foundation, which is not subject to the California Public Records Act.

The university did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday evening.

Originally posted at Breaking Legal News. Please visit http://www.breakinglegalnews.com/.

By Breaking Legal News, Breaking Legal News.

Southern California's Metrolink system and Connex Railroad filed court papers Wednesday accepting the maximum $200 million in liability for a 2008 head-on collision between a commuter train and a freight that killed 25 people and injured more than 100.

The sum is the maximum for a train accident under federal law, said Keith Millhouse, board chairman of the Southern California Regional Rail Authority.

"The rationale is this is the maximum that could be recovered in any event and will expeditiously get the maximum compensation to the victims and their families," Millhouse said.

Investigators believe the commuter train's engineer was texting when he ran a red light and collided head on with a Union Pacific freight train in the Chatsworth area of the San Fernando Valley on Sept. 12, 2008.

Engineer Robert Sanchez, who was among those killed, was provided by Connex.

The court, which has to approve the settlement, would distribute the fund to victims.

The filing noted that 109 lawsuits, almost all involving passengers, are pending in Los Angeles County Superior Court and asked that all passenger claims be consolidated into the federal proceeding.

Originally posted at Breaking Legal News. Please visit http://breakinglegalnews.com/.

By Breaking Legal News, Breaking Legal News.

Southern California's Metrolink system and Connex Railroad filed court papers Wednesday accepting the maximum $200 million in liability for a 2008 head-on collision between a commuter train and a freight that killed 25 people and injured more than 100.

The sum is the maximum for a train accident under federal law, said Keith Millhouse, board chairman of the Southern California Regional Rail Authority.

"The rationale is this is the maximum that could be recovered in any event and will expeditiously get the maximum compensation to the victims and their families," Millhouse said.

Investigators believe the commuter train's engineer was texting when he ran a red light and collided head on with a Union Pacific freight train in the Chatsworth area of the San Fernando Valley on Sept. 12, 2008.

Engineer Robert Sanchez, who was among those killed, was provided by Connex.

The court, which has to approve the settlement, would distribute the fund to victims.

The filing noted that 109 lawsuits, almost all involving passengers, are pending in Los Angeles County Superior Court and asked that all passenger claims be consolidated into the federal proceeding.

Originally posted at Breaking Legal News. Please visit http://www.breakinglegalnews.com/.