Free Republic

Afederal judge on Friday agreed to recuse himself from overseeing the exonerated Central Park Five’s defamation lawsuit against President-elect Trump. Shanin Specter, the Central Park Five’s lead attorney, disclosed earlier this week he has been friends with the judge since childhood and represented him and his wife in legal matters. “Defendant respectfully submits that a reasonable person would question the Court’s impartiality in this matter, and therefore seeks recusal,” Trump’s attorneys wrote in a motion requesting that U.S. District Judge Michael Baylson remove himself from the trial. Baylson, an appointee of former President George W. Bush, quickly agreed to the...

Yusef Salaam, a member of the exonerated “Central Park Five,” has officially won the Democratic primary for a seat on the New York city council, almost ensuring his eventual election to the seat. Salaam had a significant lead over his opponents, New York Assembly members Inez Dickens and Al Taylor, for the nomination to represent Council District 9 in Central Harlem, but he needed additional votes released Wednesday to clinch victory. Initial unofficial results put Salaam as the clear leader with 50.14 percent of the vote, while Dickens and Taylor had about 25 and 14 percent, respectively. Incumbent Kristin Jordan,...