St. Louis County Circuit Presiding Judge John Ross appeared in a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday in Washington, D.C. Ross has been nominated to serve as a U.S. district judge for the Eastern District of Missouri.

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Attorney General Eric Holder defended his decision to try five suspects in the Sept. 11 attacks in federal court in Manhattan and said they won’t be released in the U.S. if a jury acquits them. Holder said at a hearing ...

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A bill that includes a number of provisions for the legal community and the judiciary is "very, very dead," the head of the Senate Judiciary Committee said as the 2009 legislative session drew to a close. Sen. Matt Bartle (pictured), R-Lee's Summit, said "valiant efforts" were made to save the bill, but to no avail. Earlier this week, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bryan Stevenson, R-Webb City, presented legislation comprised of provisions that had previously been introduced as standalone legislation. Click here to view a slideshow from the last day.

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A wide-ranging judiciary bill has taken another step forward in the legislative process. The Senate Judiciary Committee last night sent forward its version of the legislation that started out as an update to the state’s child-custody laws. The House tacked ...

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The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee said Monday that he would scuttle a controversial plan to, among other things, convert drug court commissioners into associate circuit judges. Senate Judiciary Chairman Matt Bartle, R-Lee’s Summit, said that a Senate draft ...

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The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee seemed amenable to legislation prompting convicted felons to serve 85 percent of their sentences, even as a defense lawyers’ organization and a civil liberties group expressed concerns about the bill’s impact. Sen. Kurt ...

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The economic crisis has sparked an increase in criminal fraud, including an “exponential rise” in mortgage scams that is straining the FBI’s resources, a leader of the agency said. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has more than 1,800 open investigations ...

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Attorney General-designate Eric Holder called waterboarding a form of illegal torture and promised to restore the credibility of a Justice Department he described as "badly shaken" by "improper political interference." At Senate confirmation hearings, Holder signaled that President-elect Barack Obama will suspend military tribunals used to try suspected war criminals at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The tribunals must be "substantially revamped" to provide defendants with more due process and ensure fair treatment for suspects, he said.

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