Supreme Court

Trump taps lawyer who argued his immunity case for solicitor general

Trump taps lawyer who argued his immunity case for solicitor general

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President-elect Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he intends to nominate D. John Sauer, who successfully argued in the Supreme Court earlier this year that Trump is entitled to broad immunity from prosecution, to serve as the solicitor general of the United States.

Trump made the announcement in a statement on Thursday evening, calling Sauer a “deeply accomplished, masterful appellate attorney.”

The 50-year-old Sauer has many of the credentials associated with others who have served as the country’s top … Read the rest

Supreme Court

Court appoints lawyer in Oklahoma death penalty case

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The Supreme Court on Friday morning appointed a former clerk to Chief Justice John Roberts to defend a ruling by an Oklahoma court leaving in place the conviction and death sentence of Richard Glossip – even after the state’s attorney general agreed that they should be set aside.

The justices agreed to hear Glossip’s case on Monday, after considering the case at 11 consecutive conferences since late September 2023. Glossip was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1997 … Read the rest

Civil Law

Jerry Kolander receives Justice G. Denton Distinguished Lawyer Award

By Terry Greenberg

When Jerry Kolander grew up in Amarillo, he had a friend named Tommy Denton. They played sports together through junior high and at Tascosa High School. Denton went to Baylor University on a football scholarship and Kolander went to Texas Tech University to play baseball.

Denton became an opinion-page writer and opinion editor for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Kolander graduated from Tech’s School of Law and joined the McCleskey Law Firm, now McCleskey Harriger Brazill & Graf, … Read the rest

Supreme Court

Capital defendant whose lawyer conceded guilt despite his objection seeks relief from Supreme Court

Capital defendant whose lawyer conceded guilt despite his objection seeks relief from Supreme Court

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This week we highlight cert petitions that ask the Supreme Court to consider, among other things, a capital defendant’s request for habeas relief on the ground that his lawyer conceded guilt over his objection, as in 2018’s McCoy v. Louisiana.

Though the inmate in the 2018 case, Robert McCoy, had insisted that he was innocent, his lawyer considered the evidence against McCoy “overwhelming” and counseled that the best strategy to avoid the death penalty was to concede guilt. … Read the rest