court assignment

United States District Court

Northern district of iowa, honorable c.j. williams, chief judge | paul de young, clerk of court, search form, you are here, how are federal judges assigned to cases.

The basic considerations in making assignments are to assure equitable distribution of caseload and avoid judge shopping. By statute, the chief judge of each district court has the responsibility to enforce the court's rules and orders on case assignments. Each court has a written plan or system for assigning cases. The majority of courts use some variation of a random drawing. One simple method is to rotate the names of available judges. At times, judges having special expertise can be assigned cases by type, such as complex criminal cases, asbestos-related cases, or prisoner cases. The benefit of this system is that it takes advantage of the expertise developed by judges in certain areas. Sometimes cases may be assigned based on geographical considerations. For example, in a large geographical area it may be best to assign a case to a judge located at the site where the case was filed. Courts also have a system to check if there is any conflict that would make it improper for a judge to preside over a particular case. 

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Assignment office.

LOCATION: North Tower, 1st Floor, Rm 1320

HOURS: Monday-Friday, 8:30am - 4:30pm

PHONE: 240-777-9000

Roles & Responsibilities

Handling each case properly and quickly is not only important to the parties involved in the case, but is crucial for the efficient operation at Montgomery County Circuit Court, which handled over 35,000 case filings and terminations in Fiscal Year 2017.

The Court’s Assignment Office plays one of the most critical functions of the court: scheduling hearings, trials, and special event dates for the Judges and Family Division Magistrates of the Court, maintaining the schedules, and ensuring that these events are scheduled according to the Court’s Differentiated Case management Plans.

If you have questions about a scheduled court event, you can find information about the case using the Maryland Judiciary's Online Case Search or by calling the Montgomery County Circuit Court Assignment Office at 240-777-9000.

When you call the Assignment Office, please have your Circuit Court case number and name of the case available. Please note that juvenile matters are confidential, and access to juvenile case information is limited. We will be happy to assist you.

Daily Court Schedule

Understanding How Scheduling Works

The Differentiated Case Management (DCM) process expedites cases by assigning them to different tracks. Each track has mandatory guidelines for certain milestones on the case (e.g., Scheduling Hearing, Discovery, Trial); adherence to these milestones is closely monitored.

Criminal, civil, and family cases are assigned to the appropriate DCM track at the filing of the case. Tracks are determined by the parties and are based on the complexity of the issues and the amount of trial time needed.

Based on DCM guidelines, each case is assigned a Scheduling Hearing, Status Hearing, and/or Settlement/Pre-Trial Hearing. Depending on the issues and the case type, the judge or family magistrate will distribute scheduling orders that schedule deadlines for discovery, motions, and Pre-Trial statements to be filed.

Civil Trial dates (Tracks 2 and 3) are scheduled at the Status Hearing or Settlement/Pre-Trial Hearing. The trial dates are normally scheduled within 60-90 days from the scheduled hearing.

Criminal Jury Demands and Appeals (Track 1) are assigned a trial date at the Pre-Trial hearing. Criminal Indictments and Information (Tracks 2, 3, & 4) are assigned a trial date at the Rule 4-215/Scheduling Hearing.

Family Trials or Hearings are normally scheduled at the Scheduling Hearing or Settlement/Status Pre-Trial Hearing held before one of the Family Magistrates of the Circuit Court.

Juvenile Hearings are scheduled automatically at the time of filing. Dates may be adjusted within the mandatory guidelines at the Pre-Trial Hearing.

Other cases that are not on a scheduling track will be sent to the Assignment Office for scheduling when all parties have filed an Answer (a written response to the original filing). Assignment Office staff will confirm time estimates, when possible, schedule the case for the next available date on the court’s calendar, and mail a notification of trial/hearing to all parties.

To find out the name of the judge assigned to a particular case, call the Assignment Office at 240-777-9000 after 3:00 pm the day before the scheduled trial/event date or visit the Maryland Judiciary’s Online Case Search .

Please keep in mind that the case assignment schedule can change at any time. When you arrive at the courthouse, check the case assignment monitors located on the Lobby Level before proceeding to the courtroom.

To have a motion scheduled for a hearing, all parties must file their motions before the Motions Filing Deadline date. However, not all motions are scheduled for hearings. Many of the discovery motions are sent to the Court’s Special Magistrate to determine whether a hearing is necessary under the rules.

When a judge rules that a motion is appropriate for a hearing, the Assignment Office will schedule it after the appropriate response time is due (normally 18 days after the motion is filed) and mail a hearing scheduling notice to the parties. Motions are scheduled for one-half hour and are scheduled before the presiding Motions Judge for the week. Motions hearings may be scheduled for matters that are anticipated to take longer than one-half hour if the parties request additional time in writing.

Parties must file a written motion to postpone, with the reason(s) listed, before the actual hearing or trial date and later follow up with the ruling of the motion. For additional information about Criminal and Civil motions for postponement, please refer to the Criminal and Civil Motions for Postponement Procedures (PDF). For additional information about Family motions for postponement, please refer to the Family Postponement Procedure Guide (PDF).

Civil Motions, District Court Appeals, Uncontested Divorces, and various other court events may be moved one time by a letter of agreement of all parties. For additional information about Criminal and Civil motions for postponement, please refer to the Criminal and Civil Motions for Postponement Procedures (PDF). For additional information about Family motions for postponement, please refer to the Family Postponement Procedure Guide (PDF).

The Administrative Judge must make a Finding of Extraordinary Cause to postpone a hearing beyond the mandatory guidelines on a Juvenile case.

Download the Motion for Continuance/Postponement (PDF)

Please consult the monitors on the lobby level of the North Tower or contact the Assignment Office at 240-777-9000 to find out which judge has been assigned to regular duty and family duty. Judges rotate weekly on these assignments. The Regular Duty Judge handles emergency matters that pertain to civil and criminal matters. The Family Duty Judge handles only matters that pertain to family cases.

It may be necessary for the Assignment Office to put some cases on the TBA calendar when a full load of cases has already been assigned to the available trial judges or when trials are carried over from the previous day.

Parties assigned to the TBA calendar should report to the Assignment Office, North Tower 1 st Floor, Rm 1320. Every consideration will be given to assign the case as soon as possible.

Not Seeing What You Are Looking For? Need Some Help?

Give us a call.

240-777-9000

• assignments basic law

Assignments: The Basic Law

The assignment of a right or obligation is a common contractual event under the law and the right to assign (or prohibition against assignments) is found in the majority of agreements, leases and business structural documents created in the United States.

As with many terms commonly used, people are familiar with the term but often are not aware or fully aware of what the terms entail. The concept of assignment of rights and obligations is one of those simple concepts with wide ranging ramifications in the contractual and business context and the law imposes severe restrictions on the validity and effect of assignment in many instances. Clear contractual provisions concerning assignments and rights should be in every document and structure created and this article will outline why such drafting is essential for the creation of appropriate and effective contracts and structures.

The reader should first read the article on Limited Liability Entities in the United States and Contracts since the information in those articles will be assumed in this article.

Basic Definitions and Concepts:

An assignment is the transfer of rights held by one party called the “assignor” to another party called the “assignee.” The legal nature of the assignment and the contractual terms of the agreement between the parties determines some additional rights and liabilities that accompany the assignment. The assignment of rights under a contract usually completely transfers the rights to the assignee to receive the benefits accruing under the contract. Ordinarily, the term assignment is limited to the transfer of rights that are intangible, like contractual rights and rights connected with property. Merchants Service Co. v. Small Claims Court , 35 Cal. 2d 109, 113-114 (Cal. 1950).

An assignment will generally be permitted under the law unless there is an express prohibition against assignment in the underlying contract or lease. Where assignments are permitted, the assignor need not consult the other party to the contract but may merely assign the rights at that time. However, an assignment cannot have any adverse effect on the duties of the other party to the contract, nor can it diminish the chance of the other party receiving complete performance. The assignor normally remains liable unless there is an agreement to the contrary by the other party to the contract.

The effect of a valid assignment is to remove privity between the assignor and the obligor and create privity between the obligor and the assignee. Privity is usually defined as a direct and immediate contractual relationship. See Merchants case above.

Further, for the assignment to be effective in most jurisdictions, it must occur in the present. One does not normally assign a future right; the assignment vests immediate rights and obligations.

No specific language is required to create an assignment so long as the assignor makes clear his/her intent to assign identified contractual rights to the assignee. Since expensive litigation can erupt from ambiguous or vague language, obtaining the correct verbiage is vital. An agreement must manifest the intent to transfer rights and can either be oral or in writing and the rights assigned must be certain.

Note that an assignment of an interest is the transfer of some identifiable property, claim, or right from the assignor to the assignee. The assignment operates to transfer to the assignee all of the rights, title, or interest of the assignor in the thing assigned. A transfer of all rights, title, and interests conveys everything that the assignor owned in the thing assigned and the assignee stands in the shoes of the assignor. Knott v. McDonald’s Corp ., 985 F. Supp. 1222 (N.D. Cal. 1997)

The parties must intend to effectuate an assignment at the time of the transfer, although no particular language or procedure is necessary. As long ago as the case of National Reserve Co. v. Metropolitan Trust Co ., 17 Cal. 2d 827 (Cal. 1941), the court held that in determining what rights or interests pass under an assignment, the intention of the parties as manifested in the instrument is controlling.

The intent of the parties to an assignment is a question of fact to be derived not only from the instrument executed by the parties but also from the surrounding circumstances. When there is no writing to evidence the intention to transfer some identifiable property, claim, or right, it is necessary to scrutinize the surrounding circumstances and parties’ acts to ascertain their intentions. Strosberg v. Brauvin Realty Servs., 295 Ill. App. 3d 17 (Ill. App. Ct. 1st Dist. 1998)

The general rule applicable to assignments of choses in action is that an assignment, unless there is a contract to the contrary, carries with it all securities held by the assignor as collateral to the claim and all rights incidental thereto and vests in the assignee the equitable title to such collateral securities and incidental rights. An unqualified assignment of a contract or chose in action, however, with no indication of the intent of the parties, vests in the assignee the assigned contract or chose and all rights and remedies incidental thereto.

More examples: In Strosberg v. Brauvin Realty Servs ., 295 Ill. App. 3d 17 (Ill. App. Ct. 1st Dist. 1998), the court held that the assignee of a party to a subordination agreement is entitled to the benefits and is subject to the burdens of the agreement. In Florida E. C. R. Co. v. Eno , 99 Fla. 887 (Fla. 1930), the court held that the mere assignment of all sums due in and of itself creates no different or other liability of the owner to the assignee than that which existed from the owner to the assignor.

And note that even though an assignment vests in the assignee all rights, remedies, and contingent benefits which are incidental to the thing assigned, those which are personal to the assignor and for his sole benefit are not assigned. Rasp v. Hidden Valley Lake, Inc ., 519 N.E.2d 153, 158 (Ind. Ct. App. 1988). Thus, if the underlying agreement provides that a service can only be provided to X, X cannot assign that right to Y.

Novation Compared to Assignment:

Although the difference between a novation and an assignment may appear narrow, it is an essential one. “Novation is a act whereby one party transfers all its obligations and benefits under a contract to a third party.” In a novation, a third party successfully substitutes the original party as a party to the contract. “When a contract is novated, the other contracting party must be left in the same position he was in prior to the novation being made.”

A sublease is the transfer when a tenant retains some right of reentry onto the leased premises. However, if the tenant transfers the entire leasehold estate, retaining no right of reentry or other reversionary interest, then the transfer is an assignment. The assignor is normally also removed from liability to the landlord only if the landlord consents or allowed that right in the lease. In a sublease, the original tenant is not released from the obligations of the original lease.

Equitable Assignments:

An equitable assignment is one in which one has a future interest and is not valid at law but valid in a court of equity. In National Bank of Republic v. United Sec. Life Ins. & Trust Co. , 17 App. D.C. 112 (D.C. Cir. 1900), the court held that to constitute an equitable assignment of a chose in action, the following has to occur generally: anything said written or done, in pursuance of an agreement and for valuable consideration, or in consideration of an antecedent debt, to place a chose in action or fund out of the control of the owner, and appropriate it to or in favor of another person, amounts to an equitable assignment. Thus, an agreement, between a debtor and a creditor, that the debt shall be paid out of a specific fund going to the debtor may operate as an equitable assignment.

In Egyptian Navigation Co. v. Baker Invs. Corp. , 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 30804 (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 14, 2008), the court stated that an equitable assignment occurs under English law when an assignor, with an intent to transfer his/her right to a chose in action, informs the assignee about the right so transferred.

An executory agreement or a declaration of trust are also equitable assignments if unenforceable as assignments by a court of law but enforceable by a court of equity exercising sound discretion according to the circumstances of the case. Since California combines courts of equity and courts of law, the same court would hear arguments as to whether an equitable assignment had occurred. Quite often, such relief is granted to avoid fraud or unjust enrichment.

Note that obtaining an assignment through fraudulent means invalidates the assignment. Fraud destroys the validity of everything into which it enters. It vitiates the most solemn contracts, documents, and even judgments. Walker v. Rich , 79 Cal. App. 139 (Cal. App. 1926). If an assignment is made with the fraudulent intent to delay, hinder, and defraud creditors, then it is void as fraudulent in fact. See our article on Transfers to Defraud Creditors .

But note that the motives that prompted an assignor to make the transfer will be considered as immaterial and will constitute no defense to an action by the assignee, if an assignment is considered as valid in all other respects.

Enforceability of Assignments:

Whether a right under a contract is capable of being transferred is determined by the law of the place where the contract was entered into. The validity and effect of an assignment is determined by the law of the place of assignment. The validity of an assignment of a contractual right is governed by the law of the state with the most significant relationship to the assignment and the parties.

In some jurisdictions, the traditional conflict of laws rules governing assignments has been rejected and the law of the place having the most significant contacts with the assignment applies. In Downs v. American Mut. Liability Ins. Co ., 14 N.Y.2d 266 (N.Y. 1964), a wife and her husband separated and the wife obtained a judgment of separation from the husband in New York. The judgment required the husband to pay a certain yearly sum to the wife. The husband assigned 50 percent of his future salary, wages, and earnings to the wife. The agreement authorized the employer to make such payments to the wife.

After the husband moved from New York, the wife learned that he was employed by an employer in Massachusetts. She sent the proper notice and demanded payment under the agreement. The employer refused and the wife brought an action for enforcement. The court observed that Massachusetts did not prohibit assignment of the husband’s wages. Moreover, Massachusetts law was not controlling because New York had the most significant relationship with the assignment. Therefore, the court ruled in favor of the wife.

Therefore, the validity of an assignment is determined by looking to the law of the forum with the most significant relationship to the assignment itself. To determine the applicable law of assignments, the court must look to the law of the state which is most significantly related to the principal issue before it.

Assignment of Contractual Rights:

Generally, the law allows the assignment of a contractual right unless the substitution of rights would materially change the duty of the obligor, materially increase the burden or risk imposed on the obligor by the contract, materially impair the chance of obtaining return performance, or materially reduce the value of the performance to the obligor. Restat 2d of Contracts, § 317(2)(a). This presumes that the underlying agreement is silent on the right to assign.

If the contract specifically precludes assignment, the contractual right is not assignable. Whether a contract is assignable is a matter of contractual intent and one must look to the language used by the parties to discern that intent.

In the absence of an express provision to the contrary, the rights and duties under a bilateral executory contract that does not involve personal skill, trust, or confidence may be assigned without the consent of the other party. But note that an assignment is invalid if it would materially alter the other party’s duties and responsibilities. Once an assignment is effective, the assignee stands in the shoes of the assignor and assumes all of assignor’s rights. Hence, after a valid assignment, the assignor’s right to performance is extinguished, transferred to assignee, and the assignee possesses the same rights, benefits, and remedies assignor once possessed. Robert Lamb Hart Planners & Architects v. Evergreen, Ltd. , 787 F. Supp. 753 (S.D. Ohio 1992).

On the other hand, an assignee’s right against the obligor is subject to “all of the limitations of the assignor’s right, all defenses thereto, and all set-offs and counterclaims which would have been available against the assignor had there been no assignment, provided that these defenses and set-offs are based on facts existing at the time of the assignment.” See Robert Lamb , case, above.

The power of the contract to restrict assignment is broad. Usually, contractual provisions that restrict assignment of the contract without the consent of the obligor are valid and enforceable, even when there is statutory authorization for the assignment. The restriction of the power to assign is often ineffective unless the restriction is expressly and precisely stated. Anti-assignment clauses are effective only if they contain clear, unambiguous language of prohibition. Anti-assignment clauses protect only the obligor and do not affect the transaction between the assignee and assignor.

Usually, a prohibition against the assignment of a contract does not prevent an assignment of the right to receive payments due, unless circumstances indicate the contrary. Moreover, the contracting parties cannot, by a mere non-assignment provision, prevent the effectual alienation of the right to money which becomes due under the contract.

A contract provision prohibiting or restricting an assignment may be waived, or a party may so act as to be estopped from objecting to the assignment, such as by effectively ratifying the assignment. The power to void an assignment made in violation of an anti-assignment clause may be waived either before or after the assignment. See our article on Contracts.

Noncompete Clauses and Assignments:

Of critical import to most buyers of businesses is the ability to ensure that key employees of the business being purchased cannot start a competing company. Some states strictly limit such clauses, some do allow them. California does restrict noncompete clauses, only allowing them under certain circumstances. A common question in those states that do allow them is whether such rights can be assigned to a new party, such as the buyer of the buyer.

A covenant not to compete, also called a non-competitive clause, is a formal agreement prohibiting one party from performing similar work or business within a designated area for a specified amount of time. This type of clause is generally included in contracts between employer and employee and contracts between buyer and seller of a business.

Many workers sign a covenant not to compete as part of the paperwork required for employment. It may be a separate document similar to a non-disclosure agreement, or buried within a number of other clauses in a contract. A covenant not to compete is generally legal and enforceable, although there are some exceptions and restrictions.

Whenever a company recruits skilled employees, it invests a significant amount of time and training. For example, it often takes years before a research chemist or a design engineer develops a workable knowledge of a company’s product line, including trade secrets and highly sensitive information. Once an employee gains this knowledge and experience, however, all sorts of things can happen. The employee could work for the company until retirement, accept a better offer from a competing company or start up his or her own business.

A covenant not to compete may cover a number of potential issues between employers and former employees. Many companies spend years developing a local base of customers or clients. It is important that this customer base not fall into the hands of local competitors. When an employee signs a covenant not to compete, he or she usually agrees not to use insider knowledge of the company’s customer base to disadvantage the company. The covenant not to compete often defines a broad geographical area considered off-limits to former employees, possibly tens or hundreds of miles.

Another area of concern covered by a covenant not to compete is a potential ‘brain drain’. Some high-level former employees may seek to recruit others from the same company to create new competition. Retention of employees, especially those with unique skills or proprietary knowledge, is vital for most companies, so a covenant not to compete may spell out definite restrictions on the hiring or recruiting of employees.

A covenant not to compete may also define a specific amount of time before a former employee can seek employment in a similar field. Many companies offer a substantial severance package to make sure former employees are financially solvent until the terms of the covenant not to compete have been met.

Because the use of a covenant not to compete can be controversial, a handful of states, including California, have largely banned this type of contractual language. The legal enforcement of these agreements falls on individual states, and many have sided with the employee during arbitration or litigation. A covenant not to compete must be reasonable and specific, with defined time periods and coverage areas. If the agreement gives the company too much power over former employees or is ambiguous, state courts may declare it to be overbroad and therefore unenforceable. In such case, the employee would be free to pursue any employment opportunity, including working for a direct competitor or starting up a new company of his or her own.

It has been held that an employee’s covenant not to compete is assignable where one business is transferred to another, that a merger does not constitute an assignment of a covenant not to compete, and that a covenant not to compete is enforceable by a successor to the employer where the assignment does not create an added burden of employment or other disadvantage to the employee. However, in some states such as Hawaii, it has also been held that a covenant not to compete is not assignable and under various statutes for various reasons that such covenants are not enforceable against an employee by a successor to the employer. Hawaii v. Gannett Pac. Corp. , 99 F. Supp. 2d 1241 (D. Haw. 1999)

It is vital to obtain the relevant law of the applicable state before drafting or attempting to enforce assignment rights in this particular area.

Conclusion:

In the current business world of fast changing structures, agreements, employees and projects, the ability to assign rights and obligations is essential to allow flexibility and adjustment to new situations. Conversely, the ability to hold a contracting party into the deal may be essential for the future of a party. Thus, the law of assignments and the restriction on same is a critical aspect of every agreement and every structure. This basic provision is often glanced at by the contracting parties, or scribbled into the deal at the last minute but can easily become the most vital part of the transaction.

As an example, one client of ours came into the office outraged that his co venturer on a sizable exporting agreement, who had excellent connections in Brazil, had elected to pursue another venture instead and assigned the agreement to a party unknown to our client and without the business contacts our client considered vital. When we examined the handwritten agreement our client had drafted in a restaurant in Sao Paolo, we discovered there was no restriction on assignment whatsoever…our client had not even considered that right when drafting the agreement after a full day of work.

One choses who one does business with carefully…to ensure that one’s choice remains the party on the other side of the contract, one must master the ability to negotiate proper assignment provisions.

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U.S. reporter Evan Gershkovich has now spent a whole year jailed in Russia

Charles Maynes

U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich looks out from inside a defendants' cage before a hearing to consider an appeal on his extended pretrial detention, at the Moscow City Court in Moscow, on Feb. 20. Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

MOSCOW — Friday marks one year since Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was detained by Russian security forces on spying allegations — the first such detention of an American journalist on espionage charges in Russia since the latter days of the Cold War.

The Journal — which vehemently rejects the charges — observed the somber anniversary with an #IStandWithEvan tribute.

Family, friends and journalists across the media landscape took part in a marathon reading of Gershkovich's articles — penetrating vignettes of contemporary Russia that highlighted his deep knowledge of the country, its politics and its people.

Wall Street Journal's Emma Tucker on Gershkovich detention

Gershkovich, 32, the son of Russian Jewish émigrés who was born and raised in New Jersey, had grown up in a dual-language household absorbing American and Russian cartoons, books and pop culture.

Whether that background, his sharp reporter's eye or something else may have played a role in his arrest remains unclear.

What is certain is that his detention is yet another irritant in U.S.-Russian relations already at Cold War-like lows following the Kremlin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The Biden administration has said securing Gershkovich's freedom is a priority.

His arrest has only further highlighted Western suspicion of a growing pattern of "hostage diplomacy" in Moscow — one in which Russian authorities are accused of ensnaring Americans on spurious legal charges to see what deals emerge.

A journalist detained

Gershkovich was on a reporting assignment in Russia's Ural mountain city of Yekaterinburg in March of last year when he was detained by agents from Russia's Federal Security Service, the FSB, at a downtown steakhouse.

The U.S. condemns Russia's arrest of a Wall Street Journal reporter

Witnesses at the Bukowski Grill reportedly had little time to even see who was the target when government agents suddenly stormed the restaurant. Within seconds, they had pulled Gershkovich's sweater over his head and frog-marched him out into an unmarked van.

The next day, Gershkovich reappeared in a Moscow court and was formally charged with trying to obtain state secrets — a penalty for which he faces up to 20 years in jail if convicted.

A journalist, not a spy

Gershkovich and the Journal immediately rejected the spying allegations, saying Gershkovich was working in Russia with official press accreditation from the Foreign Ministry.

In fact, he'd been reporting on the country since 2017 — initially for The Moscow Times and then the Agence France-Presse (AFP) before taking a job with the Journal in 2022. His credentials had been subject to repeat security reviews by the Russian government.

Yet none of that appeared to matter. The Russian government insisted Gershkovich was guilty of the espionage charges — without providing any evidence. Instead, they saw his journalist status as possible proof of his guilt.

Journalists watch a TV screen broadcasting a hearing on Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich's case from a courtroom at the Moscow City Court on April 18, 2023. Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP hide caption

Journalists watch a TV screen broadcasting a hearing on Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich's case from a courtroom at the Moscow City Court on April 18, 2023.

"Unfortunately, it's not the first occasion when the status of a 'foreign correspondent,' a journalist visa and accreditation have been used by foreigners in our country to cover up activities that aren't journalism," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova wrote on social media shortly after Gershkovich's arrest.

"It's not the first famous Westerner we've caught red-handed."

The U.S. government moved quickly to label Gershkovich "wrongfully detained" — a designation that makes him a hostage in the eyes of the U.S. government.

Cold War replay

Gershkovich's arrest echoed Moscow's detention of another American reporter — decades prior in what seems like a different era.

In 1986, Nicholas Daniloff, a correspondent with U.S. News & World Report , was arrested in a KGB sting operation in Moscow. Like Gershkovich, Daniloff was of Russian heritage. He and his publication, too, rejected the charges as a sham.

The American spent 14 days in Moscow's Lefortovo Prison before negotiations between President Ronald Reagan and Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev — then the USSR's new reform-minded leader — cut a deal to set him free.

The Case Of Paul Whelan Draws Parallels To U.S. Journalist's 1986 Arrest In Moscow

"Time in Lefortovo was mental torture," Daniloff wrote in an article later, recalling his repeat sessions with a KGB interrogator.

"He played with my emotions, posing alternatively as a 'good cop' and a 'bad cop.' He controlled all information that reached me. He controlled my food, my exercise, my life. [By] the time I was freed, he had made me feel guilt where there was none."

There are also Daniloff's accounts of conditions in a cell "measured five-paces long, three-paces wide."

U.S. reporter Nicholas Daniloff after his release from being detained in Russia. Cynthia Johnson/Getty Images hide caption

U.S. reporter Nicholas Daniloff after his release from being detained in Russia.

"There were three steel cots painted blue, a small table for each prisoner, a washbowl and primitive toilet with a wooden cover just high enough to be uncomfortable. The place was clean, but there was a distinctive smell," Daniloff wrote.

Nearly four decades later, recent prisoners say little has changed .

Life on hold

The past year has seen a continuous loop of closed-court hearings in which judges have extended Gershkovich's pretrial detention time and again.

The judges have rejected cash bail offers by the Journal's parent company, Dow Jones. They have also denied appeals to move him to house arrest pending a trial, whose date never seems to come.

A Moscow court has rejected 'WSJ' reporter Evan Gershkovich's detention appeal

Yet Gershkovich's family and friends say he remains strong — with his letters full of his trademark optimism and humor.

"We currently have a joke going back and forth about this framed photo of him," his sister, Danielle Gershkovich, said in an interview with NPR's All Things Considered last October.

"And I'm joking about where I should put it in the apartment, and he recently suggested, put it directly in front of the TV so you can see his face," she said.

Journalist Evan Gershkovich tells family he's 'not losing hope' in Russian detention

Evan Gershkovich has also taken advantage of one of Lefortovo's few benefits: a decent library collection of Russian classics by the likes of Leo Tolstoy, Fyodor Dostoevsky and other literary giants.

"He's read a lot of books. And he told us maybe he will write some good novel at the end of this story, about himself," his Russian lawyer Tatiana Nozhkina told NPR following a hearing last April.

Evan Gershkovich awaits trial in Russia, but his family finds hope in his letters

But there's no denying the slow grind of a year spent awaiting trial with no immediate court date in sight.

This week, a judge extended his detention by another three months — until late June. Again, no indication of when Gershkovich might expect trial.

U.S. Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy called the latest ruling "particularly painful" — noting the journalist had spent a year awaiting charges that were "fiction" from the outset.

The Independent Association of Publishers' Employees and Wall Street Journal journalists rally in Washington, D.C., on April 12, 2023, calling for the release of reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has been held in Russia since March 29, 2023. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

The Independent Association of Publishers' Employees and Wall Street Journal journalists rally in Washington, D.C., on April 12, 2023, calling for the release of reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has been held in Russia since March 29, 2023.

"Evan's case is not about evidence, due process, or rule of law. It is about using American citizens as pawns to achieve political ends," the ambassador said in a statement Tuesday.

Tracy specifically pointed to the case of Paul Whelan , another American the U.S. has designated "wrongfully detained."

Russia charges Radio Free Europe editor with failing to register as a 'foreign agent'

But there are others languishing in Russian prisons, including Alsu Kurmasheva , a Russian American journalist with the U.S.-government funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty news service, and Marc Fogel , an American schoolteacher.

Marc Fogel's family hopes they are closer to seeing him after Brittney Griner release

Prisoner trade rumors.

If there's an upside amid the current situation, it's that prisoner exchanges between Moscow and Washington remain possible despite current hostilities.

Trevor Reed, a former Marine who says he was wrongly convicted of assaulting a Russian police officer, was released by Russia in April 2022.

Brittney Griner , a WNBA basketball star sentenced to nine years on drug possession, was freed later that same year.

In each case, the price was steep: The Biden administration released Viktor Bout, a convicted arms dealer, for Griner. Reed was traded for Konstantin Yaroshenko, a pilot convicted of narcotics smuggling.

White House officials defended the moves as difficult — but necessary — decisions.

Detractors argued the trades merely encouraged more detentions. Perhaps even that of a Wall Street Journal reporter.

Either way, few, including the U.S. government, expect much from a Russian justice system in which over 99% of all criminal cases end in conviction.

And so the Biden administration says it continues to make offers aimed at securing the release of Gershkovich and others.

Evan Gershkovich stands inside a defendants' cage before a hearing to consider an appeal on his extended pretrial detention at the Moscow City Court on Sept. 19, 2023. Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

Evan Gershkovich stands inside a defendants' cage before a hearing to consider an appeal on his extended pretrial detention at the Moscow City Court on Sept. 19, 2023.

In turn, Russian President Vladimir Putin has indicated Moscow is open to a swap provided circumstances are right.

Asked about the Gershkovich case in a February interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, Putin was even more explicit. The Russian leader strongly suggested he would be willing to trade Gershkovich for Vadim Krasikov, a suspected FSB assassin currently serving a life sentence for murder in Germany.

Further muddying the picture: Multiple news reports allege that German authorities had tied Krasikov's potential release to the Kremlin leader agreeing to free the jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

Neither U.S. nor German officials have verified those accounts. And Navalny died under still unexplained circumstances in a remote Arctic prison last month, making any potential deal impossible.

In the meantime, Gershkovich remains in Lefortovo prison, reading, writing, waiting — his story like one he himself would report on in ordinary times.

"Evan has displayed remarkable resilience and strength in the face of this grim situation," said Ambassador Tracy in her statement this week.

"But it is time for the Russian government to let Evan go."

• Evan Gershkovich

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2023 Kansas Statutes Chapter 60 - Procedure, Civil Article 23 - Exemptions 60-2310 Wage garnishment; definitions; restrictions, exceptions; sickness preventing work; assignment of account; prohibition on courts.

60-2310. Wage garnishment; definitions; restrictions, exceptions; sickness preventing work; assignment of account; prohibition on courts. (a) Definitions. As used in this act and the acts of which this act is amendatory, unless the context otherwise requires, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them:

(1) "Earnings" means compensation payable for personal services, whether denominated as wages, salary, commission, bonus or otherwise;

(2) "disposable earnings" means that part of the earnings of any individual remaining after the deduction from such earnings of any amounts required by law to be withheld;

(3) "wage garnishment" means any legal or equitable procedure through which the earnings of any individual are required to be withheld for payment of any debt; and

(4) "federal minimum hourly wage" means that wage prescribed by subsection (a)(1) of section 6 of the federal fair labor standards act of 1938, and any amendments thereto.

(b) Restriction on wage garnishment. Subject to the provisions of subsection (e), only the aggregate disposable earnings of an individual may be subjected to wage garnishment. The maximum part of such earnings of any wage earning individual which may be subjected to wage garnishment for any workweek or multiple thereof may not exceed the lesser of: (1) Twenty-five percent of the individual's aggregate disposable earnings for that workweek or multiple thereof; (2) the amount by which the individual's aggregate disposable earnings for that workweek or multiple thereof exceed an amount equal to 30 times the federal minimum hourly wage, or equivalent multiple thereof for such longer period; or (3) the amount of the plaintiff's claim as found in the order for garnishment. No one creditor may issue more than one garnishment against the earnings of the same judgment debtor during any one 30-day period, but the court shall allow the creditor to file amendments or corrections of names or addresses of any party to the order of garnishment at any time. In answering such order the garnishee-employer shall withhold from all earnings of the judgment-debtor for any pay period or periods ending during such 30-day period an amount or amounts as are allowed and required by law. Nothing in this act shall be construed as charging the plaintiff in any garnishment action with the knowledge of the amount of any defendant's earnings prior to the commencement of such garnishment action.

(c) Sickness preventing work. If any debtor is prevented from working at the debtor's regular trade, profession or calling for any period greater than two weeks because of illness of the debtor or any member of the family of the debtor, and this fact is shown by the affidavit of the debtor, the provisions of this section shall not be invoked against any such debtor until after the expiration of two months after recovery from such illness.

(d) Assignment of account. If any person, firm or corporation sells or assigns an account to any person or collecting agency, that person, firm or corporation or their assignees shall not have or be entitled to the benefits of wage garnishment. The provision of this subsection shall not apply to the following:

(1) Assignments of support rights to the secretary for children and families pursuant to K.S.A. 39-709 and 39-756, and amendments thereto, and support enforcement actions conducted by court trustees pursuant to K.S.A. 23-492 et seq., and amendments thereto;

(2) support rights which have been assigned to any other state pursuant to title IV-D of the federal social security act, 42 U.S.C. § 651 et seq.;

(3) assignments of accounts receivable or taxes receivable to the director of accounts and reports made under K.S.A. 75-3728b, and amendments thereto; or

(4) collections pursuant to contracts entered into in accordance with K.S.A. 20-169, and amendments thereto, involving the collection of restitution or debts to district courts.

(e) Exceptions to restrictions on wage garnishment. The restrictions on the amount of disposable earnings subject to wage garnishment as provided in subsection (b) shall not apply in the following instances:

(1) Any order of any court for the support of any person, including any order for support in the form of alimony, but the foregoing shall be subject to the restriction provided for in subsection (g);

(2) any order of any court of bankruptcy under chapter XIII of the federal bankruptcy act; and

(3) any debt due for any state or federal tax.

(f) Prohibition on courts. No court of this state may make, execute or enforce any order or process in violation of this section.

(g) The maximum part of the aggregate disposable earnings of an individual for any workweek which is subject to garnishment to enforce any order for the support of any person shall not exceed:

(1) If the individual is supporting a spouse or dependent child other than a spouse or child with respect to whose support such order is used, 50% of the individual's disposable earnings for that week;

(2) if the individual is not supporting a spouse or dependent child described in paragraph (1), 60% of such individual's disposable earnings for that week; and

(3) with respect to the disposable earnings of any individual for any workweek, the 50% specified in paragraph (1) shall be 55% and the 60% specified in paragraph (2) shall be 65%, if such earnings are subject to garnishment to enforce a support order for a period which is prior to the twelve-week period which ends with the beginning of such workweek.

History: L. 1963, ch. 303, 60-2310; L. 1967, ch. 324, § 2; L. 1968, ch. 404, § 1; L. 1970, ch. 238, § 1; L. 1972, ch. 222, § 4; L. 1976, ch. 210, § 7; L. 1977, ch. 206, § 1; L. 1978, ch. 227, § 5; L. 1979, ch. 183, § 5; L. 1982, ch. 250, § 1; L. 1983, ch. 289, § 1; L. 1985, ch. 115, § 51; L. 1988, ch. 212, § 3; L. 1988, ch. 213, § 3; L. 1994, ch. 273, § 5; L. 1996, ch. 195, § 3; L. 1997, ch. 182, § 103; L. 2014, ch. 115, § 234; L. 2022, ch. 31, § 4; July 1.

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• Court rejects parents’ attempt to opt kids out of LGBTQ-inclusive reading assignments

( The Hill ) — A federal appeals court rejected a bid from a group of Maryland parents to require Montgomery County Public Schools to allow them to opt their children out of lessons that involve LGBTQ-inclusive material.

A divided three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a  lower court decision  denying a preliminary injunction on the basis that the parents had not yet demonstrated how the country’s board of education book policy would infringe on their right to free expression of religion.

Three sets of parents – who are Muslim, Jewish and Christian – along with a parental rights organization, sued the Maryland school district after it said it would no longer allow parents to opt their children out of lessons that used a slate of newly approved LGBTQ-inclusive books.

The parents argued that the books “contradict their sincerely held religious beliefs about marriage, human sexuality, and gender” and that the lack of an opt-out policy violates their children’s First Amendment right to free exercise of religion.

U.S. Circuit Judge G. Steven Agee, writing for the majority in the opinion, said there was not enough evidence on the record to assess how the books were being used in the classroom and, therefore, to assess the likelihood of the case succeeding.

“We take no view on whether the Parents will be able to present evidence sufficient to support any of their various theories once they have the opportunity to develop a record as to the circumstances surrounding the Board’s decision and how the challenged texts are actually being used in schools,” Agee, appointed by former President George W. Bush, wrote.

“At this early stage, however, given the Parents’ broad claims, the very high burden required to obtain a preliminary injunction, and the scant record before us, we are constrained to affirm the district court’s order denying a preliminary injunction,” he continued, in the opinion, which was joined by U.S. Circuit Judge DeAndrea Benjamin, an appointee of President Biden’s.

U.S. Circuit Judge A. Marvin Quattlebaum, Jr., an appointee of former President Trump’s, dissented, arguing the board violated parents’ right to influence their children’s religious upbringing.

Eric Baxter – vice president and senior counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which is representing the parents – pledged to appeal the ruling on Wednesday, in an emailed statement to The Hill.

“The court just told thousands of Maryland parents they have no say in what their children are taught in public schools,” Baxter said in his statement. “That runs contrary to the First Amendment, Maryland law, the School Board’s own policies, and basic human decency.”

“Parents should have the right to receive notice and opt their children out of classroom material that violates their faith. We will appeal this ruling,” he added.

In August 2023, U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman found that the parents were unlikely to succeed on the merits and denied their request to keep the policy in place while the case proceeds. She found that they failed to show that the lack of an opt-out policy would result in the “indoctrination of their children” or “coerce their children to violate or change their religious beliefs.”

“The parents still may instruct their children on their religious beliefs regarding sexuality, marriage, and gender, and each family may place contrary views in its religious context,” Boardman wrote in the order last year.

“No government action prevents the parents from freely discussing the topics raised in the storybooks with their children or teaching their children as they wish,” she added.

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B.C. court rules on condo purchase dispute that ended long-term friendship

A Vancouver condo owner was right to keep more than $300,000 her former friend paid her toward the purchase of the property before backing out of an assignment sale agreement, the B.C. Supreme Court has ruled.

Wei-Jen Wang and Weiqin Li were "longtime friends," according to the decision issued May 10 and posted online earlier this week . Their relationship "ended acrimoniously" after an agreement for Li to take over Wang's purchase of an under-development condo unit fell apart. 

Li sued Wang, alleging that no such agreement existed and the $340,188 she paid towards the purchase should be returned. Li also accused Wang of fraudulent misrepresentation, but withdrew that claim at the start of the trial.

Wang countersued, arguing that Li had repudiated the contract and was not entitled to a refund. She also claimed more than $200,000 worth of damages had allegedly resulted from the breach of contract, and sought to have the court order Li to pay her that amount.

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Nitya Iyer found largely in Wang's favour, dismissing Li's allegations and allowing Wang to keep her former friend's deposits. Iyer also awarded special costs to Wang because of Li's baseless fraud accusation, but the judge declined to award the damages Wang was seeking, ruling that Wang had failed to take any action to mitigate those damages.

The property and the purchase agreement

The condo in question is a unit in a building at 458 W. 63rd Ave. in Vancouver's Cambie Corridor, according to the court decision. The development at that address is known as "Reside." Developer Marcon completed construction in late 2019. 

Wang's unit, according to BC Assessment, has three bedrooms and two bathrooms, with 1,258 square feet of living space. The assessed value for 2024 was just over $1.6 million.

The agreement for Li to take over the purchase came about in late 2017, while the building was still under construction. It took the form of an "assignment sale," a term that describes a buyer entering a contract to purchase a piece of real estate, then transferring (or "assigning") their rights under the contract to a different buyer before the transaction is completed.

The court decision explains that Wang and Li both have families in Shanghai and have resided there in the past. While Wang was in that city caring for her mother in 2017, Li paid them a visit, and Wang mentioned that she had just acquired the pre-sale unit in Vancouver.

While the decision uses the term "acquired," it makes clear that Wang was not actually the person who signed the pre-sale contract. Rather, Wang's nephew Haw Wang was the purchaser, and his mother Lily Hui Hua Hsiao paid the deposits stipulated under the contract.

"The pre-sale contract expressly gave Mr. Wang the right to assign the pre-sale unit to Ms. Wang upon completion at no additional cost," the decision reads. "Ms. Wang had asked Mr. Wang to make the purchase on her behalf and asked Ms. Hsiao to make the payments to the developer stipulated in the pre-sale contract because they were both in Vancouver and she was in China."

When Li expressed interest in buying the property during the Shanghai meeting, Wei-Jen Wang agreed to assign the contract to her without taking an assignment fee "because they were friends," according to the decision.

What followed was an arrangement in which Hsiao made payments to Marcon on behalf of Wang, and was repaid by Li – again, on behalf of Wang, who was the only person of the three who had a contracted interest in the property, through her nephew.

"Sometime between September 2018 and January 2019, Ms. Li decided not to proceed further with acquiring the pre-sale unit," the decision reads. "In November 2018, Ms. Hsiao informed Ms. Li that the third deposit would be due in December. There were some communications about this. Ultimately, Ms. Li did not pay the third deposit. Ms. Hsiao paid it on Ms. Wang’s behalf."

In January 2019, Li visited Wang's home in Shanghai and the two had a "heated argument," according to the decision.

Li demanded that Wang return the money she had already paid toward the purchase, and Wang refused.

"This event marked the end of the friendship," the decision reads. "Ms. Li and Ms. Wang did not communicate again for about a year."

Who repudiated the contract?

The primary arguments in Li's claim were that there was never a contract for her to take over the purchase of the condo or, if there was, Wang was the one who breached it.

A review of WeChat messages between the parties helped Iyer conclude that the parties did have a binding agreement, even if it was never formalized as a single written document.

"In the context of their longstanding friendship, Ms. Li’s unequivocal statement on March 2, 2018, that she wanted the property and was agreeable to any payment terms created a binding agreement," the decision reads.

"The essential terms were the identity of the parties, identification of the pre-sale unit as the property and the purchase price. Ms. Li’s reimbursement of Ms. Hsiao for the March and June deposits is subsequent conduct that supports the conclusion that the parties objectively intended to enter into a binding contract."

Having reached this conclusion, the judge determined that Li had "repudiated" the contract.

In legal terms, "repudiating" a contract means breaching it in a way that "substantially defeats its objective," according to the decision.

Li argued that Wang had repudiated the contract by failing to assign it to her in a timely manner, but Iyer found there was insufficient evidence indicating that the timing of the assignment was a key term of the agreement.

"Even if assignment before the due date of the third deposit was a term of the assignment agreement, it was not a term sufficiently material that its breach could constitute repudiation," the decision reads.

Instead, Iyer found that Li had repudiated the agreement by refusing to make any further payments and demanding her money back. Wang's refusal to give her the money back constituted an "acceptance" of the repudiation.

"Where a purchaser makes partial payments towards the purchase of property, including through an assignment agreement, but then repudiates the contract, the vendor is entitled to keep those payment upon acceptance of the repudiation," the decision reads.

Thus, Iyer ruled, Wang was entitled to keep the $340,188 in payments Li made toward the purchase.

The judge dismissed Wang's claims for $233,749 in damages allegedly caused by Li backing out of the assignment agreement, concluding that she had not made any efforts to offset those costs – such as by renting out the unit.

"Ms. Wang has not established that the costs she claims in relation to mortgage interest, strata fees, property taxes, home insurance premiums and loss of interest on investment income were not recoverable by her from the rental income she could have received," the decision reads. 

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