Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
A federal judge has ended the federal tax evasion case of Jack Stephen Pursley with a two-year sentence. He also ordered Pursley to pay nearly $2 million in restitution — an amount close to the current-day value of the Vail, Colo. vacation home the government said Pursley bought with repatriated funds during a trial last year. Natalie Posgate has the details of the sentencing and links to previous courtroom coverage.
A Houston businessman fraudulently obtained $1.6 million from the Paycheck Protection Program on several luxury items, including a 2020 Ford F-350, and a few expensive nights at Houston area strip clubs, according to federal prosecutors in Houston.
Months after the COVID-19 pandemic brought business to a screeching halt, companies across the country are eager to reopen and to get back to work. But these employers are facing a completely new set of unknowns when it comes to keeping their employees safe. Kasi Chadwick of Hicks Thomas has the latest guidance.
The governing body of the State Bar of Texas cannot oust its president for his past comments about women lawyers, police brutality and the Black Lives Matter movement, but it has decided to take steps to make sure that no future leaders with a history like Larry McDougal’s could or would be elected again.
State Bar President Larry McDougal issued his third apology Monday for past comments that Black Lives Matter is a terrorist group. His statements came during a multi-hour stare bar board meeting in which more than five dozen Texas lawyers appeared on Zoom to express their outrage about the situation.
With Texas and most states "open for business," companies are navigating a world where the novel coronavirus is still spreading widely. Adding to the complexity is shifting, often conflicting, advice from different public health agencies on everything from mask-wearing, to the number of isolation days, to the ways the virus spreads most readily. There are no employment laws designed for this situation; there is no ready-made checklist. This article outlines a few of the tough scenarios facing employers.
Eight separate sections of the State Bar of Texas issued a joint proclamation Saturday calling statements by the organization’s president regarding Black Lives Matter, police brutality and disrespect for women lawyers “shocking to the conscience” and “unbecoming of the office he was elected to hold.”
Hundreds of Texas lawyers have called for McDougal to resign as Texas Bar president because he said in 2015 that Black Lives Matter is a terrorist group. Scores are defending him. But many lawyers are asking, “Who is Larry McDougal?” The Texas Lawbook examines the career of the former police officer and prosecutor turned Fort Bend County criminal defense attorney who was sworn in last month as the 92nd president of the state bar.
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