Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Govt. Must Reveal Some Eavesdropping Info
According to The Houston Chronicle, “Justice Department employees involved in a lawsuit filed on behalf of Sept. 11 detainees must disclose whether they know of any government monitoring of conversations between the detainees and their attorneys, a judge ruled Tuesday.”
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
European Court Bars Passing Passenger Data to U.S.
“The European Union's highest court ruled today that an agreement providing for the transfer of extensive personal data on air passengers to the authorities in the United States was illegal.” According to The New York Times, “The decision forces the two sides back to the negotiating table at a time when privacy safeguards are increasingly being debated.”
Justices, 5-4, Limit Whistleblower Suits
The New York Times reports, “The Supreme Court on Tuesday made it harder for government employees to file lawsuits claiming they were retaliated against for going public with allegations of official misconduct.” By a 5-4 vote, in which Justice Alito provided the swing vote, justices said the nation's 20 million public employees do not have carte blanche free speech rights to disclose government's inner-workings.
Friday, May 26, 2006
Feds Send Back Ga. Evolution Sticker Case
“A federal appeals court on Thursday sent back a lower court's order for a suburban Atlanta school district to remove textbook stickers calling evolution ‘a theory, not a fact,’ citing a lack of evidence in the case.” The Associated Press reports, “The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the federal district court must determine whether the government's actions are ‘religiously neutral.’”
9th Circuit Upholds Honolulu Aerial-Advertising Ban
“A federal appeals court yesterday upheld Honolulu's ban on aerial advertising, rejecting an anti-abortion group's argument that its free-speech rights were violated when it was prohibited from flying banners picturing aborted fetuses over crowded Waikiki beaches.” The First Amendment Center reports, “The unanimous ruling by a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the city's ordinance did not violate the First Amendment and was a ‘reasonable and viewpoint neutral restriction on speech in a nonpublic forum.’”
Endless Ban on Speech Sought for Terror Investigations Likely Unconstitutional
“A federal appeals judge warned the U.S. government Tuesday that the permanent ban on speech it seeks to assist terrorism investigations is likely unconstitutional,” reports FindLaw. “Judge Richard Cardamone, of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, commented as the court acted on lawsuits challenging the government's ability to force companies to quietly turn over information about customers or subscribers as part of the war on terrorism.”
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Justices Deny Lethal Injection Challenge
The Associated Press reports, “The Supreme Court's refusal Monday to consider a second lethal injection case suggests the justices are not ready to decide whether the drugs amount to cruel and unusual punishment, legal experts said.” “The denial was issued without comment, leaving court watchers to speculate over justices' reasons for rejecting an appeal by a Tennessee death-row inmate who claims lethal injection is unconstitutional.”
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Supreme Court Rules Police Don't Need Warrants in Emergencies
“The Supreme Court reaffirmed Monday that police can enter homes in emergencies without knocking or announcing their presence,” reports Law.com. According to the report, “Justices said four Brigham City, Utah, police officers were justified in going inside a home in 2000 after peering through a window and seeing a fight between a teenager and adults.”
At High Court, No Rush to Resolve Conflicts Over Lethal Injection
According to The Christian Science Monitor, “The US Supreme Court has declined an invitation to examine one of the hottest issues in litigation over capital punishment: the constitutionality of lethal injection as a means to carry out death sentences.”
Monday, May 22, 2006
Chief Justice Says His Goal Is More Consensus on Court
The New York Times reports, “Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said Sunday that he was seeking greater consensus on the Supreme Court, adding that more consensus would be likely if controversial issues could be decided on the ‘narrowest possible grounds.’”
Judge Blocks Ky. Schools Graduation Prayer
“A federal judge on Friday blocked a southern Kentucky high school from including prayers in its graduation ceremony Friday evening,” reports The Associated Press. “The American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit this week seeking a restraining order on behalf of an unidentified student at Russell County High School in Russell Springs, 90 miles south of Louisville.”
Teaching Johnny About Islam
Investor’s Business Daily has this report discussing a recent opinion by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that the Constitution permits a California public school to teach seventh-graders lessons about Islam. According to the report, the lessons upheld by the federal appellate court, include reciting aloud Muslim prayers that begin with “In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful…” and memorizing Islamic professions of faith such as “Allah is the only true God and Muhammad is his messenger.”
Friday, May 19, 2006
U.S. Judge did not Call for Jews to Be Kept off Death Penalty Jury, Justices Say
“The California Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a convicted killer's claims that a prosecutor and trial judge conspired to tilt the jury toward a death verdict by removing Jews from the jury pool,” reports FindLaw.
Thursday, May 18, 2006
Court Rejects Polygamy Defense
The Salt Lake Tribune reports, “The Utah Supreme Court rejected a former Hildale police officer's bid to decriminalize polygamy Tuesday, in a historic split decision that wrestles with same-sex unions and the meaning of marriage.” According to the report, “Four of the court's five justices said Rodney Holm's relationship with a 16-year-old 'spiritual wife' fell 'squarely within the realm of behavior criminalized by our state's bigamy statute.'”
Same-Sex Marriage Amendment Is Struck Down by Georgia Judge
“A state amendment banning same-sex marriage was struck down Tuesday by a judge who upheld the voters' right to limit marriage to heterosexual couples but cited procedural flaws in the wording of the amendment, which was approved by more than three-quarters of voters,” reports The New York Times. “The decision is one of the first successful challenges to a ban on same-sex marriage, one of a spate of similar amendments passed in 11 states in November 2004, said Jack Senterfitt, a senior staff lawyer in the Southern regional office of Lambda Legal, a national gay rights group.”
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Suit Vs. Corporate Tax Breaks Unresolved
“A lawsuit challenging the corporate tax breaks widely used by state and local governments to attract businesses went unresolved yesterday, as the US Supreme Court ruled that the taxpayers who filed the suit did not have legal standing to do so,” reports The Boston Globe.
Justices Uphold State Rules in Decision on Dam Licenses
“The Supreme Court ruled Monday that operators of hydroelectric dams must meet a state's water quality requirements in order to qualify for a federal license.” The New York Times reports, “The unanimous decision was the court's first ruling in an environmental case under Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., and it came as a relief to environmental advocates.”
Supreme Court Declines to Block Lesbian from Seeking Parental Rights
“The U.S. Supreme Court said it would not block a lesbian from seeking parental rights to a child she helped raise with her longtime partner.” According to FindLaw, “The justices have never before dealt with the rights of gays in child custody disputes, although state courts are handling a growing number of legal fights.”
High Court Stays Out of Neb. School Case
“About 200 small school districts will have to shut down before June 15 after the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected a final appeal without comment,” reports The Associated Press. “Former Nebraska Attorney General Don Stenberg had argued that the law requiring the elementary-only school districts to merge with larger, K-12 districts was unconstitutional.”
Monday, May 15, 2006
Bosma Appeals Prayer Ruling
“A legal battle over the content of Statehouse prayer continues to escalate, as Speaker Brian C. Bosma has appealed a federal court ruling that restricts the content of prayers offered during Indiana House proceedings.” According to The Indy Star, “The Indianapolis Republican filed the 68-page challenge this week with the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago. In November, U.S. District Judge David Hamilton ruled opening prayers in the House could not mention Jesus or endorse a particular religion.”
Judge Halts Government Speech Strictures in AIDS Funding
“The U.S. government is violating the First Amendment rights of key partners in its international fight against AIDS with a policy forcing groups to denounce prostitution as a condition for receiving funding, a federal judge ruled yesterday.” According to The First Amendment Center, “U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero said the U.S. Supreme Court ‘has repeatedly found that speech, or an agreement not to speak, cannot be compelled or coerced as a condition of participation in a government program.’”
Supreme Court Divides 5-4 in Immigration Case
FindLaw has this article on the Supreme Court’s most recent ruling, reporting, “The Supreme Court split 5-4 Wednesday to let the Bush administration deport a British man for breaking the law in the state of Mississippi.”
4 Britons, Ex-Gitmo Detainees, May Sue
The Associated Press reports, “A judge is allowing four former detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to pursue a lawsuit alleging their U.S. captors violated their religious rights.” According to the report, “U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina rejected the Justice Department's argument that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act was meant to apply only to government action in the continental United States.”
Moussaoui Fails in Bid to Withdraw 9/11 Guilty Plea
“Facing transfer to the nation's toughest federal prison, Zacarias Moussaoui served up what may be his final legal surprise yesterday: The al-Qaeda conspirator said he was not involved in the Sept. 11, 2001, terror plot after all and wants a new trial to prove it.” But according to The Washington Post, “His efforts were immediately rejected by a federal judge.”
Ruling Blocks Calif. High School Exit Exam
A judge said Monday he is likely to prohibit California from requiring that high school seniors pass an exit exam to graduate, siding with attorneys who say the test discriminates against the poor. The Associated Press reports, “A group of high school students and their parents sued the state Department of Education in February, seeking a preliminary injunction to halt giving the exam to this year's senior class.”
Court Challenges Internet Wiretap Rules
“A U.S. appeals panel challenged the Bush administration Friday over new rules making it easier for police and the FBI to wiretap Internet phone calls.” According to Lexis, “One judge told the government its courtroom arguments were ‘gobbledygook’ and invited its lawyer to return to his office and ‘have a big chuckle.’”
Justice Ginsburg Concerned by Congressional Plan for Court Watchdog
“Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said Tuesday that a Republican proposal in Congress to set up a watchdog over the federal courts is a ‘really scary idea.’” Law.com reports, “Ginsburg told a gathering of the American Bar Association that lawyers should stick up for judges when they are criticized by congressional leaders.”
Thursday, May 11, 2006
Court Denies Felons Voting Rights Argument
“A landmark civil rights law cannot be used to argue that barring felons from voting discriminates against minorities because they are imprisoned at a higher rate, a federal court ruled Thursday.” The Associated Press reports, “The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which removed barriers to black voters, was not an avenue of relief for 21 plaintiffs, which include six current prisoners.”
Friday, May 05, 2006
Judge Threatens Fine to Enforce '91 Ruling
San Diego’s Union-Tribune reports, “A federal judge moved to end a 17-year legal saga yesterday by ordering the city of San Diego to remove the Mount Soledad cross from city property within 90 days or be fined $5,000 a day.”
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
County Worker has no Right to Preach at Work, 9th Circuit Rules
“A federal appeals court yesterday dismissed a First Amendment lawsuit by a Tehama County employee, a self-described evangelical Christian who said he had a right to practice and preach his beliefs in the workplace,” reports The First Amendment Center.
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
High Court to Decide if Woman can Sue Pastor
The Star-Telegram reports, “In a local case that could have broad implications for First Amendment rights, the Texas Supreme Court will review a lower court ruling allowing a woman to sue her minister after he divulged details from her marriage counseling sessions to his congregation.”
9th Circuit Says Players Protected by Constitution
“Eight members of the 2000-2001 Clatskanie High School basketball team were constitutionally entitled to criticize a coach whom they believed was being verbally abusive, a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals panel ruled in a decision issued Monday,” reports The Associated Press. According to the report, “The ruling from the San Francisco-based court overturns a verdict from U.S. District Court in Portland that found that team members who signed a petition calling for the firing of boys' varsity basketball coach Jeff Baughman were not protected under the First Amendment because ‘their speech did not involve a matter of public concern.’”
Former Playmate Wins Procedural Round in Fight Over Estate
“The Supreme Court on Monday gave the onetime Playboy Playmate Anna Nicole Smith a new day in federal court to try to prove that her late husband, 63 years her senior, intended to leave her a substantial share of his billion-dollar estate.” The New York Times reports, “In an opinion by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the court ruled unanimously that the dispute between Ms. Smith and her late husband's son E. Pierce Marshall was properly one for the federal courts.”
Justices: Defendants can Blame Others if Judge Examines Both Sides of Evidence
“U.S. states cannot restrict efforts by defendants in death-penalty cases to blame someone else during their trials without a judge examining the strength of both the defense and prosecution's evidence, Justice Samuel Alito said Monday in his first opinion.” According to FindLaw, “By a 9-0 vote, justices said a South Carolina defendant's constitutional rights were violated by a rule that barred him from introducing testimony blaming another man because the prosecution had introduced forensic evidence that appeared to support a guilty verdict.”
Monday, May 01, 2006
Feds Try to Dismiss Domestic Spying Suit
“The Justice Department said Friday it was moving to dismiss a federal lawsuit challenging the Bush administration's secretive domestic wiretapping program.” The Associated Press reports, “The government, in a filing here late Friday, said the lawsuit threatens to expose government and military secrets and therefore should be tossed.”
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