The Washington Post reports, "A federal judge in Oregon ruled yesterday that two provisions of the USA Patriot Act are unconstitutional, marking the second time in as many weeks that the anti-terrorism law has come under attack in the courts." "In a case brought by a Portland man who was wrongly detained as a terrorism suspect in 2004," the report explains, "U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken ruled that the Patriot Act violates the Constitution because it 'permits the executive branch of government to conduct surveillance and searches of American citizens without satisfying the probable cause requirements of the Fourth Amendment.'"

What is the purpose of the First Amendment? According to The New York Times, that was the question before a judge in Manhattan Criminal Court yesterday, as a street performer named Reverend Billy, a k a William Talen, faced charges of harassing police officers in Union Square Park by reciting the First Amendment to the Constitution.

"About a dozen war protesters were arrested Tuesday morning during a peaceful demonstration against President Bush's speech before the U.N. General Assembly," reports the Associated Press. According to the report, "They were among about 400 protesters opposing the Bush administration's war in Iraq and its incarceration in Guantanamo Bay of more than 300 men on suspicion of terrorism or links to al-Qaida or the Taliban."

"With the 2008 presidential and Congressional elections on the horizon," reports The New York Times, "the Supreme Court agreed today to consider whether voter-identification laws unfairly keep poor people and members of minority groups from going to the polls." According to the report, "The justices will hear arguments from an Indiana case, in which a federal district judge and a panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in January upheld a state law requiring, with certain exceptions, that someone wanting to vote in person in a primary or general election present a government-issued photo identification."

Reuters reports, "The Supreme Court said on Tuesday it would decide whether the commonly used lethal injection method of execution for death row inmates violated the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment." According to the report, "The nation's highest court said it would decide an appeal by two death row inmates from Kentucky arguing that the three-chemical cocktail used in lethal injections inflicted unnecessary pain and suffering."

The San Francisco Chronicle reports, "Foreigners who are arrested in the United States can't sue police for failing to tell them of their right to contact their consulate, despite a treaty requiring such notification, a federal appeals court ruled Monday." "In a 2-1 decision," according to the report, "the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said the 1963 Vienna Convention, which provides protection for people facing prosecution in a foreign country, governs relations between nations and does not authorize private lawsuits for violations."

According to the Los Angeles Times, "A decision Monday night by a military court of review will pave the way for the Pentagon to restart its terrorism tribunals for detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba." The report states, "The appeals panel, the U.S. Court of Military Commission Review, ruled that the commissions set up by Congress and the Defense Department did have jurisdiction to decide whether Omar Khadr was an unlawful enemy combatant."

The Washington Post reports, "The U.S. government is collecting electronic records on the travel habits of millions of Americans who fly, drive or take cruises abroad, retaining data on the persons with whom they travel or plan to stay, the personal items they carry during their journeys, and even the books that travelers have carried, according to documents obtained by a group of civil liberties advocates and statements by government officials." According to the report, "The personal travel records are meant to be stored for as long as 15 years, as part of the Department of Homeland Security's effort to assess the security threat posed by all travelers entering the country."