By Jonathan Goldsmith2021-04-13T07:43:00+01:00
Jonathan Goldsmith
Many of us are armchair moralists. We read histories of, say, the Second World War and imagine what we would have done if faced with the horrendous life-and-death choices that confronted others. Would we have stood up to wrongdoing and faced the consequences, or would we have put our heads down and got on with our lives in the hope that it would all blow over?
As is now well-known, some barristers from Essex Court Chambers issued a legal opinion, sought by clients, on whether the Chinese government is, among other things, guilty of genocide in its treatment of the Uighurs. The Chinese government responded by placing Essex Court Chambers on a list of people and entities subject to international sanctions. This has understandably caused upheaval at Essex Court Chambers, with reports of departures.
News Roundup
Afternoon Briefs: DA wants to vacate 90 drug convictions; BigLaw firm targeted by law student climate group
90 convictions could be vacated after detective is charged
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez in New York says his office has lost confidence in 27 felony and 63 misdemeanor convictions in which an essential witness was a detective who’s now facing perjury charges. Gonzalez’s Conviction Review Unit is asking a court to vacate the convictions after the detective, Joseph Franco, was accused of framing people in drug cases. (The New York Times, NBC New York, the New York Daily News, Brooklyn district attorney’s press release)
Published: Tuesday, March 16, 2021
Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey speaks at a 2016 news conference. Photo credit: Mike Segar/REUTERS/Newscom
Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey (D) speaks at a 2016 news conference with other attorneys general to announce a state-based effort to combat climate change. Mike Segar/Reuters/Newscom
In courtrooms across the country, a battle is heating up over whether fossil fuel firms should be held financially responsible for the local impacts of climate change.
Since 2017, five states and more than a dozen municipalities have sued oil and gas supermajors over their contribution to and alleged deception about the catastrophic effects of global warming.
State Roundup: Hogan defends vaccine rollout, despite CDC report and local criticism; taps former CDC chief Redfield as Covid adviser
The Maryland seal in the carpet of the Governor s Reception Room at the State House. Len Lazarick photo
HOGAN DEFENDS VAXX ROLLOUT: Gov. Larry Hogan said Tuesday that while the state’s rollout of coronavirus vaccines has not been perfect he is nevertheless confident that all that can be done to improve the situation is in fact being done, reports Bryan Renbaum for Maryland Reporter. Maryland ranks 42 out 50 among states with regard to vaccine administration, according to the CDC.
Hogan also doubled down Tuesday on his comment last week that Baltimore received more COVID-19 vaccines than it was “entitled to,” though data released this week by his administration shows the majority of immunizations directed to providers in the city have been shot into the arms of people from other jurisdictions, Alex Mann and Sanya Kamidi of the Sun report.
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