Recently in Ethics Category

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed attorney sanctions against Michigan lawyer John Freeman on Tuesday, finding that the district court erred in penalizing Freeman for an "unwarranted and baseless" disclosure request for the mother of a child pornography victim to speak at sentencing, reports The Associated Press.

Freeman represented Craig Aleo, a former Michigan school official who pleaded guilty to producing, possessing, and transporting and shipping child pornography. U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman slapped Freeman with $2,000 in attorney sanctions in 2002 after deciding that Freeman filed a meritless motion in a bad-faith effort to intimidate a victim who wished to speak during Aleo's sentencing hearing, pursuant to her rights under the Crime Victims' Rights Act (CVRA).

Shirley Cunningham and William Gallion are down, but they still aren't out.

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the infamous fen-phen lawyers' appeal this week, finding that the pair "participated in a massive scheme to defraud their clients."

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals Judicial Conduct and Disability Committee ruled last week that Judge George C. Paine, II, Chief Judge of the Middle District of Tennessee Bankruptcy Court, committed judicial misconduct by violating Canon 2C of the Code of Conduct for United States Judges, which prohibits "holding membership in an organization that practices invidious discrimination on the bases of race and sex."

Judge Paine is a Resident Member of the Belle Meade Country Club, a 110-year-old private social club located in Nashville, Tennessee. While the club does not explicitly ban female or African American Resident Members, it has never had female or African American Resident Members.

Diamonds are a girl’s best friend, except when the girl is so hung up on them that she commits fraud to have more money to spend on jewelry. And therein lies the rub for Pamela Holder, who lost her appeal for a new trial in the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals this week.

In June 2008, the government charged Fred and Pamela Holder with two counts of bank fraud and two counts of wire fraud for falsifying documents to obtain loans to acquire a home and sell it for a profit.

The Holders were accused of convincing a straw buyer to borrow $2.4 million to purchase a $1.4 million home. Pamela prepared and sent falsified documents to get the loan, moved into the house, and spent part of the balance of the money on jewelry, according to the AP.

The Sixth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part a decision involving a writ of habeas corpus of a man who was sentenced for murder by the State of Kentucky.

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated a judgment based upon claims of prosecutorial misconduct. The defendant-petitioner claimed that the prosecution had committed misconduct during their closing arguments.

If a Federal Judge belongs to an all-white, all-male club, is it an issue? Is he partaking in racial discrimination?

Now, let's throw in the fact that this is no small club. It has 600 voting members, all white males.

Does that change things?

Well, according to The New York Times, a 10-8 decision of the Judicial Council of the Sixth Circuit allowed Judge George C. Paine II to keep his membership in the Belle Meade Country Club in Nashville.

An anonymous ethics complaint was filed last year against Judge George Paine, citing his membership in such a club. While the complaint was eventually dismissed by the Judicial Council, there were four separate dissents filed in the case, writes The Associated Press.