Under the turbulent glare of national attention, a federal district judge on Thursday made comity the informal order of the day — while also promising to issue a restraining order against several members of President Donald Trump’s cabinet over the Signal group chat scandal.

But first he sought to set the record straight.

“Some questions have been raised regarding this court’s random assignment,” U.S. District Chief Judge James E. Boasberg intoned — emphasizing the penultimate word. “All cases are randomly assigned.”

The jurist is, as of late, unusually well-known — largely due to being the target of Trumpworld ire over a series of anti-government court rulings and concomitant dressings-down of government lawyers in the Alien Enemies Act case. Seemingly aware of the consternation, the judge explained in detail the “automated” process that put him in charge of another high-profile case against the Trump administration.

A government ethics watchdog group implored a federal judge to order the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to produce records responsive to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by next week, arguing that information on the “black box agency” and its operations are vital for Congress and the general public before the current continuing resolution expires next week.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed the lawsuit against DOGE last month, accusing the pseudo-agency of unlawfully refusing to comply with its FOIA requests for records associated with the government group’s actions and ignoring repeated demands for DOGE to preserve its records under the Federal Records Act.

CREW requested expedited records and documents related to communications between Office of Management and Budget (OMB) staffers and individuals who were affiliated with DOGE prior to Trump’s inauguration, changes to the operations of the U.S. Digital Service, organizational charts and financial disclosures, and DOGE’s communications with federal agencies, which DOGE and the other plaintiffs have so far failed to turn over.

The Trump administration responded to the litigation by claiming that DOGE was not subject to FOIA laws due to the president’s designation of the entity as a “free-standing component of the Executive Office of the President.”

FOIA allows the public to obtain non-exempt information from executive branch agencies and departments that do not function “solely to advise and assist the President.”

Appearing before U.S. District Judge Christopher R. Cooper on Friday, attorneys representing CREW asserted that it would suffer irreparable harm if the document request was not fulfilled by next week. The organization further asserted that based on news reports, the government’s own public statements, and DOGE’s own publications, it clearly wielded more than advisory authority.

CREW’s attorney argued that members of Congress lacked sufficient information on DOGE, its organizational structure, funding, and the agency’s authority before they could vote on funding the government on March 14.

“The nature of the influence DOGE has been wielding is unlike anything we’ve seen before,” CREW’s attorney told the court. “This newly formed, unscrutinized, black box agency is directing other agencies what to do and what not to do. They’re instructing agencies to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars in cancelled contracts and the firing of thousands of federal workers.”

A Florida judge on Monday was primed to sentence a 55-year-old man to 20 years in prison for allegedly shooting his ex-fiancee eight times as she lay on the couch. But then the judge heard the alleged victim’s testimony.

Bridget Knighton spoke of the “countless assaults” before the shooting, a courtroom report from Miami ABC affiliate WPLG stated. How the suspect, Gayle Blount, allegedly prevented her from answering the door when the cops would arrive during prior domestic violence incidents, threatening to blow her “brains out” if she “even uttered a sound.” The time he slammed her on a table full of dishes and food at Denny’s. All the times he ignored the restraining order, showing up at her apartment several times leading up to the shooting.

More from Law&Crime: Ex-boyfriend who threw mother of 2 ‘out with the trash’ charged with murder after ‘large crime scene’ found: Police

“Those restraining orders are just a piece of paper,” Knighton reportedly said. “They don’t stop a bullet.”

In May 2021, Knighton was on her couch in her Miami Gardens apartment when Blount allegedly grabbed a gun from a car, barged into the home and shot her eight times. He reportedly told her “Look what you made me do.”

As a result, Knighton has had to undergo some 11 surgeries and suffers from other health problems. She also must walk with a cane.

Blount has sat in a Miami-Dade County jail cell for nearly four years. Last month Blount and prosecutors came to a plea deal where he would plead guilty to attempted murder in exchange for a 20-year prison sentence. But Knighton reportedly testified that she felt the punishment was not stiff enough for all the terror he allegedly put her through.

Rudy Giuliani appeared in a federal courtroom in Manhattan on Friday for a hearing on whether he should be held in contempt after the onetime personal attorney for President-elect Donald Trump allegedly flouted multiple court orders in connection with the two Georgia election workers he defamed trying to collect the $148 million judgment awarded in their favor.

Last month, U.S. District Judge Lewis J. Liman, a Trump appointee, ordered Giuliani to appear in person for the Jan. 3 hearing on the contempt issue following numerous requests from the plaintiffs regarding his “consistent pattern of willful defiance” involving court orders to turn over of his personal property and provide information to plaintiffs for discovery.

Liman on Thursday rejected Giuliani’s last-minute request to appear virtually for the contempt hearing after the former New York City mayor said he was “having medical issues with his left knee” as well as “breathing problems due to lung issues” that were the result of him “being at the World Trade Center site on September 11, 2001.”

The hearing, which began at 10 a.m., went through the day and will be continued at the same time on Monday. However, Liman will allow Giuliani to appear virtually for the proceedings as he will not be questioned by plaintiff’s counsel again.

Several new details were revealed about a high-profile Tennessee murder investigation and case during a motions hearing on Thursday.

Jason Chen, 24, stands accused of one murder in the first degree over the death of 22-year-old Jasmine “Jazzy” Pace.

The defendant and the victim were dating when Pace disappeared. She was last seen alive by her family on Nov. 22, 2022. By the end of that month, Chen was charged with her murder. On Dec. 1, 2022, Pace’s body was found wrapped in a garbage bag and stuffed inside of a suitcase near Suck Creek Road in a rural part of Chattanooga. Police said the young woman was handcuffed, and both of her ankles were bound to her right wrist. She had been stabbed some 60 times.

A federal judge in Manhattan on Friday ordered Rudy Giuliani to attend a contempt hearing after two Georgia election workers accused him of violating court orders and repeatedly flouting discovery obligations.

On Thursday, Ruby Freeman and her daughter Wandrea ArShaye “Shaye” Moss asked U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman to hold the former New York City mayor in contempt and impose sanctions.

In a motion and accompanying 22-page memorandum of law, the pair explained how they have lost their patience as they seek to enforce the multimillion-dollar judgment in their defamation case against him.

With due haste – and before Giuliani was able to file a response to the contempt and sanctions request – Liman ordered the parties to attend a civil contempt hearing slated for the morning of Jan. 3, 2025.

A Colorado man who said he’d been hearing things before he killed his wife and infant son while their young daughter was at home will spend the rest of his life in prison.

David Weingarten, 31, was given two life sentences on Thursday in the deaths of Lizet Salinas Mijanos, 26, and their 8-month-old son Georgie Weingarten. He was convicted a day earlier of two counts of first-degree murder.

Irene walked into the office of a young lawyer in a small town in Mississippi more than 40 years ago with an eviction notice and a two-page lease. Events that would follow turned the lawyer into a legal aid attorney and a believer in the power of pro bono legal work.

Irene was devastated at the prospect of losing her home in a rundown trailer park on the edge of town. She had fallen behind on rent. She had always caught up in the past, but this time, the landlord was not listening. Her eviction was imminent.

When Irene walked into the courthouse later that day, the landlord was stunned to see that she had a lawyer. The attorney showed the court that the owner had failed to give proper notice to evict Irene, and he vowed to sue for damages over the horrible condition of the rental property and trailer park. The landlord settled with Irene and with three neighbors who came to the court when they learned that Irene had legal representation.

Irene’s case showed the attorney, who went on to become a bestselling author of legal thrillers and an advocate for legal aid, the power of practicing law to help people. When you show up to represent someone who cannot pay, everything changes. They get respect and a fair hearing.

A veteran struggling with emotional scars after a terrorist attack on his unit in Beirut showed another attorney the power of providing legal assistance. The veteran’s mental health spiraled downward after he found himself near the Sept. 11, 2001, attack in New York. Legal aid helped the veteran get previously denied benefits, so that he could remain in his home, get a job and put his life back together. That case left a lasting impression on the attorney who went on to become the current and longest-serving board chair of Legal Services Corp.

These are our stories as we mark the National Celebration of Pro Bono in October and the 50th anniversary of the LSC—which supports 130 legal aid organizations providing legal representation for low-income people in every corner of the United States. Many lawyers have such stories about their pro bono service—volunteer efforts that expand the ability of civil legal aid to help low-income income people get a fair shake in court.

This added resource for civil legal aid is badly needed. A 2022 access-to-justice gap report from the LSC found that low-income Americans received no or insufficient legal help for 92% of their civil legal problems in 2022.

Evictions, like Irene’s case, and other housing issues dominate legal aid caseloads today, making up 39.5% of the cases closed by the LSC grantees in 2023.

Legal aid also helps low-income people find protection from domestic violence, get fair treatment around consumer and financial issues, and get access to public benefits, including benefits for veterans.

Attorneys have a responsibility to share their skills, knowledge and time to ensure that the justice system works for everyone, including people like Irene, her neighbors and the veteran. Legal aid organizations rely on attorneys to offer their pro bono services to help close the justice gap.

While we have a lot to celebrate in the 50 years of the LSC’s history, we have a long way to go in the struggle to ensure justice for all Americans.

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John Levi is Senior Counsel at Sidley Austin LLP and board chairman for the Legal Services Corp. John Grisham, an attorney and a bestselling author, serves on the LSC’s Leaders Council.

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ABAJournal.com is accepting queries for original, thoughtful, nonpromotional articles and commentary by unpaid contributors to run in the Your Voice section. Details and submission guidelines are posted at “Your Submissions, Your Voice.”

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This column reflects the opinions of the author and not necessarily the views of the ABA Journal—or the American Bar Association.

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Ethics

In ethics hearing, Montana attorney general defends ‘sharp’ words, refusal to obey court order

By Debra Cassens Weiss

October 10, 2024, 11:12 am CDT

Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen denied that his office was disrespectful, intemperate and contemptuous in questioning during an ethics hearing Wednesday.

Knudsen defended his actions in a 2021 subpoena battle in a hearing before the Montana Supreme Court’s Commission on Practice, report Montana Public Radio, the Associated Press and the Montana Free Press.

Knudsen is facing ethics charges for making “undignified” comments, for accusing state supreme court justices of impropriety, and for refusing to obey court orders.

The charges stem from the attorney general’s representation of the state legislature as it sought emails from a court administrator. The emails concerned the administrator’s polling of members of the Montana Judges Association about a bill changing how judges are chosen.

Knudsen’s office had declared that it did not recognize a court order staying enforcement of a legislative subpoena as binding, and it would not abide by it.

The office also described a court order on legislative subpoenas as “ludicrous” and “outside the bounds of rational thought.” The office later filed a motion alleging that the state supreme court should recuse itself because of an “obvious conflict of interest” and “actual impropriety.”

In the October hearing, Knudsen said he was zealously representing his client, the legislature, in an unprecedented case, according to Montana Public Radio.

“At the time, my client had a bona fide, genuine belief that that order was not valid. And that was what we were instructed, that’s what my office was instructed, to press that position,” Knudsen said.

Knudsen did say, however, his office could have dialed back the rhetoric, according to the AP.

“If I’m being really honest, in hindsight, I think a lot of things could have been done differently and probably should have been done different here,” Knudsen said. “If I had this to do over, I probably would not have allowed language like this—so sharp—to be used. But we and our client truly felt that we were in an absolutely novel situation of constitutional emergency and this is the language that went out.”

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Judiciary

Judge who oversaw handcuffing of sleepy teen on field trip now hearing these cases

By Debra Cassens Weiss

October 2, 2024, 8:57 am CDT

A Detroit judge sued for allegedly making an example of a sleepy teenager on a courtroom field trip is back on the bench, but he no longer presides in preliminary stages of serious criminal cases.

Judge Kenneth King of the 36th District Court in Michigan is now presiding over cases in the traffic division, report the Detroit Free Press and the Associated Press. He has successfully completed social-emotional training taught by a former Chicago school principal.

King is among the defendants in an Aug. 21 lawsuit alleging that he ridiculed the 15-year-old girl for falling asleep during his lecture broadcast on YouTube. According to previous coverage, King told the teen during her Aug. 13 courtroom visit that he didn’t like her attitude, and he was not to be “played with.”

The teen was escorted to a detention cell, directed to put on a jail jumpsuit, held in detention for hours, handcuffed and brought back into King’s courtroom, according to the suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

“A fake trial was convened” in which King threatened to send the teen to “juvey,” the suit says. King then asked the teen’s peers to vote on whether she would be released. The Detroit Free Press has prior coverage of the suit.

The teen was in court with co-workers for a lecture arranged by a nonprofit that ran a vocational program, according to the suit. She had a “rough night’s sleep” and nodded off during King’s lecture, which followed a court hearing that forced her to relive a traumatic event, the suit says.

Todd Perkins, King’s lawyer, told the Associated Press that King is willing to work anywhere at the court.

“He truly understands and wholeheartedly embraces the concept of teamwork,” Perkins told the Associated Pres.

See also:

Michigan supremes demote chief district court judge, saying he hasn’t cooperated with takeover