167,504 to 759. It sounds like a lopsided cricket score (those matches go on forever!), but it’s really the number of proceedings filed in Rhode Island state courts versus the Rhode Island federal court in 2016, the most recent year…
Author: Tim Baldwin
Tim Baldwin, Esq. is the editor of RICourtBlog and an attorney at Whelan, Corrente, Flanders, Kinder & Siket, LLP
Someone Has a Case of the Mondays: Closing Arguments in Federal Civil Rights Trial are Monday, March 19
Update as of March 19 at 9 a.m.: there are a few more witnesses this morning. Closing arguments are likely to start around 10:15 to 10:30 a.m. (March 19, Courtroom 1 of federal courthouse). Shelton v. Wozny, a federal civil…
Opening Statements in Federal Civil Rights Jury Trial are Monday, March 12
On Monday, March 12, at 9:30 a.m., the federal jury trial in Shelton v. Wozny, civil action number 14-cv-313, will begin in Courtroom 1. U.S. District Judge McConnell will preside. After some quick preliminaries, it is likely the jury will be…
Law Nerd Legal Nirvana: Federal Jury Selection and R.I. Supreme Court Oral Argument Today!
It’s been a long winter. And then we all lost power from the big storm. But not to worry – there’s nothing to recharge those batteries like watching legal advocacy! Today, you can witness jury selection in the federal courthouse…
Revisiting the Judicial Tenure & Discipline Decision on Judge Ovalles and What It Tells Us About Judging
Every once in a while, a case comes along that turns the sock inside out, like a motion to withdraw a guilty plea where the defendant’s former attorney testifies for the prosecution, or when attorneys sue their former law firms. …
The Ways of Legal Citation for Court Documents in the D.R.I.
The “First Circuit,” “1st Cir.”, “CA1,” “the Circuit,” or “the Court” — these are all ways to refer to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, depending on the type of citation system. The most common guide…
Speech: the Final Frontier. Are Anonymous Campaign Contributions a Constitutional Right?
Money talks — it usually means that people use money to get their way, or they’re influential and powerful because they have money. But does money literally talk? Will the Supreme Court take us to new worlds and find that…
Reconsidering the Non-Reconsideration of Motions to Reconsider in State Court
The mulligan is one of the great unwritten rules in golf. Smack a duck hook in the water? No problemo, tee up a new ball. Completely whiff with a massive John Daly-esque swing, but the wind pushes the ball one…
Attention Courthouse Fans: Go Voir a Jury Voir Dire in Federal Court Tomorrow
Law students, members of the public, and interested attorneys: if you can make it to downtown Providence tomorrow morning (January 23, 2018) at 9:30 a.m., and you want to see something that is the rough equivalent of a blue unicorn,…
SCOTUS follows SCOTUS, the Circuit follows the Circuit, but D.J.s don’t follow D.J.s. What gives?
One interesting facet of the federal court system is its hierarchical structure. The thirteen Circuit Courts of Appeals that sit directly below the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) must follow the Supreme Court’s binding precedent. The District Courts…