Latest 2 Cases: People v. Lang (Criminal Law), In re Senzer (Legal Ethics)

Trump’s Upcoming Refusal to Leave Office: The Good News

NEIL H. BUCHANAN

In this two-part series of columns, UF Levin College of Law professor Neil H. Buchanan discusses some new reasons for guarded optimism that Americans are beginning to recognize—and thus might be able to mitigate—the danger Donald Trump represents to American democracy. In this first part, Buchanan grounds his guarded optimism in Joe Biden’s expressly voicing concern that Trump will not leave the White House if he loses the election.

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How the President and Attorney General Could Have Avoided the Geoffrey Berman Debacle

VIKRAM DAVID AMAR

Illinois Law dean and professor Vikram David Amar comments on the recent dispute over the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York and explains what President Trump and Attorney General Barr could have done to avoid the problem altogether. Amar describes a process that, if followed, could have allowed the administration to appoint their first-choice candidate without causing the controversy in which it now finds itself.

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People v. Lang

Citation: 2020 NY Slip Op 03487

Opinion Date: June 23, 2020

Judge: Garcia

Areas of Law: Criminal Law

The Court of Appeals reversed the order of the Appellate Division affirming Defendant's conviction for murder in the second degree and criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree, holding that the trial court did not conduct a "reasonably thorough inquiry" into a sitting juror's unavailability before substituting an alternate juror during Defendant's trial. On the ninth day of Defendant's murder trial, the judge informed the parties that Juror Number 9 was absent. Without stating that it was ordering the substitution, the judge proceeded with Alternate Juror 1 seated in place of Juror Number 9. Alternate Juror 1 served for the remainder of the trial. The Appellate Division affirmed. The Court of Appeals reversed, holding that, on the record, the court failed to satisfy the requirement that a trial court conduct a "reasonably thorough inquiry" to ensure that its substitution determination is adequately informed.

In re Senzer

Citation: 2020 NY Slip Op 03488

Opinion Date: June 23, 2020

Judge: Per Curiam

Areas of Law: Legal Ethics

The Court of Appeals concluded that Petitioner, a justice of the Northport Village Court, Suffolk County, committed certain acts of misconduct warranting his removal from the office and accepted the determined sanction of removal from office. The State Commission on Judicial Conduct determined that Petitioner repeatedly used profane, vulgar and sexist terms in emails to his clients, whom he represented through his private law practice, that denigrated participants in the legal proceeding. The Commission then concluded that the appropriate sanction was removal from office. The Court of Appeals accepted the Commission's determined sanction, concluding that Petitioner's conduct warranted removal notwithstanding the fact that he was not functioning in his judicial capacity at the time it occurred.