Free Republic

This is a longish clip from Reuters in which Newt talks about the Iowa race. About two minutes in Newt makes clear that he’s not very pleased with Romney. Asked specifically why his appeal is limited to 22-23% he replies that Romney is a a moderate pretending to be a conservative then adds “people aren’t that stupid.”

Anchorage, Alaska (AP) -- Alaska Native and environmental groups are challenging a federal air permit granted to Royal Dutch Shell PLC for offshore drilling in Arctic waters. Shell hopes to drill exploratory wells next summer off Alaska's northern coasts. The Environmental Protection Agency issued an air permit Friday for a Shell drill ship called the Kulluk.

Federal judge rejects DiMasi appeal for bailBy Milton J. Valencia, Globe Staff September 24, 2011 Disgraced former House speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi lost his bid yesterday to remain free pending an appeal of his conviction on political corruption charges and must report to a federal prison Nov. 16. In rejecting DiMasi’s request for bail, US District Court Chief Judge Mark L. Wolf said he found no likelihood that the former lawmaker will be successful in his appeal to have his conviction overturned or his sentence reduced. **SNIP** Once one of the most powerful politicians in the state and the first...

The second day of closing arguments in the appeals trial of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito concluded with drama: Prosecutors asked that the pair, currently sentenced to 26 and 25 years, respectively, receive life sentences for the murder and sexual assault of British foreign exchange student Meredith Kercher. They also asked the court to impose an additional sanction of six months in isolation for Amanda and two months for Raffaele. Earlier on Saturday, prosecutors reviewed the case against Amanda and Raffaele, focusing on a supposed bloody footprint they claim Sollectio made. The evidence is in doubt, however, because the footprint...

Casey Anthony, acquitted of charges that she murdered her daughter Caylee, filed an appeal today of her conviction that she lied to law enforcement officers. The appeal came days before Anthony, 25, is scheduled to leave jail. She was sentenced to four years on four counts of lying to investigators about Caylee's death. Since she has already served three years and is credited for good behavior, she will be released from the Orange County jail on Sunday. The jury that acquitted her of murder agreed that she broke the law when she told police she worked at Universal Studios, that...

For the third time in five weeks, the Obama administration's legal point man for defending the president’s health care overhaul will walk into a federal appellate courtroom Wednesday to defend the controversial measure as an appropriate and proper exercise of the government's power. Acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal has steadfastly argued the law, passed in March 2010, is a necessary and reasonable response to halt the increasing costs of medical care despite claims by 26 state governments and the largest small-business group in the nation that the law's requirements are unconstitutional. Katyal is expected to tell three judges of the...

(Reuters) - A court will hear oral arguments on June 8 in a government appeal of a federal judge's ruling that struck down President Barack Obama's landmark healthcare overhaul law as unconstitutional. The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta said it would hear the appeal before a randomly selected three-judge panel. The fight over the law, Obama's signature domestic accomplishment, is expected to reach the Supreme Court.

The Obama administration on Tuesday appealed a U.S. judge's ruling in Florida that struck down the landmark healthcare overhaul law as unconstitutional because it required Americans to buy healthcare insurance or face a penalty.

Roger Vinson, the U.S. federal judge who ruled Obamacare unconstitutional in its entirety, has ruled again on the health-care law. On Thursday, Judge Vinson issued a stay on his earlier ruling that the law could not be enforced. In doing so, he sent a clear message to the Obama administration: Appeal my decision to a higher court or stop implementing the law. When Judge Vinson ruled on Jan. 31 that the health-care law was unconstitutional, the administration followed up by filing a motion for clarification rather than filing an official appeal. Vinson’s ruling criticized the administration for that action. “During...

U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson has issued a stay of his own ruling declaring the health care reform law unconstitutional, giving the Obama administration seven days to file an appeal. The stay means implementation of the law can proceed pending the administration’s appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. In his ruling, Vinson repeated what he has said previously — that “the citizens of this country have an interest in having this case resolved as soon as practically possible.” “That was nearly eleven months ago,” he wrote. “In the time since, the battle lines have been...

Following the ruling today out of the Northern District Court in Florida on the Affordable Care Act, Tracy Schmaler, Deputy Director of the Office of Public Affairs released the following statement: Home » Briefing Room » The Justice Blog Printer Friendly Icon Printer Friendly The Justice Blog On the Northern District Court in Florida’s Affordable Care Act Ruling January 31st, 2011 Posted by Tracy Russo Following the ruling today out of the Northern District Court in Florida on the Affordable Care Act, Tracy Schmaler, Deputy Director of the Office of Public Affairs released the following statement: “The department intends to...

Experts say judge's injunction on using federal funds effectively halts work in labs across the country WEDNESDAY, Aug. 25 (HealthDay News) -- U.S. scientists reacted with dismay to Monday's decision by a U.S. judge to halt any expansion of stem cell research using federal funds. The temporary injunction, which basically blindsided the scientific community, effectively takes embryonic stem cell research back to the pre-2001 days. That was when then-President George W. Bush ordered that federal monies could only be used to fund research involving embryonic stem cell lines created before 2001. Late Tuesday, however, the Obama administration, which had issued...

Washington — The Obama administration will appeal a court ruling that undercut its efforts to expand stem cell research, the Justice Department said Tuesday. The appeal is expected this week, said spokesman Matthew Miller. (Snip) National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins said dozens of studies of promising stem cell therapies — about $54 million worth — would have to stop because of the court ruling that temporarily forbids any additional money from being granted.

SAN FRANCISCO – A federal appeals court put same-sex weddings in California on hold indefinitely Monday while it considers the constitutionality of the state's gay marriage ban. The decision, issued by a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, trumps a lower court judge's order that would have allowed county clerks to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples on Wednesday. Lawyers for the two gay couples that challenged the ban said Monday they would not appeal the panel's decision on the stay to the Supreme Court.

Cardinal Francis George and Archbishop Joseph Kurtz. Washington D.C., Aug 4, 2010 / 06:27 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- After U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker struck down California's Proposition 8 on Wednesday afternoon, Cardinal Francis George, president of the U.S. bishops' conference, and Archbishop Joseph Kurtz, the chairman of the bishops' Committee for the Defense of Marriage, described the ruling as a "misuse of law."Cardinal George stated, “Marriage between a man and a woman is the bedrock of any society. The misuse of law to change the nature of marriage undermines the common good.” “It is tragic that a federal judge...

The University of California at Irvine has suspended the Muslim Student Union for organizing a protest that stopped Michael Oren, Israeli Ambassador to the United States, from speaking in February. The Muslim group said it would appeal to the chancellor the decision by university officials, arguing that the punishment would adversely affect hundreds of Muslims who meet and pray together. The Muslim Student Union was found guilty by a student affairs disciplinary committee for disorderly conduct, supplying false information and obstructing university activities.

LAS VEGAS (AP) - O.J. Simpson's lawyer told a panel of Nevada Supreme Court justices Friday that the former football star's conviction in a gunpoint hotel room heist amounted to prejudicial "payback" for Simpson's 1994 double-murder acquittal. "This was not a search for truth but became a search for redemption," attorney Yale Galanter said as he pleaded for the court panel to overturn Simpson's conviction and grant a new trial in the September 2007 confrontation with two sports memorabilia dealers in Las Vegas. Questions from Justices Mark Gibbons, Michael Cherry and Nancy Saitta focused on the racial makeup of the...

Prosecutor to appeal firing after speaking at tea party ralliesBILL COTTERELL / Tallahassee Democrat May 31, 2010 02:58:00 PM LIVE OAK — Even the state attorney who fired her calls KrisAnne Hall a first-rate prosecutor, but espousing her "originalist" views of the U.S. Constitution at tea party rallies has sparked a federal court showdown. The issue: free speech vs. state employment. "She can go and speak anywhere she wants to, and do anything within the law, but she can't do it while carrying my badge, not when people identify her with this office," said State Attorney Robert "Skip" Jarvis. Hall,...

ID theft retrial in Palin hacking hinges on appealBy Bill Poovey Fri May 7, 5:57 pm ET CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Prosecutors say a Tennessee man convicted of two federal charges in the hacking of Sarah Palin's e-mail account would be retried on an identity theft charge that left a jury deadlocked only if a defense request for a retrial is granted. David Kernell, 22, was found guilty April 30 in federal court in Knoxville of obstruction of justice and unauthorized access to a computer, but acquitted of a wire fraud charge for hacking Palin's account as she campaigned on the...

Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel turned to attorney Mickey Sherman more than a decade ago to defend him against a murder that had haunted his wealthy family for a quarter-century. Now Skakel, the nephew of Ethel Kennedy, is turning against Sherman, saying the media-savvy attorney blew the trial. Skakel was convicted in 2002 of fatally beating neighbor Martha Moxley with a golf club in wealthy Greenwich in 1975 when they were 15-year-olds. His lawyer says Skakel will file an appeal in coming weeks, challenging Sherman's effectiveness. Skakel's supporters say Sherman was distracted by the limelight and financial troubles, even though...

On January 22, Vice President Joe Biden told the president of Iraq that the United States would appeal the dismissal of the case against the Blackwater guards. The VP also apologized personally for their misconduct. The case had political overtones from the beginning, and now it's getting worse.

Washington state will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court in an attempt to overturn a surprising federal court ruling that tossed out the state's 120-year-old prohibition against voting by incarcerated felons, Attorney General Rob McKenna said today. The ruling, handed down Tuesday by a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S> Circuit Court of Appeals in Seattle, found that Washington's criminal-justice system was so "infected" with racial discrimination that a ban on felon voting violated civil-rights protections. The state hoped to have the case heard during the U.S. Supreme Court's fall session, McKenna told reporters at a hastily-arranged news conference at...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A lawyer for former media baron Conrad Black urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday to overturn his fraud conviction, and several justices asked whether the federal law at issue was too vague. The Canadian-born Black, a member of Britain's House of Lords, has been in prison since March 2008, when he began serving a 6 1/2-year sentence for fraud and obstruction of justice. Attorney Miguel Estrada, representing Black and two ex-colleagues who were found guilty of defrauding shareholders of one-time newspaper publishing giant Hollinger International Inc, argued before the Supreme Court that all convictions in the...

Meeting the demand for family planning in poor nations is a cheap and effective way to cut CO2 emissions, a new website initiative claims. The UK-based Optimum Population Trust says fast-rising population levels lead to growing emissions. The website is urging wealthy people to offset their own CO2 emissions by funding contraception programmes

We have our priorities seriously skewed when we can spend a half million dollars to warehouse a convicted murderer for 23 years, yet we have to tell senior citizens who may well have never broken a law in their lives they are being sentenced to a hasty “death by healthcare denial.”

A case alleging Congress failed in its constitutional duties by refusing to investigate the eligibility of Barack Obama to be president has been sent on appeal to the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. --- Attorney Mario Apuzzo filed the action in January on behalf of Kerchner, Lowell T. Patterson, Darrell James Lenormand and Donald H. Nelson Jr. Named as defendants were Barack Hussein Obama II, the U.S., Congress, the Senate, House of Representatives and former Vice President Dick Cheney along with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. -------------------

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court said Tuesday it will take up former Enron CEO Jeff Skilling's appeal of his convictions for his role in the collapse of the energy giant, accepting another high-profile challenge to a favorite tool of prosecutors in white-collar and public corruption cases. Skilling's appeal stems from his convictions in 2006 on 19 counts of conspiracy, securities fraud, insider trading and lying to auditors involving the 2001 collapse of Enron. The justices already are entertaining similar claims from former newspaper magnate Conrad Black and a former Alaska lawmaker ensnared in a public corruption scandal. At issue in...

The decision tips the scale toward defendants’ rights; represents victory for privately owned gun shop in the Bronx NEW YORK, Aug. 14, 2009 — The United States Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of a Bronx gun shop owner who claimed her constitutional rights were violated in a search and seizure of her store following a post-9/11 security crackdown by the New York City Police Department. Angela Spinelli, the owner of Olinville Arms, Inc., appealed the case to the Second Circuit after a federal district court granted the City of New York and the NYPD officers’ motion for...

It has come to my attention that there have been allegations that conservatives hate the idea of legal aid and indignant defense. Allegations that the republican party wants to prevent the poor who can't afford a lawyer from getting one when they are accused of a crime or suffer civil injustice or whatever. Thoughts of a poor single black mother wrongfully accused in a court with rich plaintiffs with 7 digit salary attorneys all alone against a complicated legal system also come to mind. Relax. It isn't true. In fact it has been found in some cases to be the...

A US Supreme Court justice granted Monday a request to put on hold the sale of bankrupt automaker Chrysler to a group led by Italian carmaker Fiat. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, in a one-sentence order, said the orders of the bankruptcy judge allowing the sale "are stayed pending further order of the undersigned or of the court." AP Ginsburg acted as a 4 p.m. deadline from a U.S. appeals court in New York was due to expire. The appeals court order would have allowed Chrysler to proceed with its sale to Fiat, a union-aligned trust and the U.S....

On Wednesday, June 3, the National Rifle Association filed a petition for certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of NRA v. Chicago. The NRA strongly disagrees with yesterday's decision issued by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, holding that the Second Amendment does not apply to state and local governments

Robert Ord says he stays away from the District of Columbia because he fears he will be arrested on a gun charge. The private security officer unsuccessfully sought a declaration in federal court that he is immune from prosecution on D.C. gun laws. His suit was tossed for a lack of standing. Ord is challenging the dismissal in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, where the Second Amendment Foundation and the ACLU National Capital Area are participating as amicus curiae in support of Ord, saying his case against the city should move forward. At issue on appeal...

While a recent study concluded that men prefer dating beautiful bimbos, new research has confirmed what many males and advertisers long believed: driving a flashy car really does make a person more attractive to women. Psychologists at the University of Wales presented women with separate images of the same man sitting in a silver Bentley Continental, then a red Ford Fiesta. The study involved 120 participants, reports The Scotsman. After seeing the male, the volunteers viewed him as 'more attractive' in the prestige car. However, when men were shown images of a woman of comparable attractiveness sitting in the same...

HARARE, Zimbabwe – President Robert Mugabe and a longtime opposition leader-turned-finance minister made an unusual joint appeal Thursday for $5 billion (euro3.66 billion) in international aid to revive Zimbabwe's shattered economy. The two men presented an economic recovery program that scraps the stringent price controls which have fueled a black market and spiraling inflation. It also sets up "safety nets and social protection for vulnerable groups exposed to market forces," Finance Minister Tendai Biti said, without offering details. The longtime opponents disagreed, however, over the causes of the country's economic meltdown. Biti said Zimbabwe had to do its part by...

LONDON: The golden rule of advertising - thin models lure more people towards the product - is actually a misconception, claims a new research. The study revealed that skinny models are a ‘turn off’ to consumers in TV commercials and other advertising. According to scientists, images of super-thin models carry no edge in encouraging young women to buy and for the majority of adult women ads showing skinny girls actually discouraged sales whereas plus size models encouraged them to buy, the study found. To reach the conclusion, the study psychologist Phillippa Diedrichs, of the University of Queensland, Australia, created a...

WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline)-The former deputy Pennsylvania attorney general who challenged Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama's qualifications to be president has appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. Lafayette Hill, Pa.-based attorney Philip Berg, a self-described "moderate to liberal" Democrat who supported Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, alleged that the Illinois senator is not a U.S. citizen and therefore ineligible for the presidency. He had his lawsuit rejected Friday by U.S. District Judge Richard Barclay Surrick of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

EL PASO, Texas — Two former Border Patrol agents convicted of shooting a drug smuggler and trying to cover it up have been denied a request for a new hearing. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans denied the request by Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean on Wednesday. The same court upheld the men's convictions in July. No reason was given for the Wednesday's denial. Ramos and Compean are each serving sentences of more than 10 years for shooting Osvaldo Aldrete Davila in the buttocks while he was fleeing from an abandoned marijuana load in 2005....

People started queuing before 7am for a front row spot at John McCain's campaign rally in Lebanon, Ohio, this week. By the time the senator appeared with Sarah Palin, his running mate, three hours later, more than 5,000 people had crammed into the town centre, with hundreds more locked outside the security cordon. Similar scenes have greeted the Republican presidential ticket at events across the country this week, marking the first time that Mr McCain has rivalled Barack Obama for pulling power. Scanning the crowd in Lebanon, a commuter town of 17,000 people outside Cincinnati, the catalyst for surging Republican...

A federal appeals court yesterday refused to reconsider the decision denying a new trial for Mumia Abu-Jamal in the 1981 murder of Philadelphia Police Officer Daniel Faulkner. In a two-page decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit denied Abu-Jamal's request for a rehearing of his appeal in the controversial case, which has helped fuel an international debate about the death penalty. Abu-Jamal's lawyer, Robert R. Bryan of San Francisco, said he planned to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to consider the case. In March, a three-judge panel of the Third Circuit left intact Abu-Jamal's conviction but said...

Obama advisers say bin Laden can appeal to U.S. civilian courts Barack Obama has expressed support for the Supreme Court’s decision in favor of civilian prosecution of terrorism suspects, and his advisers said Tuesday that if Osama bin Laden were captured, he too should face civilian prosecution. – AP Bill Sammon, The Examiner 2008-06-18 07:00:00.0 Current rank: # 13 of 6,452 WASHINGTON - Barack Obama’s foreign policy advisers said Tuesday that Osama bin Laden, if captured, should be allowed to appeal his case to U.S. civilian courts, a privilege opposed by John McCain. Responding to questions from The Examiner, Sen....

I have been a member since 1999. I have been suspended at least twice and kicked off "for good" once. I deserved to be suspended once. I believe that FR is a force for good in the world. Debate between people who consider themselves conservative, right or wrong, is a good thing. I believe that FR would prosper more, that more would donate, if they really believed that they had a stake in the site. The risk, that I now expose myself to, that you can be booted forever for speaking your honestly conservative mind in accordance with the rules,...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Thursday left in place a lower court's ruling that allowed Washington state pharmacists to refuse to sell emergency contraceptive "morning after" pills on religious grounds. A federal judge in Seattle suspended state rules that required pharmacies to dispense "Plan B" and other emergency contraceptives that prevent fertilized eggs from implanting, which some people believe is the same as abortion.The case was brought by Stormans Inc, doing business as Ralph's Thriftway, and pharmacists Rhonda Mesler and Margo Thelen.

In the community of Shady Grove Woods, trees are becoming more and more scarce. Residents and other anti-Intercounty Connector activists marched through the neighborhood on Saturday, pointing out the trees that were cut down to make way for the six-lane highway. ‘‘It’s just that we didn’t have a say in it in so many ways and we’re not talking about a two-lane road, we’re talking about a major highway running through here,” resident Sam Chim said of the ICC. ‘‘We have a lot of nice, private woods back here and now we’re going to have a highway running through instead....

The Supreme Court denied an appeal today from a conservative group that wants to run ads promoting an unflattering documentary about Hillary Rodham Clinton. Citizens United's appeal was rejected for jurisdictional reasons. Now, the group must either wait for district court action or run ads that comply with current campaign finance laws by disclosing who paid for the ads. Citizens United's lawyer said that he will be waiting for the Federal District Court to make its decision before taking any other action. "Hillary: The Movie," has had one-night shows in a handful of movie theaters and is available on DVD....

NASHUA, N.H. – At a rally with some 1,500 people here on Sunday afternoon, Hillary Rodham Clinton had separate comments about the current president and his predecessor. Referring to the personal appeal that Senator Barack Obama enjoys among many Democrats, Mrs. Clinton said: “I think it’s good to have a likable president. But if I remember right, many people said they wanted to have a beer with George W. Bush. Maybe they should’ve left it at that – have a beer, don’t vote him in as our president.” Minutes later, an audience member asked what Bill Clinton would be called...

Why Do People Support Underdogs And Find Them So Appealing? ScienceDaily (Dec. 19, 2007) — In a series of studies, researchers from the University of South Florida tested the scope of people's support for those who are expected to lose, seeking to understand why people are drawn to the Rocky Balboas and the Davids (versus Goliaths) of the world. Using both sports and political examples, the researchers* asked study participants to react to various scenarios presenting different competitors with an advantage or disadvantage. For instance, in one study using the Israeli and Palestinian conflict, the participants were given the same...

MINNEAPOLIS - Embattled Sen. Larry Craig asked the Minnesota Court of Appeals on Monday to overrule a county judge who refused to allow him to withdraw his guilty plea in connection with an arrest in an airport bathroom sex sting. Craig's appeal was filed at the court in St. Paul less than two weeks after Hennepin County District Court Judge Charles Porter refused to overturn the guilty plea, saying it "was accurate, voluntary and intelligent, and ... supported by the evidence." Craig, a Republican from Idaho, pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in August after he was accused of soliciting sex...

Under pressure from a newspaper investigation, Sen. Larry Craig "panicked" and pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in a Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport men's room, according to court papers filed Monday. The plea constitutes a "manifest injustice" and should be set aside, his lawyers say. The 50-page filing in Hennepin County District Court said Craig feared his arrest in the airport sting would prompt the Idaho Statesman to publish a story examining his sexual orientation. The Republican, who has represented Idaho in the U.S. Senate for 17 years, "felt compelled to grasp the lifeline offered to him by the police officer,...

11th Circuit rules school was in its power to suspend teen in light of other incidents of school violence across nation. CITING SCHOOL SCHOOTINGS from Columbine to Virginia Tech, a federal appeals court has ruled against a local student suspended in 2003 after a teacher saw a story the student had written in which the narrator dreams of shooting her math teacher. Rachel Boim, who was a ninth-grader at Roswell High School when the incident occurred, sued the Fulton County School District and school officials, asking the courts to force school officials to remove the suspension from her disciplinary record....