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Michigan Litigation Law Blog | Local Michigan and National Legal News Updates

Michigan Litigation and National Legal News.

Are teen prison rapes a violation of civil rights? A Michigan court is about to decide.

A three-judge Michigan Court of Appeals panel heard arguments Tuesday in the case of Does v. Michigan Department of Corrections, a civil rights lawsuit filed on behalf of young men sent to adult prisons in Michigan when they were under the age of 18. Once inside, the said they were sexually assaulted by adult male prisoners and female prison guards. Corrections officials did little to protect them from harm, the suit says. Attorneys for the state argue that Michigan prisoners have no right under state law to claim civil rights violations.  

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Joseph GaleComment
Why a judge ruled Paul Manafort isn’t entitled to attorney-client privilege.

It’s not an overstatement to characterize the attorney-client privilege as the cornerstone of criminal law, an inviolable right that can and must withstand all manner of legal aggression.* It’s also one of the small handful of criminal procedural notions sewn directly into our pop culture fabric. Even if all your legal knowledge comes from watching Law & Order, you’re still likely aware of your Miranda rights; that law enforcement needs probable cause to search your apartment and maybe (but maybe not) your car; and most especially that when you meet with your lawyer, you can tell her the whole ugly story because she can’t be forced to testify against you or even to divulge what you’ve discussed to anyone. Period. Right?

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Joseph GaleComment
Bringing the party to the Supreme Court in a case about searches and arrests

One of the most buttoned-up institutions in the country will wrestle with the free-for-all culture of the house party as the Supreme Court hears a case set for Wednesday that began in a brick duplex in the District.

The weighty legal matters involve policing, arrests and searches in private homes.

But those issues are packaged in a case that includes a mystery hostess named Peaches, women in garter belts stuffed with cash and party guests who weren’t certain who owned the house they were in, but told police that “Peaches” was a renter who had invited at least some of them.

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