Free Republic

04-06) 19:55 PDT Springfield, Mass. (AP) Thomas P. Budnick says his lawyer's incompetence was to blame for his assault conviction. The funny thing is he was representing himself. He took his case before the state Appeals Court on Wednesday, arguing that the trial judge never should have allowed Budnick to defend himself against charges of trying to poison a friend by lacing a bottle of beer with nitric acid. Budnick once filed mining claims on Mars and threatened to sue NASA for trespassing. Such antics should have been enough to make the judge question his competence to waive counsel, his...

ENDING THE MADNESS by Timothy Rollins, Editor and Publisher March 25, 2005 Now that the Supreme Court of the United States has once again justifiably rejected the pathetic puppy-dog pleas of Bob and Mary Schindler (right) to have the feeding tube of their daughter Terri Schiavo reinserted, they need to just let go and let their daughter slip away from this life into the next. As it stands, Terri is faced with two kinds of unspeakable agony; one, being wilting away from lack of food and water, and the other being indefinitely trapped in a body that has in fact...

The Terry Shiavo circus is just plain sad, there is no way around it. On one hand you have a husband who wants to get on with his life with a new girlfriend and family, and then there are the parents and siblings of Terri who want to keep her alive. All the legal wrangling aside, isn't it our core belief in this country that people are granted life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? Clearly, Terri is not going to start playing the flute, or read Steinbeck any time soon, but she is able to respond to stimulus. Death...

I have been trying to track this information down for Months with no real success. The Democracts like to throw out numbers like 215 Bush nominees apointed to courts, and only 10 blocked, but I know that number encompasses multiple courts, and is not complete. Does anyone have the real accurate count of the Number of peple Bush has nominated for the Federal Appeals Court, versus the number which the Senate has allowed a Vote on. I remember I tried to look for this around the election, and it was something like 39 nomees, and 21 voted on. But even...

PARIS - Billionaire investor George Soros, challenging a conviction for insider trading, denied the charges in a French appeals hearing Thursday and insisted he knows the difference between inside and public information. The Hungarian-born financier was fined 2.2 million euros ($2.8 million at today's rates) in December 2002, matching the amount he was accused of having made from buying and selling shares of French bank Societe Generale with insider knowledge 17 years ago. Questioned by the three-judge panel, Soros confirmed having received some information from French financier Georges Pebereau about his investment fund's plans to buy a large stake in...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The federal appeals court that ruled the Pledge of Allegiance was an unconstitutional endorsement of religion is being sued for allegedly displaying the Ten Commandments on its seal and courthouses. The case was brought by Pleasanton attorney Ryan Donlon, who was admitted to practice before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in June. In his lawsuit against the San Francisco-based court, he said the certificate admitting him contains the court's seal which unlawfully contains what he believes is a tablet object that "represents the Judeo-Christian Decalogue commonly referred to as the Ten Commandments." Cathy Catterson,...

Judge weighs risks of ‘horrific accident’ Updated: 6:04 p.m. ET Dec. 21, 2004LINCOLN, Neb. - A Nebraska appeals court upheld with “great trepidation” Tuesday a probation sentence given to a man with 11 drunken driving convictions. .....

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A federal appeals court Monday reinstated indictments against seven defendants accused of raising money for a terror organization with links to ousted Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein. In a victory for the Bush administration's war on terror, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a Los Angeles federal judge who declared the 1996 terror financing law unconstitutional. The law makes it illegal to funnel money - "material support" - to organizations the State Department says are linked to terrorism, about 30 groups in all. Before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the government rarely used the terror...

What mandate on moral issues, if any, did voters deliver to President Bush in the 2004 election? While liberal activists have attributed Bush's victory to homophobia, exit polls indicated that 35 percent of Americans favor gay marriage while another 25 percent support civil unions. Similarly, a majority of Americans favor restrictions on abortion, but not an outright ban. However, there is a consensus favoring the appointment of conservative judges who recognize that judicial restraint is itself a moral value. A September AP-Ipsos poll revealed that 56 percent of Americans prefer the appointment of conservative judges while only 37 percent prefer...

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court turned away several First Amendment-related cases today, appeals by: A media company claiming it had a right to distribute real-time golf scores. Telemarketing groups challenging the federal do-not-call registry. A Catholic organization challenging a California law that forces it to pay for workers' contraceptive health insurance benefits. The Montana Right to Life Association, which claimed state campaign-contribution limits violated free-speech rights. Alabama's former chief justice and Ten Commandments proponent Roy Moore who was seeking to get his job back. Morris Communications Co. v. PGA Tour The high court turned away an appeal by Morris Communications...

MIAMI -- Simply using computer equipment to view child pornography is not a federal crime, a federal appeals panel ruled Friday in reversing the conviction of a Florida man. Federal prosecutors stretched the link to interstate commerce by prosecuting James Maxwell for possession of child pornography without offering any evidence that he obtained the photos from out of state, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled. The ruling adds to a split among appellate courts on the minimum requirements for federal child-pornography convictions. Writing for a three-judge panel, former Chief Judge Gerald Tjoflat said he had "no intention of...

Lawyer: Malvo To Drop Appeals, Admit Guilt Attorney Says Teenage Sniper Ready To Accept Life Term POSTED: 5:26 pm EDT September 24, 2004 McLEAN, Va. -- A lawyer for teenage sniper Lee Malvo said he plans to admit guilt in one of the Washington-area sniper slayings. He also said Malvo will drop all of his appeals of his convictions in another of the shootings. Attorney Michael Arif said Malvo realizes "he's not going anywhere" and that he is ready to accept a lifetime in prison. A plea hearing is set for next month. Malvo is charged with capital murder in...

U.S. Senate committee holds hearing for final Michigan appeals court nominee 9/8/2004, 12:42 p.m. ET By DEE-ANN DURBIN The Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Despite the objections of Democratic senators, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing Wednesday for Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Susan Bieke Neilson, the last of four Michigan judges President Bush has nominated to a federal appeals court. Senate Judiciary Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said Neilson is an "outstanding candidate" with the highest rating from the American Bar Association. But her chances of getting approval from the full Senate are uncertain unless Hatch reaches an agreement...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A federal appeals court on Wednesday upheld a lower court's order that reduced the number of commercial wilderness tours in the Sierra Nevada. At issue are so-called "packstock" operations, for-profit companies that carry campers and sightseers deep into the wilderness using horses. The High Sierra Hikers Association and the Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics - consisting of current and former rangers and other forest workers - sued the U.S Forest Service, charging it failed to study the cumulative environmental affects of 17 companies the agency permitted to trek thousands of visitors through the forest. A...

HAMBURG, Germany, Aug. 10 — A German court today began a retrial of Mounir el-Motassadeq, the only person convicted of involvement in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, with the disclosure that the United States will for the first time share evidence about the plot. Mr. Motassadeq's conviction was thrown out in March by an appeals court, which said that critical evidence had been withheld by American authorities. After having been sentenced to 15 years in prison, Mr. Motassadeq was freed in April. The decision by the United States to offer limited cooperation to the Germans introduces a combustible element to...

<p>KARLSRUHE, Germany - Lawyers for a Moroccan man convicted of helping the Sept. 11 hijackers demanded a retrial, arguing Thursday in a federal appeals court that their client had been denied a fair trial.</p> <p>Mounir el Motassadeq, 29, the only person convicted in the attacks worldwide, was sentenced last February to the maximum 15 years in prison for more than 3,000 counts of accessory to murder and membership in a terrorist organization. A Hamburg state court ruled he had given logistical help to the Hamburg cell that included suicide hijackers Mohamed Atta, Marwan al-Shehhi and Ziad Jarrah.</p>

<p>The Bush administration's plan to use military tribunals to try foreign terrorism suspects should allow appeals to civilian courts, five military lawyers assigned to suspects held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, said Wednesday in papers filed with the Supreme Court.</p> <p>"The Constitution cannot countenance an open-ended presidential power, with no civilian review whatsoever, to try anyone the president deems is subject to a military tribunal," the five officers argued.</p>

Teddy Kennedy used to oppose delays of judicial nominations, especially of women and minorities -- at least he claimed to. SEN. KENNEDY: "When the Founders wrote the Constitution and gave the Senate the power of advice and consent on Presidential nominations, they never intended the Senate to work against the President. . ."------ Republicans have often, and rightfully, denounced the efforts of Leftists to prevent a number of President Bush's quality judicial nominees from being confirmed. By blocking votes and dragging the nominees through the mud to make them look as bad as possible, Senate Democrats have delayed and denied...

Robert Byrd, maybe? According to a rumor going around DC right now, the Washington Post is tomorrow going to reveal an internal Democratic Party e-mail with a crude, racist caricature of California Supreme Court Justice Janice Rogers Brown. Justice Brown happens to be a black woman, and apparently this e-mail has her with an absurdly large "afro" style haircut (she doesn't have one), and makes a few disparaging racial remarks about her and, for some reason, Dr. Condoleezza Rice. This staff e-mail (I'm assuming a Senator would not send such an e-mail) comes during Senate confirmation hearings for Justice Brown...

<p>Pedro Martinez, Manny Ramirez and Karim Garcia all appealed the fines imposed on them following Game 3 of the AL championship series.</p> <p>Martinez was fined $50,000, Ramirez $25,000 and Garcia $10,000 on Sunday, a day after a series of confrontations between the New York Yankees and Red Sox at Boston's Fenway Park.</p>