Alaska
Judge who resigned in disgrace didn’t disclose conflicts in 23 cases
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A federal judge in Alaska who resigned after a scathing investigation found he had engaged in inappropriate conduct with staff and attorneys did not disclose conflicts of interest with attorneys in 23 criminal cases he heard, prosecutors said.
The top federal defender in Alaska, Jamie McGrady, said her office will conduct its own investigation after the resignation this month of U.S. District Court Judge Joshua Kindred, the Anchorage Daily News reported Wednesday.
Kindred’s resignation came at the request of the Judicial Council of the Ninth Circuit Court, which has also sent the matter to the Judicial Conference of the United States to consider impeachment proceedings against Kindred.
Kindred, 46, had an inappropriate sexual relationship with one of his clerks, who later became an assistant U.S. Attorney in Alaska, the report found. He received nude photos from a different assistant U.S. Attorney and exchanged suggestive texts from a private attorney, both of whom who had cases before Kindred, investigators said.
The report also found that the judge created a hostile workplace for his clerks, often discussing his sex life in front of them.
Kindred, who took the bench in early 2020 after being appointed by former President Donald Trump, repeatedly lied to investigators and only admitted to the truth when presented evidence during an interview with Judicial Council members, the report found. His resignation left only one full-time federal judge in Alaska.
Executive U.S. attorney Bryan Wilson told McGrady in a Friday email obtained by the Anchorage newspaper that his office reviewed cases to identify potential conflicts of interest that arose from the findings of the Judicial Council report.
The Code of Conduct for U.S. Judges requires them to recuse themselves from a case if their impartiality could be reasonably questioned.
Wilson identified 23 cases with apparent conflicts stemming from Kindred’s interaction with the federal prosecutors, including firearms thefts, drug distribution and a felon in possession of a firearm. Kindred had recused himself from some after the judicial investigation began in 2022, and other cases have been closed.
The U.S. Attorney’s office in Alaska didn’t disclose the conflicts in a timely manner, allowed employees with known conflicts to remain on ongoing cases and promoted one of the attorneys involved, said McGrady, who called for a broader investigation into other potentially affected cases.
Her office, which provides legal representation to indigent defendants charged with federal crimes in Alaska, will seek more information regarding the “timing, nature, and extent of these various conflicts of interest that could have impacted the outcomes in our clients’ cases,” she said.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Alaska didn’t respond to the Anchorage Daily News when asked about McGrady’s assertions.
Instead, spokesperson Reagan Zimmerman issued a statement that said the office has obligations to disclose or avoid potential conflicts of interest.
“We are continuing our review to ensure those obligations are met,” the statement said. “As we have stated, we intend our review to be ongoing and comprehensive and will supplement disclosures as necessary.”
Texas
School built to segregate Mexican American students becomes a national park
A west Texas school built in 1909 for Mexican and Mexican American students as part of “separate but equal” education segregation was designated Wednesday as a national park.
U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland formally established the Blackwell School National Historic Site in Marfa, Texas, as the nation’s newest national park and the seventh national park unit designated by President Joe Biden.
“This site is a powerful reminder of our nation’s diverse and often complex journey toward equality and justice,” Haaland said in a statement. “By honoring the legacy of Blackwell School, we recognize the resilience and contributions of the Latino community in our shared history.”
The designation as a national park provides permanent protection to help tell the history of Texas school districts that established separate elementary schools for Mexican American children, according to the Interior Department.
The school in Marfa, about 45 miles (72 kilometers) east of the U.S.-Mexico border and 455 miles (732 kilometers) southwest of Dallas, was closed in 1965 with the integration of the Marfa Independent School District, the Interior Department said.
The site includes the original adobe schoolhouse and a classroom built in 1927. The buildings contain photographs, memorabilia, and interpretive panels that feature quotes and stories from students and teachers.
“The school serves as a significant example of how racism and cultural disparity dominated education and social systems in the United States during this period of de facto segregation from 1889-1965,” according to the website.
The site joins recent additions to the national park system that include the Amache National Historic Site that was a Japanese internment camp in Colorado; the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument in Illinois and Mississippi for the Black Chicago teenager who was abducted, tortured and killed in 1955, and Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park in Kansas for the the 1954 ruling that struck down “separate but equal.”
Ohio
Man convicted on all counts in shooting outside a Cleveland bar
A man charged in a downtown Cleveland mass shooting last summer that wounded nine people was convicted Wednesday after he pleaded no contest to all counts just as his trial was due to begin.
Jaylon Jennings, 26, of Cleveland, now faces several decades in prison when he’s sentenced Sept. 3. He had faced nine counts of attempted murder, 18 counts of felonious assault, two weapons charges, and single counts of grand theft and receiving stolen property.
Authorities have not disclosed a motive for the July 9, 2023, shooting, which occurred during a surge in violent crime in Cleveland.
Cuyahoga County prosecutors have said Jennings opened fire on a group that was outside a bar in the city’s downtown Warehouse District as the clubs were closing. Seven men and two women between the ages of 23 and 38 were struck and treated at hospitals.
Eight of the victims appeared to be part of a targeted group of friends, prosecutors said, while the other victim was standing nearby.
Judge who resigned in disgrace didn’t disclose conflicts in 23 cases
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A federal judge in Alaska who resigned after a scathing investigation found he had engaged in inappropriate conduct with staff and attorneys did not disclose conflicts of interest with attorneys in 23 criminal cases he heard, prosecutors said.
The top federal defender in Alaska, Jamie McGrady, said her office will conduct its own investigation after the resignation this month of U.S. District Court Judge Joshua Kindred, the Anchorage Daily News reported Wednesday.
Kindred’s resignation came at the request of the Judicial Council of the Ninth Circuit Court, which has also sent the matter to the Judicial Conference of the United States to consider impeachment proceedings against Kindred.
Kindred, 46, had an inappropriate sexual relationship with one of his clerks, who later became an assistant U.S. Attorney in Alaska, the report found. He received nude photos from a different assistant U.S. Attorney and exchanged suggestive texts from a private attorney, both of whom who had cases before Kindred, investigators said.
The report also found that the judge created a hostile workplace for his clerks, often discussing his sex life in front of them.
Kindred, who took the bench in early 2020 after being appointed by former President Donald Trump, repeatedly lied to investigators and only admitted to the truth when presented evidence during an interview with Judicial Council members, the report found. His resignation left only one full-time federal judge in Alaska.
Executive U.S. attorney Bryan Wilson told McGrady in a Friday email obtained by the Anchorage newspaper that his office reviewed cases to identify potential conflicts of interest that arose from the findings of the Judicial Council report.
The Code of Conduct for U.S. Judges requires them to recuse themselves from a case if their impartiality could be reasonably questioned.
Wilson identified 23 cases with apparent conflicts stemming from Kindred’s interaction with the federal prosecutors, including firearms thefts, drug distribution and a felon in possession of a firearm. Kindred had recused himself from some after the judicial investigation began in 2022, and other cases have been closed.
The U.S. Attorney’s office in Alaska didn’t disclose the conflicts in a timely manner, allowed employees with known conflicts to remain on ongoing cases and promoted one of the attorneys involved, said McGrady, who called for a broader investigation into other potentially affected cases.
Her office, which provides legal representation to indigent defendants charged with federal crimes in Alaska, will seek more information regarding the “timing, nature, and extent of these various conflicts of interest that could have impacted the outcomes in our clients’ cases,” she said.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Alaska didn’t respond to the Anchorage Daily News when asked about McGrady’s assertions.
Instead, spokesperson Reagan Zimmerman issued a statement that said the office has obligations to disclose or avoid potential conflicts of interest.
“We are continuing our review to ensure those obligations are met,” the statement said. “As we have stated, we intend our review to be ongoing and comprehensive and will supplement disclosures as necessary.”
Texas
School built to segregate Mexican American students becomes a national park
A west Texas school built in 1909 for Mexican and Mexican American students as part of “separate but equal” education segregation was designated Wednesday as a national park.
U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland formally established the Blackwell School National Historic Site in Marfa, Texas, as the nation’s newest national park and the seventh national park unit designated by President Joe Biden.
“This site is a powerful reminder of our nation’s diverse and often complex journey toward equality and justice,” Haaland said in a statement. “By honoring the legacy of Blackwell School, we recognize the resilience and contributions of the Latino community in our shared history.”
The designation as a national park provides permanent protection to help tell the history of Texas school districts that established separate elementary schools for Mexican American children, according to the Interior Department.
The school in Marfa, about 45 miles (72 kilometers) east of the U.S.-Mexico border and 455 miles (732 kilometers) southwest of Dallas, was closed in 1965 with the integration of the Marfa Independent School District, the Interior Department said.
The site includes the original adobe schoolhouse and a classroom built in 1927. The buildings contain photographs, memorabilia, and interpretive panels that feature quotes and stories from students and teachers.
“The school serves as a significant example of how racism and cultural disparity dominated education and social systems in the United States during this period of de facto segregation from 1889-1965,” according to the website.
The site joins recent additions to the national park system that include the Amache National Historic Site that was a Japanese internment camp in Colorado; the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument in Illinois and Mississippi for the Black Chicago teenager who was abducted, tortured and killed in 1955, and Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park in Kansas for the the 1954 ruling that struck down “separate but equal.”
Ohio
Man convicted on all counts in shooting outside a Cleveland bar
A man charged in a downtown Cleveland mass shooting last summer that wounded nine people was convicted Wednesday after he pleaded no contest to all counts just as his trial was due to begin.
Jaylon Jennings, 26, of Cleveland, now faces several decades in prison when he’s sentenced Sept. 3. He had faced nine counts of attempted murder, 18 counts of felonious assault, two weapons charges, and single counts of grand theft and receiving stolen property.
Authorities have not disclosed a motive for the July 9, 2023, shooting, which occurred during a surge in violent crime in Cleveland.
Cuyahoga County prosecutors have said Jennings opened fire on a group that was outside a bar in the city’s downtown Warehouse District as the clubs were closing. Seven men and two women between the ages of 23 and 38 were struck and treated at hospitals.
Eight of the victims appeared to be part of a targeted group of friends, prosecutors said, while the other victim was standing nearby.
