Supreme Court

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Jindal Signs Castration Bill for Sex Offenders

Says he's proud of 'strong measures'

(Newser) - Louisiana governor and GOP VP wannabe Bobby Jindal signed a bill yesterday that will allow sex offenders to be punished with chemical castration. Said Jindal, “I am glad we have taken such strong measures...to put a stop to these monsters’ brutal acts,” said Jindal, taking the opportunity...

Gun Ruling Sends Chicago Mayor Into Rage

'Very frightening,' Daley says; vows to fight for city's strict law

(Newser) - Today’s Supreme Court ruling striking down a handgun ban in Washington, DC, is “a very frightening decision,” says Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, vowing to fight for Chicago’s own strict gun law, which will likely now be challenged. Mayors across the country must protect their cities, Daley...

Court Strikes Down DC Handgun Ban

Justices vote 5-4 in landmark gun rights case

(Newser) - The Supreme Court says Americans have a right to own guns for self-defense and hunting, the justices' first major pronouncement on gun rights in US history. The court's 5-4 ruling strikes down the District of Columbia's 32-year-old ban on handguns as incompatible with the Second Amendment, the AP reports. But...

Obama Backs Death Penalty for Child Rapists

Dem disagrees with Supreme Court ruling against Louisiana law

(Newser) - Barack Obama joined rival John McCain yesterday in supporting the death penalty for child rapists, the AP reports. The Democratic candidate spoke after the Supreme Court ruled against a Louisiana law allowing capital punishment for child rape, saying it violates the constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment. The verdict...

Exxon Ruling Enrages Alaskan Fishermen

Shrunken payout will mean more years of tough work for many

(Newser) - Today's Supreme Court decision to drastically shrink the punitive damages that Exxon must pay Alaskan fishermen over the Valdez spill has left plaintiffs enraged, cynical, and forced to rethink retirement in some cases, the Anchorage Daily News reports. "This is a total slap in the face," said one...

Justices Strike Death Penalty for Child Rape

Top court also trims $2.5B Exxon Valdez damages to $500M

(Newser) - The Supreme Court found today that the “death penalty is not a proportional punishment for the rape of a child,” striking down a Louisiana law as cruel and unusual punishment. While the court split 5-4 on the hot-button issue—swing justice Anthony Kennedy penned the opinion—there has...

White House Ignored EPA Pollutants Email

Bush & Co. refused to open report mandated by Supreme Court

(Newser) - The White House didn’t like the findings in a Supreme Court-mandated report on pollutants from the EPA—so it simply refused to open the email, the New York Times reports. Instead, the administration has successfully pressured the agency into releasing a watered-down, recommendation-free report. Among the omitted sections: analysis...

Gitmo Prisoner Must Be Tried or Freed, Court Rules

Administration's 'enemy combatant' designation invalidated

(Newser) - In a rebuke of the Pentagon's Guantanamo policy, a federal appeals court has ruled that a prisoner was improperly designated an "enemy combatant," the New York Times reports. The ruling—issued Friday and announced today but not released in full because parts of it are classified—ordered that...

Supreme Court Will Hear Navy Sonar Appeal

Justices also reject environmentalists' challenge to US-Mexico border fence

(Newser) - The Supreme Court today agreed to hear the US Navy's objection to a court order that ships may not use sonar within 12 miles of the California coast because high-frequency signals are harming whales and other marine life, the Los Angeles Times reports. The Bush administration argues that the judge...

'Genius' Carlin Broke Boundaries
 'Genius' Carlin 
 Broke Boundaries 
appreciation

'Genius' Carlin Broke Boundaries

Irreverent sense of humor led to legal troubles

(Newser) - George Carlin was an anti-establishment legend who constantly pushed the boundaries of free speech and comedy, writes Keith St. Clair for the AP. No doubt, his “Seven Words You Should Never Say on Television”—he was arrested for uttering them in 1972, and they eventually led to a...

Advisers to Bush: You Asked for It
Advisers to Bush: You Asked for It

Advisers to Bush: You Asked for It

Lawyers warned him that detainee policy would backfire

(Newser) - President Bush ignored warnings that his detainee policy would spark a Supreme Court backlash, the Washington Post reports. Top lawyers both in and outside Washington said that jailing suspects without Congressional approval would push the court to rule on national security—but the White House either ignored the advice or...

Make Lawsuits, Not War, Over OPEC Oil

President, states have standing in attempt to cap gushing prices

(Newser) - There’s no question OPEC’s price-fixing is illegal under American law, a former Reagan and Bush I adviser writes in the New York Times—so why not sue the oil cartel? US states are permitted to seek relief against aliens, and a joint suit by several attorneys general would...

Supreme Court Sides With Workers on Age Discrimination

Ruling shifts burden of proof to employers

(Newser) - The Supreme Court ruled today that it is up to employers in age-discrimination lawsuits to prove that their actions resulted from “reasonable factors other than age,” the New York Times reports. With the opinion making it easier for employees to sue, the court explained to opponents that Congress’...

Court's Gitmo Ruling a Judicial 'Power Grab'
Court's Gitmo Ruling
a Judicial 'Power Grab'
OPINION

Court's Gitmo Ruling a Judicial 'Power Grab'

Former Justice Department official says justices overstepped boundaries

(Newser) - The Supreme Court's decision on Guantanamo Bay detainees got such praise from newspaper editorials that one might think a “dictator” had been stopped “from trampling civil liberties,” writes former Justice Department official John Yoo in the Wall Street Journal. In fact, the ruling is an unprecedented judicial...

Note to McCain: Gitmo Ruling Hardly 'Worst'
Note to McCain: Gitmo Ruling Hardly 'Worst'
OPINION

Note to McCain: Gitmo Ruling Hardly 'Worst'

Shame on candidate for playing politics on habeas corpus

(Newser) - John McCain's painting of last week's Guantanamo Bay ruling as one of the Supreme Court’s “worst decisions" has George Will scoffing in the Washington Post. Various segregation rulings could hold that title, he notes, but more important to McCain should be the justices' affirmation of habeas corpus, "...

Justices Will Decide If Immigrant Can Sue Ashcroft

Pakistani man alleges abuse in post-9/11 roundup; top fed brass claims immunity

(Newser) - The Supreme Court today agreed to hear an appeal from John Ashcroft, with the former attorney general insisting top government officials cannot be sued by immigrants who allege they were beaten and abused after 9/11. Lower courts have refused to dismiss a suit from a man who was held for...

Bush Forced Ruling on Detainees
Bush Forced Ruling on Detainees
ANALYSIS

Bush Forced Ruling on Detainees

High court had to act after Bush flouted justice and liberty

(Newser) - President Bush forced the Supreme Court’s hand by overplaying his own over Guantanamo detainees, Stuart Taylor, Jr. writes in Newsweek. Courts usually defer to Washington on national security, but Bush so flouted ordinary "ideas of justice and liberty" that he "put the Supreme Court in an impossible...

High Court's Gitmo Ruling Raises Election Issue
High Court's Gitmo Ruling Raises Election Issue
ANALYSIS

High Court's Gitmo Ruling Raises Election Issue

Landmark ruling could be lightning rod for focus on the court's direction

(Newser) - The Supreme Court's ruling on Guantanamo detainees may put the court in the election spotlight for the first time in decades, Linda Greenhouse writes in the New York Times. The dramatic language of Antonin Scalia's dissent could be a signpost for conservatives worried about the court's course; because of the...

McCain Decries Supreme Court Gitmo Decision

Candidate says he foresees clogged justice system

(Newser) - John McCain waited a day to react to the Supreme Court's decision on Guantanamo prisoners and came out swinging, calling yesterday’s ruling “one of the worst decisions in the history of the country.” His strong language makes it clear that this will be an election issue, Time...

Gitmo Will Be Transformed, Not Closed
Gitmo Will Be Transformed, Not Closed
ANALYSIS

Gitmo Will Be Transformed, Not Closed

Court ruling strips base of its legal rationale for US

(Newser) - The Supreme Court's ruling yesterday against the Bush administration will not shut down the Guantanamo Bay detention center. But by concluding that detainees can appeal their detention in US civilian courts, the high court stripped away its reason for being, erasing the government's claim that an offshore prison was beyond...

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