can the states attorney generals office force a summary judgement and dismissal without stating why

by Joanie Mante 7 min read

Does a summary judgment result in a dismissal?

For the history and nature of the summary judgment procedure and citations of state statutes, see Clark and Samenow, The Summary Judgment (1929), 38 Yale L.J. 423. Note to Subdivision (d). See Rule 16 (Pre-Trial Procedure; Formulating Issues) and the Note thereto. Note to Subdivisions (e) and (f). These are similar to rules in Michigan.

What happens if the defendant moves to summary judgment?

Apr 24, 2016 · The Pennsylvania attorney general is the state’s top lawyer. The office can bring down drug rings, investigate public corruption and it defends the state when it is sued. The attorney general is also a political figure, working with the governor and the Legislature to reform state drug laws, its prison system and to combat the state’s ...

Why did the Department of Justice dismiss 7 US Attorneys?

State Attorneys General. Attorneys general are the top legal officers of their state or territory. They advise and represent their legislature and state agencies and act as the “People’s Lawyer” for the citizens. Most are elected, though a few are appointed by the governor. Select your state to connect to your state attorney general's ...

Can a pending summary judgment motion be dismissed in Kansas?

Apr 09, 2009 · Motion to Dismiss for Failure to State a Claim. Although a motion for summary judgment should be treated as a final submission that terminates the plaintiff’s right to dismiss, there is some question about whether the same should be true of a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.

Why would a case be dismissed with prejudice?

A case that is “dismissed with prejudice” is completely and permanently over. A case will be dismissed with prejudice if there is reason for the case not to be brought back to court; for example, if the judge deems the lawsuit frivolous or the the matter under consideration is resolved outside of court.

What is a stipulated dismissal?

A stipulated dismissal is always a voluntary agreement between the parties. After the court makes a determination of how much the defendant should pay, the parties can enter into the agreement and have it entered as an order by the judge.

What is a stipulation of dismissal without prejudice?

“Dismissed without prejudice” is a term in civil and criminal law meaning that a case is dismissed for now, but the prosecutor or the petitioner is not necessarily precluded from re-filing the case at a later point. By contrast, a case dismissed with prejudice is finally over and cannot be reopened or re-filed.Jan 21, 2022

Is dismissal for lack of subject matter jurisdiction with or without prejudice?

Dismissals for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction, on the other hand, must be without prejudice, because a lack of jurisdiction deprives the dismissing court of any power to adjudicate the merits of the case. Wages v. I.R.S., 915 F.Aug 24, 2017

Is a settlement the same as a dismissal?

After hard-fought litigation, you negotiate a settlement. The settlement agreement provides which party will be paying how much money to the other party and that the case will be dismissed. You and opposing counsel file a stipulated dismissal, ending the case.Apr 20, 2020

Is a settlement a dismissal?

Many settlement agreements result in complete dismissal of the pending lawsuit with prejudice. In fact, Rule of Court 3.1385(a) requires plaintiffs to immediately notify the court of a settlement, and Rule of Court 3.1385(b) requires a dismissal within forty-five days thereafter.

What does denied without prejudice mean?

When a lawsuit is dismissed without prejudice, it signifies that none of the rights or privileges of the individual involved are considered to be lost or waived. The same holds true when an admission is made or when a motion is denied without prejudice.

What is without prejudice basis?

The without prejudice (WP) rule will generally prevent statements made in a genuine attempt to settle an existing dispute, whether made in writing or orally, from being put before the court as evidence of admissions against the interest of the party which made them.

Can a dismissal be overturned?

Appeal considered

The Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT) determined that, where an employee is dismissed and the decision to dismiss is overturned as part of an employer's internal appeal process, then, in law, it will be as though no dismissal ever occurred. The dismissal essentially evaporates.
Sep 22, 2020

Can a judge dismiss a case?

Judge. The judge can also dismiss the charges against you. For example, the judge could find that the evidence is insufficient to support the charges. But in most cases, the judge will allow prosecutors to present their case to the jury and let the jury weigh the evidence.Jun 22, 2021

Is dismissed with prejudice good?

A dismissal with prejudice is much more desirable for the defendant than dismissal without prejudice. When a criminal case is dismissed with prejudice, the prosecutor cannot file new charges or reopen the case. The dismissal permanently ends the case in the defendant's favor.Dec 20, 2021

What does lack of jurisdiction mean?

a term that means the lack of power to act or the lack of authority in a legal matter.

How Is Summary Judgment Granted?

Summary judgment is granted when there are no other facts to be tried. All of the necessary statements and evidence are already in front of the jud...

Who Can Move to Summary Judgment?

Either one of the parties in a case can move toward summary judgment, whether they’re the defendant or the plaintiff (although in personal injury c...

What Evidence Can Be Used?

Any evidence that can be used in a courtroom trial can also be used in summary judgment. For example: Photographs Signed witness statements Police...

What Does the Summary Judgment Process Look Like?

The summary judgment process has, in general, five steps: The moving party has to move to summary judgment. The motion to summary judgment must be...

What happens when a defendant moves to summary judgment?

If the defendant moves to summary judgment, the burden of proof moves from the plaintiff to the defendant. Rather than the plaintiff proving that they were injured, the defendant must prove that the plaintiff can’t obtain evidence at all.

Can a plaintiff move to summary judgment?

Either one of the parties in a case can move toward summary judgment, whether they’re the defendant or the plaintiff ( although in personal injury cases , the defendant is more likely to move). All that matters is the evidence that is presented.

What is summary judgment?

Request a Free Consultation. A summary judgment is a decision made based on statements and evidence without going to trial. It’s a final decision by a judge and is designed to resolve a lawsuit before going to court.

When is summary judgment granted?

Summary judgment is granted when the facts can be decided upon without needing to go to trial, where the opposing party would lose due to a lack of evidence. If it’s not clear that there is no more evidence, then summary judgment must be denied.

How many steps are there in summary judgment?

The summary judgment process has, in general, five steps: The moving party has to move to summary judgment. The motion to summary judgment must be assigned a hearing date and the parties must be notified.

What is the moving party's legal grounds for a motion to summary judgment?

The motion to summary judgment must be assigned a hearing date and the parties must be notified. At summary judgment, the moving party files and serves a memorandum of points and authorities, which is their legal grounds for the motion.

What happens when a motion is granted?

When a motion is granted, the case against the moving party ends; if the motion is denied and no settlement is reached, the next step is often the courtroom. The case will most likely end up resolved in the moving party’s favor if the other party doesn’t respond or the response is insufficient.

What did the change in the law do to the Attorney General?

The change in the law undermined the confirmation authority of the Senate and gave the Attorney General greater appointment powers than the President, since the President's U.S. Attorney appointees are required to be confirmed by the Senate and those of the Attorney General did not require confirmation.

Who replaced Sampson as Attorney General?

Sampson's replacement as the Attorney General's temporary chief of staff was U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Chuck Rosenberg. Rosenberg initiated a DOJ inquiry into possibly inappropriate political considerations in Monica Goodling's hiring practices for civil service staff. Civil service positions are not political appointments and must be made on a nonpartisan basis. In one example, Jeffrey A. Taylor, former interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, tried to hire a new career prosecutor, Seth Adam Meinero, in the fall of 2006. Goodling judged Meinero too "liberal" and declined to approve the hire. Meinero, a Howard University law school graduate who had worked on civil rights cases at the Environmental Protection Agency, was serving as a special assistant prosecutor in Taylor's office. Taylor went around Goodling, and demanded Sampson's approval to make the hire. In another example, Goodling removed an attorney from her job at the Department of Justice because she was rumored to be a lesbian, and, further, blocked the attorney from getting other Justice Department jobs she was qualified for. Rules concerning hiring at the Justice department forbid discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Why were some of the attorneys targeted for dismissal?

Allegations were that some of the attorneys were targeted for dismissal to impede investigations of Republican politicians or that some were targeted for their failure to initiate investigations that would damage Democratic politicians or hamper Democratic-leaning voters.

What was the process used to fire the first seven attorneys and two others dismissed around the same time?

A subsequent report by the Justice Department Inspector General in October 2008 found that the process used to fire the first seven attorneys and two others dismissed around the same time was "arbitrary", "fundamentally flawed" and "raised doubts about the integrity of Department prosecution decisions".

Why are emails about the firing of attorneys lost?

White House spokesman Scott Stanzel stated that some of the emails that had involved official correspondence relating to the firing of attorneys may have been lost because they were conducted on Republican party accounts and not stored properly. "Some official e-mails have potentially been lost and that is a mistake the White House is aggressively working to correct." said Stanzel, a White House spokesman. Stonzel said that they could not rule out the possibility that some of the lost emails dealt with the firing of U.S. attorneys. For example, J. Scott Jennings, an aide to Karl Rove communicated with Justice Department officials "concerning the appointment of Tim Griffin, a former Rove aide, as U.S. attorney in Little Rock, according to e-mails released in March, 2007. For that exchange, Jennings, although working at the White House, used an e-mail account registered to the Republican National Committee, where Griffin had worked as a political opposition researcher."

Who resigned from the White House?

Officials who resigned. Alberto Gonzales, United States Attorney General, former White House Counsel. Kyle Sampson, Chief of Staff to the Attorney General. Michael A. Battle, Director of the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys. Michael Elston, Chief of Staff to the Deputy Attorney General.

Who was the DOJ attorney general in 2006?

Attorney General Gonzales, in a confidential memorandum dated March 1, 2006, delegated authority to senior DOJ staff Monica Goodling and Kyle Sampson to hire and dismiss political appointees and some civil service positions.

Can an attorney's affidavit be used in a summary judgment motion?

It is well established that an attorney's affidavit can be used, in connection with a summary judgment motion, for the simple purpose of placing documents produced in discovery before the court. See, e.g., United States v.

What is the burden of production on a motion for summary judgment?

To meet its burden of production on a motion for summary judgment, a party must produce evidence that would be admissible at trial. Therefore, courts will generally decline to consider portions of attorney affidavits or declarations that would be inadmissible at trial.

Can a judge be unfairly influenced by a lawyer's dual roles?

It is equally unlikely that a judge, as compared to a jury , will be unfairly influenced by the lawyer's dual roles."). Some courts have held that the attorney testimony rule applies to affidavits as well as testimony at trial.

When does a tribunal have proper objection?

1. In particular, " [t]he tribunal has proper objection when the trier of fact may be confused or misled by a lawyer serving as both advocate and witness ," and the opposing party has such an objection "where the combination of roles may prejudice that party's rights in the litigation.". Id. § 3.7 cmt. 2.

Issues in Brief

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By tradition, all U.S. Attorneys are asked to resign at the start of a new administration. The new President may elect to keep or remove any U.S. Attorney. They are traditionally replaced collectively only at the start of a new White House administration. U.S. Attorneys hold a political office, in which the President nomi…
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Fallout

  • By April 2007, there was some speculation that the dismissal of the US attorneys might affect cases of public corruption and voter fraud. According to the National Law Journal, By mid-September 2007, nine senior staff of the Department of Justice associated with the controversy had resigned.The most prominent resignations include: 1. 1.1. Attorney General Alberto Gonzale…
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Replacement of The U.S. Attorneys

  • Initial planning
    On January 6, 2005, Colin Newman, an assistant in the White House counsels office, wrote to David Leitch stating, "Karl Rovestopped by to ask you (roughly quoting) 'how we planned to proceed regarding U.S. Attorneys, whether we were going to allow all to stay, request resignation…
  • Implementation: The U.S. Attorney Removal List
    In October 2006, George W. Bushtold Alberto Gonzales that he had received complaints that some of the U.S. Attorneys had not pursued certain voter-fraud investigations. The complaints came from Republican officials, who demanded fraud investigations into a number of Democratic cam…
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Reactions and Congressional Investigation

  • Initial reaction
    The initial reaction was from the senators of the affected states. In a letter to Gonzales on January 9, 2007, Senators Feinstein (D, California) and Leahy (D, Vermont; Chair of the Committee) of the Senate Judiciary Committee expressed concern that the confirmation proces…
  • Contempt of Congress charges
    On July 11, 2007, as Sara Taylor testified, George Manning, the attorney to former White House CounselHarriet Miers, announced that Miers intended to follow the request of the Bush Administration and not appear before the Committee the following day. Manning stated Miers "c…
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Aftermath

  • Subpoenas and lost emails
    White House spokesman Scott Stanzel stated that some of the emails that had involved official correspondence relating to the firing of attorneys may have been lost because they were conducted on Republican party accounts and not stored properly. "Some official e-mails have po…
  • Appointment of U.S. Attorneys and the 2005 Patriot Act reauthorization
    The President of the United States has the authority to appoint U.S. Attorneys, with the consent of the United States Senate, and the President may remove U.S. Attorneys from office. In the event of a vacancy, the United States Attorney General is authorized to appoint an interim U.S. Attorney. …
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See Also

References and External Links

  1. Resignation letters and emails, and other related documents hosted by WSJ
  2. Taylor, Marissa; Margaret Talev (2007-06-18). "A Q&A for the U.S. Attorneys saga". McClatchy Washington Bureau. McClatchy Newspapers. Archived from the original on June 2, 2008. Retrieved 2007-06-20.
  3. The Washington Post in-depth coverage site on firings: "Special Reports: U.S. Attorney Firing…
  1. Resignation letters and emails, and other related documents hosted by WSJ
  2. Taylor, Marissa; Margaret Talev (2007-06-18). "A Q&A for the U.S. Attorneys saga". McClatchy Washington Bureau. McClatchy Newspapers. Archived from the original on June 2, 2008. Retrieved 2007-06-20.
  3. The Washington Post in-depth coverage site on firings: "Special Reports: U.S. Attorney Firings Investigation". The Washington Post. 2007-03-05. Retrieved 2010-05-01.
  4. Inside the U.S. Attorneys Emails: Major Players and Themes The Wall Street Journal(review of the most significant of the emails).