On April 28, 2026, Turkish Minute reported that the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office is seeking up to two years in prison for prominent legal scholar and penal code author İzzet Özgenç — a former legal adviser to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan — over twelve 2023 social media posts directed at former Court of Appeals …
NPR reports that the U.S. Department of Justice has advanced a proposed rule that would let the Attorney General intervene in — and potentially delay or block — state bar investigations into federal prosecutors. The proposal, advanced under former AG Pam Bondi and still pending after her removal on April 2, has drawn pointed opposition …
JURIST reports in April 2026 that UN Special Rapporteur Mary Lawlor has issued a sharp warning that Mexico continues to fail in protecting human rights defenders and the lawyers who represent them, despite formal protective programs. Front Line Defenders ranked Mexico second worldwide in killings of human rights defenders in 2024, with at least 32 …
Human Rights Watch reported on April 23, 2026 that Vietnam’s Decree 109/2026, which takes effect May 18, empowers police and commune-level officials to revoke lawyers’ licenses and impose heavy fines for vaguely defined offenses such as “insulting” officials or “obstructing” state agencies — frequently the same officials a defense lawyer would be challenging in court. …
In an April 23, 2026 analysis, CBS News reports that multiple former federal prosecutors have identified serious legal weaknesses in the SPLC indictment that they say could lead to dismissal of some or all charges. The article notes that the indictment struggles to clearly articulate the elements of wire fraud and money-laundering conspiracy as applied …
The U.S. Justice Department has indicted the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a civil rights organization known for tracking hate groups, on charges of wire fraud, false statements to a bank, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announced that between 2014 and 2023, the SPLC paid more than $3 million …
A CBS News Sunday Morning report by Ted Koppel examines the Trump administration’s restructuring of the U.S. immigration court system, which falls under the Department of Justice rather than the judicial branch. Over the past 14 months, more than 200 immigration judges have been fired, retired, or forced out, and former judges interviewed—including Ryan Wood, …
The Trump administration fired two immigration judges this past weekend who had earlier dismissed deportation cases against two pro-Palestinian student activists. Judge Roopal Patel had ruled there were no grounds to deport Tufts University graduate student Rumeysa Ozturk, who was held in detention for 45 days, while Judge Nina Froes dismissed proceedings against Columbia University …
Hundreds of former U.S. Department of Justice attorneys — who served under both Republican and Democratic administrations — have filed a formal comment opposing a proposed DOJ rule that would allow the Attorney General to block state bar associations from investigating federal government lawyers. The former officials argue the rule violates the McDade Amendment, a …
The Washington Times reported on April 12 that senior DOJ officials themselves attribute the department’s growing courtroom difficulties to three compounding factors: the sheer volume of litigation (particularly immigration cases), an unprecedented wave of adverse judicial rulings, and decimated staffing at U.S. Attorneys’ offices across the country. A senior official described the removal of experienced …