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Entries Tagged as 'Western District'

Judge bars Christian prayers at county meetings

February 3rd, 2012 · No Comments · First Amendment, Local government, Western District

A Roanoke federal judge has ordered the Pittsylvania County supervisors to halt the routine use of Christian prayers to open their meetings.
U.S. District Judge Michael F. Urbanski held Friday that none of the arguments in favor of the county board’s prayer policy “has any merit.”
Concluding that a citizen who challenged the prayers was likely to [...]

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Ballou named federal magistrate judge

September 20th, 2011 · Comments Off · Federal judges, Western District

Roanoke lawyer Robert S. Ballou has been selected as a U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Western District of Virginia to replace Michael Urbanski, who was recently elevated to the district court bench.
Ballou is a partner with the Roanoke firm of Johnson, Ayers & Matthews. He served for eight years on the Virginia State Bar’s Special [...]

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Court approves $10M Fair Credit settlement

June 15th, 2011 · Comments Off · Attorney's fees, Uncategorized, Western District

Yesterday a Harrisonburg U.S. District Court approved a $9.95 million settlement in a consumer protection class action against Bank of America under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
U.S. District Court Samuel G. Wilson also approved over $1.8 million in attorney’s fees and costs to the attorneys for the plaintiff class, led by Newport News [...]

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Judge overturns $3.17M verdict for contractor

May 3rd, 2011 · Comments Off · U.S. District Court, Western District

Danville U.S. District Judge Jackson Kiser has ordered a new trial for a Martinsville contractor’s claims of racial discrimination, based in part on post-trial evidence that undermined testimony about the company’s damages. The decision undoes a jury’s $3.17-million award against the Danville housing authority in February.
At trial, the owner of the plaintiff grading contractor testified [...]

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Judge denies ‘ex parte’ allegation, cautions lawyer

April 22nd, 2011 · Comments Off · Federal judges, U.S. District Court, Western District

U.S. District Judge James Jones minced no words denying lawyer John Flannery’s claim that the judge had secret meetings with prosecutors in the Paul Thomson cocaine case.  “Mr. Flannery’s assertion is outrageously false and unfounded,” Jones wrote in an order Thursday.
Flannery – who is defending the Winchester lawyer accused of buying cocaine from a client [...]

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Roanoke federal court facing construction disruption

April 14th, 2011 · Comments Off · Western District

Complaints are plentiful about the 35-year-old Richard H. Poff Federal Building in Roanoke, but workers at the federal courts are not looking forward to a planned $51-million renovation project.
At a Thursday hearing, Congressional critics grilled a General Services Agency official about whether the project was improvidently planned.
Court Clerk Julia Dudley had a different perspective. Once [...]

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Suit against Saltville police officer advances

February 14th, 2011 · Comments Off · Civil Rights, Western District

A federal judge has denied a motion to dismiss civil claims against a police officer involved in a Saltville incident that started with a speeding ticket and ended with a whole family going to jail.
U.S. District Judge James P. Jones ruled the case can proceed against the officer who arrested Larry Jackson for refusing an [...]

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Judges’ chambers threatened by renovation plan

November 10th, 2010 · Comments Off · Courthouse, Western District

Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Roanoke, reports no movement in his effort to derail a $51-million renovation project at the federal building in Roanoke, headquarters of the Western District federal courts.
Goodlatte, who has criticized the project as wasteful and ill-planned, told Roanoke lawyers he met recently with two of the federal judges who work at the Poff [...]

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Conrad is chief judge in Western District

September 9th, 2010 · 1 Comment · Federal judges, Western District

Roanoke U.S. District Judge Glen Conrad is now chief judge for the Western District of Virginia. A federal statute required the change when Judge James Jones reached the age of 70 this year.
Conrad ascended to the chief judge’s post in time to preside over the traditional Monticello naturalization ceremony on July 4, according to an [...]

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Federal building renovation is a waste, congressman says

June 21st, 2010 · Comments Off · Courthouses, Western District

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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