Joel Cohen and Katherine Helm examine the implications of a one-man campaign being waged outside one of the highest-profile federal trial courts in the U.S. on behalf of “jury nullification,” a doctrine that encourages jurors to decide cases irrespective of the law given to them during trial.

A federal appeals court on Friday upheld the dismissal of a false claims complaint against Sallie Mae, saying the suit too closely mirrors a similar complaint filed in a federal trial court in another state. The case tested the scope of the False Claims Act’s “first-to-file” rule.

Federal prosecutors this week told a federal trial judge that the government is siding with former Bush administration lawyer Scott Bloch in his bid to back out of his plea deal in a contempt case and start from scratch.

A victim in a child pornography case who is seeking nearly $3.3 million in restitution from the man caught with an image of her will get a second chance to convince a federal trial judge to award more than the initial $5,000 order.

Three judicial nominees to federal courts in Washington, D.C., faced little opposition when they appeared for their confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday. Though even noncontroversial nominees have stalled in the full Senate, the hearing is a good sign for President Barack Obama as he tries to fill four vacancies on Washington’s federal trial court