The VLW Blog

Just in time for holiday giving, here’s an opportunity to buy a unique piece of Virginia legal history.
Carved wooden gargoyles, formerly displayed on the Lynchburg courthouse, will be on sale on eBay until next Saturday, Dec. 17.
There are five different gargoyles available and they are being auctioned separately. Each one resembles a lion’s head [...]

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Encased in scaffolding for its latest round of roof repairs, the 106-year-old Louisa County courthouse came through Tuesday’s earthquake with no significant damage, reports circuit court Clerk Susan Hopkins.
Other than some plaster cracks in the courtroom, “everything here is fine,” she reports.
The 5.8-magnitude quake was centered just 7 miles from Louisa. Only a [...]

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There was a crowded scene outside the courthouse in Warrenton Monday, but it wasn’t a civil uprising. It was just Clint Eastwood directing a movie about former FBI director J. Edgar Hoover.
The town of Warrenton apparently played the role of Flemington, N.J., site of the trial of accused Lindbergh baby kidnapper Bruno Hauptmann.
Photos of the [...]

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Court business was on hold for a few hours Tuesday morning in Hampton, Portsmouth, and Newport News. State courts there were evacuated and searched in response to a telephone bomb threat directed at all three localities, reports the Daily Press.
Apparently, no explosives were found. Courts reopened around midday.
By Peter Vieth

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Terming a $51-million renovation plan for Roanoke’s Poff Federal Building a “waste of taxpayer dollars,” Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Roanoke, calls for a halt to the project.
The building is home to the U.S. District Court facilities in Roanoke, where the Chief Judge says security is a concern. Goodlatte complains the General Services Administration refused a request [...]

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A broken sidewalk in the town of Chatham might mark the intersection of property law, local government, and torts.
It seems there is a nasty break in the pavement in front of the historic and beautiful Pittsylvania County courthouse. According to the Star-Tribune, it’s bad enough that several residents have tripped and fallen. Some lawyer may [...]

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While courts ponder the entanglements of church and state in both the Episcopal property dispute (now before the Supreme Court of Virginia) and a tax-supported church-apartment building in Arlington County (expected be considered by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals), in Colonial Heights, city leaders are exploring the idea of putting their courts into [...]

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A man called to jury duty captured the sound of wild gunfire this morning at the federal court building in Las Vegas.  The shootout left two dead, including a court security officer.
Posted by Peter Vieth

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A local courthouse can be the pride of a community, or it can depress the spirit when it’s in disrepair.  One Roanoke-area lawyer says poor conditions at the Roanoke City courthouse are doing more than dampening spirits – they’re instigating his anger.
Ross Hart blogs about a non-functioning "automatic" door at the courthouse entrance that is [...]

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As you celebrate later today, raise a glass of green beer to those dedicated folks who keep the commonwealth’s courts running despite a shortage of jurisprudence and an excess of water.
In Augusta County general district court, it’s the lack of a full time judge that has staffers scrambling to  keep the court’s 2,000 cases a [...]

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