U.S. District Court

Tohono O'odham Nation Racks Up Another Legal Victory in Federal Court

U.S. District Court Judge David Campbell ruled today that the Tohono O'odham Nation's plan to build a West Valley casino is in compliance with the state's gaming compacts. It's yet another legal victory to the tribe being that has been heavily opposed by Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, state and feder ... More >>

Bill Stokely, Flagstaff Resident and Oklahoma Ad-Man, Agrees to Forfeit Chopper and Plead Guilty In Tail-Number Ruse

Bill Stokely of Flagstaff has agreed to forfeit his helicopter and not fly or own aircraft for two years in a deal that'll keep him out of prison for changing his chopper's tail number. Stokely will also give up a claim to his Robinson R44 chopper, which was seized more than a year ago. The agreem ... More >>

Tohono O'odham Nation Continues Defending Plans for West Valley Casino; Opponents' Lawsuits Haven't Let Up

A U.S. District Court judge has scheduled a hearing on April 9 in an ongoing legal battle to block the Tohono O'odham Nation from building a casino in the West Valley. Despite several back-to-back legal victories for the Nation, its opponents are not backing down. "Throughout this process, the Nat ... More >>

SB 1070's "Papers Please" Section Now in Effect

U.S. District Court Judge Susan R. Bolton has lifted the injunction on Senate Bill 1070's "papers please" provision, which allows cops to begin enforcing that section immediately.This move was pretty much expected, as Bolton signaled her intent to release the injunction a few weeks ago, as she noted ... More >>

National Labor Relations Board Loses Lawsuit to Block Arizona's "Secret Ballot" Law

Just got word from Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne's office that U.S. District Court Judge Frederick Martone today upheld the state's "secret ballot" law. The voter-approved law was intended to block potential national legislation pushed by labor unions that would have allowed unionization in com ... More >>

Mary Rose Wilcox Granted $975,000 Judgment by Federal Judge; Sidesteps County Efforts to Check Payment

U.S. District Court Judge Neil Wake's final order in the proposed settlement by Maricopa County to Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox: Pay the woman.In an order on Friday, Wake granted Wilcox's motion to enforce the settlement order, stating that Wilcox "shall have judgment" in the amount agreed, plus an a ... More >>

FBI Helps Nab 10 in "Bootlegging" Bust; One Man Faced Prison Time for Selling a 12-Pack of Natty Ice

When the FBI and U.S. Attorney's Office announced yesterday that a six-month "bootlegging" investigation ended with 10 arrests, we were thinking it was a trip back to prohibition, involving Tommy guns, fedoras, and the phrase "G-Men."Nah, we checked out the criminal complaints, and it took six month ... More >>

Mexican Smugglers Exploit the Corrupt Reputation of U.S. Border Officers

Fiesta Bowl Fiasco: Former COO Natalie Wisneski Pleads Not Guilty

​Natalie Wisneski, the former chief operating officer for the Fiesta Bowl, was in a Phoenix U.S. District Court this morning where she pleaded not guilty to multiple charges that she was involved in a scam to make illegal campaign contributions to several federal, state, and local political candid ... More >>

Morning Poll: Should Arizona Take SB1070 to the U.S. Supreme Court?

Governor Jan Brewer is appealing SB1070 to the U.S. Supreme Court.​ After a U.S. District Court judge stripped key provisions out of Arizona's SB1070 law, Governor Jan Brewer appealed. Like the district court, the Ninth Circuit Court found unconstitutional the parts of the law that a ... More >>

Feds Want Court to Dismiss Jan Brewer's Lawsuit Against Medical Marijuana

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer's lawsuit against medical marijuana is on the ropes following today's motion to dismiss by the U.S. Justice Department.​ Arizona Governor Jan Brewer's lawsuit against the state's voter-approved medical marijuana law should be dismissed by the court, says the U.S. Ju ... More >>

Tohono O'odham Nation Gets Favorable Ruling From U. S. District Court Judge; Glendale Cannot Forcibly Annex Nation's Land

An artist's rendering of the Tohono O'odham Nation's West Valley Resort. ​The Tohono O'odham Nation was victorious again after a U.S. District Court judge declared unconstitutional a law allowing Glendale to annex the nation's property.   It's the latest in a series of decisions th ... More >>

Richard Taylor, Owner of Arizona Trailer Manufacturing, Convicted and Fined for Hiring 10 Undocumented Workers

​ A Buckeye trailer manufacturing firm and its owner were ordered by a federal judge to pay $30,000 in fines and received two years' probation for hiring undocumented workers. Richard Taylor and his company, Arizona Trailer Manufacturing, was convicted in U.S ... More >>

Apple Sued by Phoenix Company Over "iCloud" Name; Local Firm Says It's Been Using It Since 2005

Image: www.geticloud.comPhoenix-based iCloud Communications has sued Apple in federal court over the use of its name.​Phoenix firm iCloud Communications filed a iLawsuit against Apple last week, alleging it stole its iName.Apple apparently thinks it has the rights to the name, judging by the way i ... More >>

AT&T Sues City of Phoenix Over Denial of Cell Tower; Admits "Significant" Coverage Gap Along Piestewa Freeway

​ AT&T has turned to federal court to make Phoenix approve a cell-phone tower that the company says is needed to fix a dead-air zone on the Piestewa Freeway. A complaint filed by the company last week in U.S. District Court claims that Phoenix's Board of Adjustment ... More >>

Grant Goodman (a.k.a. Mr. Litigious) Offers to Engage in "Cross-Interview" -- Maybe Another Time

Last year, our former colleague Sarah Fenske wrote a scathing article about a goofball Phoenix barrister named Grant Goodman. Here it is.   Federal judge Mary Murguia​The upshot of the piece came in what we call the "nut graf," a sentence or two that tells the reader why he or she ma ... More >>

Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne Throws AG's Office into Crusade Against Obama-Care

James KingAttorney General Tom Horne has a few problems with President Obama's health care plan.​Newly sworn in Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne announced today that he's planning to do something his predecessor, Terry Goddard, refused to do: throw the Arizona Attorney General's Office into the ... More >>

Gabrielle Giffords, John Roll, and the Valley of Misinformation

Gabrielle Giffords: Her shooting became a rabbit hole of confusion for the vaunted Fourth Estate. Morning news flash: Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords has been shot, and is in critical condition. Five more are dead, including a child. The shooting occurred as the Congresswoman ... More >>

Limewire Shuts Down, Giving Less Options For Free Downloads

​A U.S. District Court judge has ordered LimeWire to be shut down, according to Consequence of Sound. Four years ago, 13 record companies sued Lime Wire LLC so that their company and their artists could properly be paid for their hard work.The LimeWire program is the only part of the company that ... More >>

Ask a Mexican on Native Tongues and Ancestry

Maricopa County Judge Allows "Sham" Green Party Candidates to Remain on Ballot

www.solarnavigator.com​There is no joy in Mudville -- again -- today for the Arizona's Green and Democratic Parties.For the second time in a week, a judge has ruled to allow several Green Party candidates, dubbed by the two parties as "sham" candidates, to remain on the November ballot.This mornin ... More >>

The Most Worthlessly Obscure Bands on The Soundstrike's Arizona Boycott List

​Well, Thursday is finally upon us -- however, what could have been an entirely shitty day was made less so by the wonderful foresight of U.S. District Court Judge Susan Bolton and her injunctions on SB 1070. Gov. Brewer's evil army of mercenaries will have to wait until a decision is made on the ... More >>

Clean Elections Law Deemed Constitutional by 9th Circuit; Goldwater Institute Attorneys Expect Supreme Court to Intervene

www.firstfriday.com​Arizona's controversial Clean Elections Law got a new lease on life Friday when the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a ruling of the U.S. District Court in Phoenix, which found the law to be unconstitutional.The three-judge panel ruled unanimously that the law does ... More >>

Clean Elections Matching Funds Are Likely Gone, Baby, Gone

Nick Dranias took on Clean Elections -- and appears almost certain to win.​Barring a sudden change of heart or some hitherto undiscovered legal analysis, U.S. District Court Judge Roslyn Silver indicated today that she will hand the Goldwater Institute a huge victory and strike down the "matching ... More >>

Hot Links: Big Surf, Prison Books, and NAU's Porn Lawsuit

​Big Surf water park in Tempe will close at the end of Labor Day, perhaps for good. Golfland Entertainment Centers, which has operated the park since 1991, announced yesterday it will cease operations of the park to focus on its other ventures. The El Paso-based company that owns Big Surf has not ... More >>

Joe Arpaio's Latest Whopper: MCSO Press Release Fakes "Win" -- Class Action Status To Be Decided Later

Note the resemblance? Skin like a corpse, bulbous nose, shurf's badge, plays the buffoon...​Why anyone buys any of the shameless bull that flows forth from the MCSO's PR team like a mighty river of bunk is beyond me. Take this latest, bogus claim from the sheriff of a legal victory in the b ... More >>

Telemarketing Scam Bilking Phoenix Seniors Revealed in Federal Court

www.spoofcard.com​A complaint was filed in U.S. District Court in Phoenix today alleging that several Kansas-based telemarketing firms have been ripping off suckers and the elderly in countless states including Arizona.The complaint says Landmark Publishing Group, Grant Writer ... More >>

Diabetic Died Without Treatment in County Jail, Lawsuit Says; In Another Case, a Jailed Epilectic Claims Injury After Being Denied Meds

​ Two new lawsuits against Maricopa County seem to emphasize why medical treatment for jail inmates needs improving. In one case, a diabetic man died of gangrene in 2007 after six weeks in the clink. The family of David McClurg alleges that even though McClurg himself ... More >>

Claude Lemieux, NHL Hockey Player, to Become U.S. Citizen in Phoenix Ceremony

NHL Player Claude Lemieux, originally from Canada, will become a U.S. citizen in a ceremony this Friday in Phoenix with 99 other immigrants. Lemieux, 43, a Valley resident, is a comeback kid who now plays with the San Jose Sharks after a stint with a People's Republic of China team, the China Shar ... More >>

Crunchberries Buyer Should Have Known Cereal had No Real Fruit, Court Says

  A California woman sued Pepsi after finding out that Crunchberries contained no real fruit, but a judge ruled any reasonable person could have figured that out. The case of Janine Sugawawa does provide a modicum of hope that the justice system isn't running on four flats -- thi ... More >>

Jarrett Maupin II Pleads Guilty to Lying to Federal Agent; Resignation From School Board Part of Plea Deal

Image: Jeff Newton Jarrett Maupin II pleaded guilty today to a felony count of making a false statement to a federal law enforcement agent. Prosecutors are recommending probation for the former candidate for Phoenix mayor; his sentencing is scheduled for late July. U.S. District Court Judge Da ... More >>

Lawyers for Inmates in County Jail Conditions Lawsuit Seek $1.4 Million in Fees; Jail Problems Improving, Says Lawyer

Lawyers in a major lawsuit that sought better conditions for Maricopa County Jail inmates want the county to reimburse their $1.4 million in fees since a judge ruled in their favor. In October, U.S. District Court Judge Neil Wake ordered the county to allow pretrial inmates to take th ... More >>

New Times Sues County and Special Prosecutor

Deflating a Case

Lawsuit against TRW airbag plant settled for $175,000

Here Comes the Fudge

From U.S. District Court to the Arizona State Fair, attorney Steve Silver's baked goods are under every judge's nose

Feds Will Retry Symington on Criminal Counts, Sources Say

Habla Di, Habla Da, Strife Goes On

Federal ruling in bilingual-education lawsuit goes unheeded by state officials

Civil Libertines

The battle over Phoenix's groundbreaking sex-club ban moves into federal court

Government by Litigation

Increasingly, public officials ignore laws they're paid to uphold. Citizens and interest groups regularly drag these same bureaucrats into court, trying to ensure that the laws of the land are enforced. But now even the courts, once bastions of authority,

The Prying Game

Juror Excused

Odd development in Symington trial

Crime Spree on the Reservation

Teen-gangster Crips on the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community got high on crystal meth and cheap beer and terrorized the reservation with drive-by shootings, murder, beatings, fire-bombings and robberies for two years--until the feds busted them fo

Varinsky or Varoutsky?

Renowned trial consultant helped Symington defense decide who would serve on the jury

Locked in Masquerade

The Department of Juvenile Corrections helped create an overcrowding crisis in state juvenile facilities--to the benefit of a private contractor that employs two former state officials

Second Helpings

FLASHES, 8-10

BEYOND THE BLACK VELVET CANVAS

JAILHOUSE BLUES

PACK 'EM IN AND TAKE AWAY THEIR RIGHTS. THAT'S SHERIFF JOE ARPAIO'S PHILOSOPHY

NO PANACEA CALIFORNIA CASE WON'T GUARANTEE GAY ARIZONAN'S AIR FORCE REINSTATEMENT