Senate Bill 999 has passed the Senate and been reported out of the Civil Subcommittee from the House Courts of Justice Committee. The bill, if passed by the House and signed by the Governor, would have two important...more
Courts are supposed to decide only the necessary things. They’re supposed to avoid weighing in on issues that don’t need a decision. Those principles came to a head in the Supreme Court of Virginia last month in Rebh v...more
Almost 50 years ago, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, in a short, six paragraph opinion, ruled that pro se parties, those without lawyers, are entitled to “notice sufficiently understandable to [the pro se...more
The Supreme Court of Virginia taught appellate practitioners yet another hard lesson in how procedural pitfalls can scuttle otherwise compelling appeals. In Eckard v. Commonwealth, the pitfall was failing to get the complete...more
Last month, in Snyder v. United States, the Supreme Court of the United States narrowly construed the federal anti-bribery statute. In that case, the mayor of Portage, Indiana worked with other officials to carefully prepare...more
7/2/2024
/ Bribery ,
Corruption ,
Fraud ,
Illegal Gratuities ,
Mayors ,
Public Bidding ,
Public Corruption ,
Public Officials ,
Public Servants ,
SCOTUS ,
Snyder v United States ,
Undue Influence Claims ,
Virginia
“A deadline means what it says,” is a simple enough concept. But it’s not always true....more
In Eberhardt v. Commonwealth, the Virginia Court of Appeals took up a case from Dinwiddie involving child cruelty. The case concluded, unsurprisingly, that the Commonwealth had sufficiently proven the appellant was guilty....more
On March 16, 2020, the Supreme Court entered the first of numerous orders declaring a judicial emergency as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The statutory authority that permits the Court to declare an emergency requires...more