John Caher

May 12, 2014 | New York Law Journal

An upstate appellate court has reinstated most of a lawsuit filed against Erie County in connection with the murder of a 23-year-old woman who was tortured and killed at the hands of her mother and half brother.

By John Caher

4 minute read

May 09, 2014 | New York Law Journal

Six months after ruling that expert hearsay evidence can be admitted in civil commitment hearings for sex offenders, the Court of Appeals narrowly upheld the involuntary confinement of two men based on allegations of prior misconduct.

By John Caher

5 minute read

May 09, 2014 | New York Law Journal

Adopting a hard-line position against litigants who engage in deceitful and obstructionist conduct, the Court of Appeals on Thursday said judges can toss out a case when "clear and convincing" evidence shows that an individual attempted to dupe the court.

By John Caher

7 minute read

May 08, 2014 | New York Law Journal

The Second Circuit on Wednesday discarded its own 2003 precedent and held that noncitizen felons can seek relief from deportation.

By John Caher

4 minute read

May 07, 2014 | New York Law Journal

New York State violated the constitutional ban on decreasing judicial salaries by reducing the state's contribution to judges' health insurance premiums, a unanimous First Department panel held on Tuesday.

By John Caher

2 minute read

May 07, 2014 | New York Law Journal

Long Island teachers upset over the slow pace of contract talks had a free-speech right to legally park their cars in front of the school as a public protest, but lost their First Amendment privileges by disrupting traffic and potentially endangering children and educators, a divided state Court of Appeals held on Tuesday.

By John Caher

8 minute read

May 06, 2014 | New York Law Journal

An upstate appellate panel has overturned a conviction because the trial judge accepted the guilty verdict without responding to three notes from the jury, including one asking for the definition of "reasonable doubt."

By John Caher

2 minute read

May 06, 2014 | New York Law Journal

More than 200 years after Thomas Jefferson and James Madison launched the freedom of religion v. freedom from religion debate, Monday's U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing prayer at government meetings suggests the Jeffersonians and Madisonians remain in a dead heat, observers said.

By John Caher

6 minute read

May 06, 2014 | New York Law Journal

In the 118-year history of the Third Department, more than 90 judges have sat on the court in Albany, some famous, some obscure—and all of them white.

By John Caher

10 minute read

May 05, 2014 | New York Law Journal

Eliot Spitzer will submit an affidavit stating that none of his three personal email accounts were used to conduct public business relating to an ongoing civil fraud action, his attorney told Kingston Supreme Court Justice Christopher Cahill on Friday.

By John Caher

2 minute read