Supreme Court

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DC Still Defying Court on Guns
 DC Still Defying Court on Guns 
OPINION

DC Still Defying Court on Guns

City rewords provisions to bog down ownership, though challenges look certain

(Newser) - The District of Columbia is defying the Supreme Court with efforts to preserve the handgun ban deemed unconstitutional last month, Jacob Sullum writes in Reason. A new law changes the wording of the controversial “disassemble and trigger-lock” provision, meaning owners won’t be allowed to keep guns loaded and...

Illegal Search Rule Faces New Challenge

US is the only country to automatically reject unlawful evidence

(Newser) - America is the only country in the world where evidence—even a carload of narcotics—is automatically suppressed if the police are found to have acted wrongly in acquiring it, writes the New York Times. Courts in other countries weigh the level of police misconduct with the gravity of the...

Trial of Bin Laden's Driver Can Begin, Judge Rules

Tosses effort to stall; trial will begin Monday

(Newser) - The first war crimes trial at Guantanamo Bay can begin Monday, a federal judge ruled today, saying civilian courts should let the military process play out as Congress intended. A US District judge rejected an effort by Osama bin Laden's former driver, Salim Hamdan, to postpone his trial.

Supreme Court: It's a Dialog, Not an Isolated Oracle

Reporter looks back at 30 years and 2,691 decisions

(Newser) - Rather than boldly paving new roads, the Supreme Court functions largely as a bellwether of public opinion, cementing change “rather than propelling it,” writes Linda Greenhouse, looking back on some 30 years of reporting on the court for the New York Times. The justices don’t constitute a...

Teenagers Have Rights, Too
Teenagers Have Rights, Too
Opinion

Teenagers Have Rights, Too

Schools shouldn't use high court ruling to silence 'disruptive' students

(Newser) - "Teenagers have constitutional rights." That shouldn’t be controversial, but several schools are in court arguing that the First Amendment doesn't apply to students, writes Frank LoMonte in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Morse v. Frederick set a precedent last year, when Supreme Court judges ruled that students could be...

Bush, EPA Won't Touch Emissions
 Bush, EPA 
 Won't Touch 
 Emissions 
UPDATED

Bush, EPA Won't Touch Emissions

Decision flouts Supreme Court, top government officials

(Newser) - Regulation of greenhouse gas emissions will have to wait until President Bush is out of office, the EPA announced today. Instead, the agency will say it needs months of further public comment to make any decision. The statement is the end result of a protracted White House effort to tone...

Judge Demands Speedy Trial for Gitmo Prisoners

After 7 years, it's 'time to move cases forward'

(Newser) - A federal judge coordinating 200 Guantanamo Bay cases has ordered the Justice Department to set aside all other work to give the detainees their day in court as soon as possible. "The time has come to move these forward," he ruled. A Justice Department attorney asked for eight...

Employers Use Law to Withhold Benefits

Think you're covered? Not if your company decides you're not

(Newser) - Thomas Amschwand was dying, but made sure his wife would collect on his $426,000 life insurance policy. Yet when he died, his boss withheld the money, and his wife was powerless—because a federal law stops workers from suing employers for large sums of health, life, or retirement benefits....

Bush Could Decide by Weekend to Close Gitmo

Supreme Court's decision has forced administration's hand

(Newser) - President Bush could decide by Saturday to close Guantanamo Bay as a prison for high-value detainees, insiders tell ABC. There is “generally wide agreement” among Bush's top advisers—Condoleezza Rice and Robert Gates among them—that Gitmo should eventually be shuttered, but the landmark recent Supreme Court decision undermines...

Supreme Court Goofs Up Key Fact in Child Rape Decision

Court was wrong about federal death penalty

(Newser) - The Supreme Court misconstrued a key fact in reaching its recent decision banning the death penalty for child rape, reports the New York Times. Swing justice Anthony Kennedy mistakenly noted in his decision that child rapists did not face the death penalty in federal jurisdiction. But in fact the rape...

Mayors Call for Middle Ground on Guns
Mayors Call for Middle Ground on Guns
Opinion

Mayors Call for Middle Ground on Guns

Bloomberg, Boston counterpart lay out consensus changes

(Newser) - Extremist-driven debate over gun control “made for good political theater,” but it hasn’t accomplished much, mayors Michael Bloomberg of New York and Thomas Menino of Boston write in the Wall Street Journal. Now that the Supreme Court has clarified the issue, it’s time to implement some...

Chief Justice Ain't Got a Bob Dylan Quote

Roberts almost cites singer correctly in dissenting decision

(Newser) - A Supreme Court decision was livened up this week by a quote from 1960s thinker, Robert Dylan—known to his fans as Bob. Regarding a stand-off between phone companies, Chief Justice John Roberts quoted, "When you got nothing, you got nothing to lose," from Bob Dylan's 1965 hit...

McCain Would Tilt Split Court Right

Court now divided along political spectrum

(Newser) - America’s choice for president will likely ripple all the way to the halls of the sharply divided Supreme Court, the Washington Post reports. Since the next justice to retire is likely to be left-leaning, a Barack Obama victory would maintain the status quo of four conservatives, four liberals, and...

Supreme Court's Gay Rights Revolution

5 years later profound change still rippling though society

(Newser) - It’s been five years since the Supreme Court heard Lawrence v. Texas and handed down a landmark decision in effect decriminalizing homosexual activity and paving the way for gay marriage legislation in Massachusetts and California. The decision has been cited in numerous cases around the country challenging morals legislation,...

NRA Sues San Francisco, Chicago Over Gun Laws

Suit quickly follows Supreme Court 2nd Amendment ruling

(Newser) - Close on the heels of the Supreme Court ruling that Americans have the right to own guns for self-defense, the National Rifle Association filed suits yesterday against San Francisco and Chicago over gun-control laws in those cities. In San Francisco, the NRA hopes to overturn a law keeping guns out...

Order in Court Will Be Task for Next President
Order in Court Will Be Task for Next President
ANALYSIS

Order in Court Will Be Task for Next President

With liberal bloc aging, McCain could boost conservative leaning

(Newser) - Recent Supreme Court decisions that broke 5-4 underlined the impact the next president could have on top US judicial body, the Boston Globe notes. The liberal bloc—including John Paul Stevens (age 88) and Ruth Bader Ginsburg (75)—is more likely to lose members during the next administration, so a...

Gun Ruling Will Trigger Barrage of Lawsuits
Gun Ruling Will Trigger Barrage of Lawsuits
analysis

Gun Ruling Will Trigger Barrage of Lawsuits

Most state and city laws appear safe, others will challenge

(Newser) - Today's Supreme Court ruling upholding an individual's right to bear arms is unlikely to lead to sweeping changes across the nation, the New York Times reports. Gun laws in most cites and states—putting restrictions on felons and the mentally ill, for example, or banning guns in certain settings—appear...

Candidates Duel Over Gun Ruling
Candidates Duel Over Gun Ruling
ANALYSIS

Candidates Duel Over Gun Ruling

Obama steps back from support of ban; McCain smells red meat, slams rival

(Newser) - Barack Obama and John McCain were firing away even before the Supreme Court's Second Amendment salvo today, Talking Points Memo notes. The Democrat backed away from a year-old comment (by an aide) that he thought Washington’s handgun ban was constitutional; the Republican smacked his opponent for flip-flopping—even using...

Justices Nix 'Millionaire's Amendment' for Campaigns

Opponents of wealthy candidates will no longer see donor ceilings raised

(Newser) - The Supreme Court today voided the “millionaire’s amendment,” ruling by 5-4 that the law—which raised donation limits for candidates who face wealthy, self-financed opponents—violates the First Amendment, the AP reports. The majority said it would have been a different story if all candidates saw their...

Gun Ruling a Sea Change for 2nd Amendment
 Gun Ruling a Sea Change
 for 2nd Amendment  
ANALYSIS

Gun Ruling a Sea Change for 2nd Amendment

Supreme Court's 5-4 decision "takes certain policy choices off the table"

(Newser) - The Supreme Court’s decision today striking down Washington's handgun ban represented a change in interpreting the Second Amendment. The court’s 5-4 vote split down partisan lines, the Post reports, with Justices Scalia, Roberts, Kennedy, Thomas, and Alito in opposition to Stevens, Souter, Ginsburg, and Breyer. "The enshrinement...

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