The VLW Blog

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas opens a conference on Abraham Lincoln with a speech tomorrow night at Washington & Lee University. The conference, Lincoln for the Ages: Lessons for the 21st century, will be conducted at Washington and Lee University Friday and Saturday, according to The News Leader. Justice Thomas’ talk is free and [...]

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If the 4th Circuit’s current configuration leaves it in equipoise and publishing even fewer opinions than usual, it is at least going on the record with some of its disputes. In recent days, the court has published two orders in cases in which it has denied rehearing en banc, with judges at each end of [...]

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Talk about leaving a calling card! Jonathan G. Parker, age 19, was charged with breaking into a Martinsburg, W.Va. house and stealing two diamond rings worth more than $3500, according to The Journal. But during the course of committing the crime, the alleged crook couldn’t resist the allure of hopping on the victim’s computer to [...]

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Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center hopes to compete with a nearby hospital for the right to build a new cancer service, but first it has to overcome missing a deadline for its application. The hospital had planned to compete if Mary Washington filed a plan for a cancer center. However, when Mary Washington filed an application [...]

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Gov. Tim Kaine apparently hopes the process for confirming Supreme Court Justice Barbara Milano Keenan for the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will move faster than the one for the only other candidate President Obama has nominated for a 4th Circuit seat. Kaine has asked those interested in replacing Keenan to submit information to [...]

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The Supreme Court of Virginia has issued its first writ of actual innocence and cleared Thomas Edward Haynesworth of a 25-year-old rape. Haynesworth was convicted of two rapes, one in Richmond and one in Henrico County, at the same general time that a notorious serial rapist known as the Black Ninja was assaulting about a [...]

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The Virginia Constitution gives school boards the final say on the circumstances under which a sexually violent predator can be admitted to school property, the Supreme Court of Virginia ruled today. The offender had served a prison sentence and completed supervised probation and sought permission to attend school functions for his child under Virginia Code [...]

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Singer Chris Brown is in the news again and no, it’s not for wielding a weed-whacker while wearing a wife-beater. A Richmond federal judge has dismissed a tortious interference suit filed by the management company that signed Brown as a teen. Brown’s mother, Joyce Hawkins, signed fee assignment and exclusive management agreements with plaintiff Boy [...]

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A dissenting sibling in a dispute over the disposition of a family farm must share in the costs of a subdivision plan when the plan helped to increase the value of the property, the Supreme Court of Virginia holds. As we reported in November , the family of a deceased Loudoun county physician could not [...]

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The plaintiffs and defense both score a win with two medical malpractice appeals decided today by the Supreme Court of Virginia. In Graham v. Cook , the court affirmed a defense verdict for an orthopedic surgeon and revisited the issue of when a treating physician’s testimony is considered “factual” versus diagnostic.  Testimony is subject to [...]

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