Free Republic

Southern states execute two killers HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) -- Texas executed a man Wednesday who was convicted of killing a woman and her child, while Mississippi put to death a man who took part in the fatal beating of another man. Derrick Sonnier shook his head "no" when asked if he had any final statements. he was pronounced dead at 6:18 p.m., eight minutes after the lethal dose was administered. Sonnier was convicted of murdering Melody Flowers, 27, and her 2-year-old son, Patrick, in their Houston apartment in 1991. Flowers was raped, stabbed, strangled and beaten with a hammer until...

(IsraelNN.com) An American court of appeals has ruled in a split decision against the right of Jews to post the traditional mezuzah on the doorposts of a condominium apartment if the bylaws of the building prohibit signs and objects on outside doors. The mezuzah contains parchment with verses from the Torah and is an ancient tradition commanded by the Torah before the Exodus of Jews from Egypt. We cannot create an accommodation requirement for religion. In the 2-1 decision, the court stated, "The hallway rule ... is neutral with respect to religion. It bans photos of family vacations, political placards,...

The Second Amendment provides that “a well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” In District of Columbia v. Heller, the Supreme Court held that the plain language of the amendment recognizes a personal right, belonging to “the people,” to possess firearms. The court rejected arguments that the Second Amendment simply permits the states to form, arm and maintain their own militias or the modern National Guard. Heller arose out of the district’s complete ban on possession of usable handguns in the...

The nine august justices of the United States Supreme Court — or at least the five conservative Republicans — chose the wrong time to make a sea change in constitutional law, admitting the Second Amendment to our pantheon of civil liberties. By demonstrating how willing they are to toss aside decades of jurisprudence in pursuit of a conservative agenda, they sent a chill into the souls of women all across the nation and resurrected fears that Roe v. Wade is next on the chopping block.

Google must divulge the viewing habits of every user who has ever watched any video on YouTube, a US court has ruled.The ruling comes as part of Google's legal battle with Viacom over allegations of copyright infringement. Digital rights group the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) called the ruling a "set-back to privacy rights". The viewing log, which will be handed to Viacom, contains the log-in ID of users, the computer IP address (online identifier) and video clip details. While the legal battle between the two firms is being contested in the US, it is thought the ruling will apply to...

The Supreme Court’s ruling upholding the Second Amendment comes just as it has been revealed that in Iraq, Islamic jihadists have been forcing the Christians remaining in the country to pay jizya – the tax mandated in the Qur’an for non-Muslims who live under Islamic rule. And in Pakistan’s Northwest Frontier Province, the Taliban has been enforcing Islamic Sharia law by waving automatic weapons, forcing music stores to close down at the point of a gun (music is forbidden in Islamic law).

Turkey's constitutional court opens a case today that will have momentous, and possibly disastrous, consequences not only for Turkey but also for much of the Muslim world (see page 34). It is a case that could end Turkish hopes of joining the European Union for ever and transform one of the West's most vibrant strategic allies into a feuding and embittered society, torn between military repression and Islamic fervour. For what the court is attempting to decide is whether Islam is compatible with secular democracy. If it rules that the present Islamist Government has undermined Atatürk's constitution, it will declare...

Democratic nominee Senator Barack Obama (D-Ill.) warned voters to carefully consider the issue of who they want appointing federal judges before they cast their ballots for president. “Senator McCain has said he will appoint men who look to the past for guidance on how they will rule on the cases brought to them,” Obama pointed out. “If you want judges to play such a passive and uninspired role, maybe you should vote for him because I will appoint active judges who look to the future for inspiration.” “We need people who can adapt the laws to meet our current and...

The Supreme Court ruling on gun laws last Thursday created media frenzy. Editorials, columnists, anchors and pundits predicted it would result in an American Armageddon. According to the major media outlets in the nation, innocent lives will be lost, the Supreme Court justices have joined forces with city criminals and life as we’ve known it is over. Who knew upholding the Constitution would have such disastrous effects?

The Texas Supreme Court, showing continued deference to religious practice, on Friday tossed out a $188,000 judgment against members of a Pentecostal church who restrained a teenager they feared had come under demonic influence. Laura Schubert claimed that rough handling during the hours-long 1996 incident — involving the "laying on of hands" and intensive prayer — left her disabled by post-traumatic stress disorder. Jurors agreed, finding that Schubert, then 17, was falsely imprisoned and assaulted by a pastor, youth minister and members of Pleasant Glade Assembly of God church in suburban Fort Worth. However, the state Supreme Court dismissed Schubert's...

At a time when even nail files and pocket knives are barred from courts, Hillsdale County has reopened its historic courthouse to citizens who legally pack weapons. Circuit Judge Michael Smith recently ordered the ``no guns'' signs removed at the courthouse in downtown Hillsdale, saying the ban is against state law. Smith said that courthouses are not exempt from state concealed-weapons laws, so there's no way to lawfully stop people from carrying a concealed weapon if they're licensed properly. The ban against citizens carrying guns in courts is based on a 2001 administrative order by the Michigan Supreme Court, not...

RALEIGH - To defend itself against a lawsuit by the widows of three American soldiers who died on one of its planes in Afghanistan, a sister company of the private military firm Blackwater has asked a federal court to decide the case using the Islamic law known as Shari’a. The lawsuit “is governed by the law of Afghanistan,” Presidential Airways argued in a Florida federal court. “Afghan law is largely religion-based and evidences a strong concern for ensuring moral responsibility, and deterring violations of obligations within its borders.” If the judge agrees, it would essentially end the lawsuit over a...

MONTREAL, June 18 (UPI) -- An appeal will be filed in a Montreal court after a Quebec judge overruled a father who grounded his 12-year-old daughter for dangerous Internet use. The lawyer for the father, who can't be identified to protect the girl, told The Gazette newspaper that Justice Suzanne Tessier overstepped the court's bounds last Friday when she ruled in favor of the girl's legal challenge and said she would be allowed to go on a school trip her father had forbidden because of misbehavior. "I don't think this tribunal was the proper forum for a decision like this...

Support Terrorists? Yes We Can! (Snappy Take on Israel/Obama/Supremes) by Jack Engelhard The meter is running on our survival. From the beginning, Barack Obama has mesmerized the multitudes with his chant, "Yes we can!" His worshipful millions dutifully provide the hallelujah chorus - "YES WE CAN!" Therefore, can we say that Obama supports the Supreme Court's 5-4 ruling which grants Gitmo terrorist detainees the same Constitutional rights as American citizens? YES WE CAN! This is what he said in consent: "This is an important step toward re-establishing our credibility as a nation committed to the rule of law." (Since when...

I have not beena big fan of Supreme Court rulings these days. As you well know (as an informed individual browsing and commenting on stevelackner.com) the Supreme Court of our land declared that the terrorists at Gitmo have habeas rights. Before that we had the Supreme Court of California finding the ridiculous right to gay weddings that never existed in the California or American Constitution. This week the California ruling took effect. My main focues will therfore be this ruling. Social liberals tend to deride those that oppose gay marriage as primitive neandrathal bible-thumping throwbacks. They rely on words like...

Aparently nothing today... Anyone know if they might release more today or is that it?

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court made it easier Monday for some foreigners who overstay their visas to seek to remain in the United States legally. The court ruled 5-4 Monday that someone who is here illegally may withdraw his voluntarily agreement to depart and continue to try to get approval to remain in the United States. [...] Justice Kennedy wrote the majority opinion, joined by his four liberal colleagues. The four conservative justice dissented. Justice Antonin Scalia said, "The court lacks the authority to impose its chosen remedy."

Once again, the dictatorship of the black robe has struck. Five Supreme Court justices have legislated from the bench, usurping and abrogating power to themselves that constitutionally belongs to the president and Congress. And the result is that American lives are much more at risk. I am speaking, of course, of the atrocious decision made this week that gives captured terrorist combatants habeas corpus appellate access to American courts. We're talking about murderous monsters who are not U.S. citizens, who haven't even followed the Geneva Convention by wearing a uniform or carrying a flag and by attacking nothing but civilians,...

A federal appeals court on Friday invalidated campaign finance rules that give wealthy donors broad latitude in underwriting expensive political ads. Limits on coordinated campaign spending apply too narrowly to time frames just before elections and should be expanded, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said in the decision. Judge David Tatel said in the ruling that interest groups often engage in early advertising, in some cases more than a year before an election. The restrictions the Federal Election Commission imposed apply only to spending within 90 days of a congressional election and 120 days...

A federal appeals court judge today recused himself from a closely-watched obscenity trial in Los Angeles, three days after acknowledging that he had posted sexually explicit material on a publicly accessible personal website. "In light of the public controversy surrounding my involvement in this case, I have concluded that there is a manifest necessity to declare a mistrial," said Alex Kozinski, chief judge for the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. "I will recuse myself from further participation in the case and will ask the chief judge of the district court to reassign it to another judge." The obscenity trial in...

Judge Richard J. McAdams of the California Court of Appeal wrote yesterday, in Tendler v. www.jewishsurvivors.blogspot.com (unpublished), so I thought I'd pass it along: Attention anonymous Internet posters and bloggers: this court has good news and bad news for those of you who engage in nontortious discourse [i.e., in this context, speech that isn't libelous -EV]. The good news, announced earlier this year: your message will be protected by the First Amendment and your identity will be protected by the court quashing a third-party subpoena, unless the requesting party can make a prima facie showing of defamation. (Krinsky v. Doe...

Zachary Roth at the Columbia Journalism Review has this odd and quite untrue passage: In recent presidential elections, anyone paying a basic amount of attention to the race has gone to the polls understanding one clear and compelling difference between the candidates: that the Democrat would pick judges who would vote to uphold Roe v. Wade, ensuring that abortion remains legal, and that the Republican would, in all likelihood, pick judges who would vote to overturn it, opening the door to state-level abortion bans. As a result, we’ve all been admirably well informed about the impact of our vote on...

"I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted, and I won't be laid a hand on. I don't do those things to other people and I require the same of them."—John Wayne, The Shootist. A tenacious group of patriotic ranchers way out West has just won a major victory for property owners nationwide. In Hage v United States, a Claims Court ruled that the federal government may not use environmentalist regulations and bullying tactics to refuse citizens use of their own land without providing them with just compensation. And it’s a story as inspiring as it is instructive. The Hage...

Turkey's ruling AK party appeared to move a step closer to being shut down on Thursday when the Constitutional Court overturned a reform that would have allowed women to wear Islamic headscarves in universities. The headscarf amendment plays a central role in a separate, crucial case that seeks to outlaw the AK Party for anti-secular activities, and ban 71 members, including the prime minister and president, from belonging to a political party for five years. "This guarantees the closure of the party. I don't think we can talk of any calm before full chaos," said Cengiz Aktar, a political scientist...

Law enforcement officers may have blood drawn as evidence of DWI if they have probable cause to believe criminal vehicular operation or homicide has happened, state Supreme Court rules. When authorities have reason to believe that a drunken driver has caused a serious or fatal accident they have a right to draw the driver's blood to test its alcohol content without their consent and without a search warrant, the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled Friday. The ruling was greeted with relief by law enforcers. The high court reversed a ruling by a Dakota County district judge in the case of Janet...

Court To Decide If Spitzer Overreached on GrassoBy JOSEPH GOLDSTEIN, Staff Reporter of the Sun May 30, 2008 The state's highest court is gearing up to decide whether Eliot Spitzer overreached four years ago when, as attorney general, he sought to force a former New York Stock Exchange chief, Richard Grasso, to relinquish his $187.5 million pay package. On June 3, the Court of Appeals, which sits in Albany, will hear arguments on a sticking point in People v. Grasso that will set the ground rules for any eventual trial. The state, whose case is now pressed by Attorney General...

The Supreme Court of the United States – in a 7-2 decision – upheld the constitutionality of the Protect Act of 2003 – a federal law that gives prosecutors new tools to target those who market and pander in online child pornography. This is a significant victory that moves to protect the most vulnerable in our society – our children. And, it is a victory for Congress, which has spent many years trying to come up with a law that would punish those responsible for the ever-increasing problem of child pornography on the Internet and clear constitutional hurdles – efforts...

So, just as I got done with the other donkey story I find yet another one. Consider this a special Two for Tuesday burro special. So what is it that makes donkeys the target of a litigious society? If it’s in Dallas, Tx, then it’s all about the noise. (The star witness paced outside the courthouse Wednesday, breathing hard, his head down, an American flag bandanna around his neck. Buddy the donkey, led by Etienne Grimmett, walked ahead of owner Gregory Shamoun on the way to court Wednesday. He said nothing to the media swarming around him. He just twitched...

Youths 18 through 20 may now legally possess handguns under a state Supreme Court ruling issued this morning. The five-member court unanimously said the state law banning those under 21 from possessing handguns violated the state constitution. The justices upheld a lower court ruling that threw out a York County indictment on that charge against Berry Scott Bolin. The ruling mirrors a new state law that lowers the minimum age for S.C. residents to own a handgun to 18. Bolin was 19 when he was charged in connection with the February 2006 shooting death of Bobby Royce Hovis III, 19....

An FBI probe into the May 4 bombing of a federal courthouse led to a woman being charged Friday with using a false identification to try to obtain explosives. Authorities said, however, that no one has been charged with the bombing, which damaged the courthouse lobby and sent more than 100 nails and other shrapnel flying as far as two blocks. No one was injured. Rachelle Lynette Carlock, 31, was arraigned in federal court in El Centro on an eight-count complaint charging use of false identification to obtain explosive materials, being a felon in possession of explosive materials and fraud....

SAN FRANCISCO -- Both sides in the gay marriage debate will be watching California's highest court Thursday to see if the nation's biggest state goes the way of Massachusetts and legalizes same-sex marriage. The California Supreme Court was scheduled to rule on a series of lawsuits seeking to overturn a voter-approved law that defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman. If the court rules in favor of the plaintiffs, California could become the second state after Massachusetts where gay and lesbian residents can marry.

Rick Paul, owner of Rick's White Light Diner, was found in contempt of court Monday and must pay $1,000 to a charity of his choice, for again infringing on the Derby-Pie trademark. Before U.S. District Judge Joseph Hood in a Lexington courtroom, Paul was found in contempt of court for violating a 1997 permanent injunction signed by Hood, ordering Paul not to infringe on Kern's Kitchen Inc.'s trademark Derby-Pie. Paul also must pay Kern's Kitchen's attorney fees and costs. "I am disappointed with the judge's ruling and I accept it," Paul said today. "Our proof was considerably different than Derby...

Jefferson trial venue questions renewedLatest request cites Supreme Court case Wednesday, May 07, 2008 By Bruce Alpert WASHINGTON -- Attorneys for Rep. William Jefferson, D-New Orleans, asked a federal judge Tuesday to reconsider his ruling against a change of venue in the corruption case against the congressman. They had argued that the case should be tried in Washington, D.C., and that the government chose suburban Virginia because there is a smaller pool of African-American jurors to consider the charges against Jefferson, who is black. Their latest request to Virginia District Court Judge T.S. Ellis III was based in part on...

McGreeveys Appear In Divorce CourtMay 6, 2008 7:52 pm US/Eastern TRENTON (AP) Lawyers representing the nation's first openly gay governor and his estranged wife ended the first day of their scheduled divorce trial reporting progress in settlement talks. The talks are to resume Wednesday afternoon. Testimony was delayed to allow the discussions to take place. "We are happy to report on behalf of both of our clients that they have made progress toward settling their case," said John Post, lawyer for Dina Matos McGreevey, who read from a joint statement issued by him and Stephen Haller, lawyer for former Gov....

U.S. Wary Of Small Boat Terrorism As boating season approaches, the Bush administration wants to enlist America's 80 million recreational boaters to help reduce the chances that a small boat could deliver a nuclear or radiological bomb somewhere along the 95,000 miles of U.S. coastline and inland waterways. According to an April 23 intelligence assessment obtained by The Associated Press, "The use of a small boat as a weapon is likely to remain al Qaeda's weapon of choice in the maritime environment, given its ease in arming and deploying, low cost, and record of success." While the United States...

Federal Appeals Court Okays Injunction Protecting Pro-Life Pharmacists Los Angeles, CA -- A federal appeals court has upheld an injunction in a lower court ruling that halted a new state requirement forcing pharmacists to fill prescriptions for all drugs. The mandate included drugs that would violate their moral or religious beliefs of pharmacists who don't want to be involved in abortions. Washington state pharmacists who are pro-life were worried they could be forced to dispense the morning after pill or birth control drugs.

The case of a Marion County man will go to the U.S. Supreme Court later this year, and a Charleston attorney will become one of a limited number of West Virginia lawyers to argue in that venue. Troy Giatras will defend Randy Hayes of Mannington, a contractor convicted of a felony gun possession charge, and ask the highest court to clarify Second Amendment right to bear arms. No matter the outcome of Hayes' case, Giatras will receive the coveted quill presented to all lawyers who come before the U.S Supreme Court. "It's an honor," Giatras said. "For 99 percent of...

Justice Antonin Scalia on Sunday characterized himself as a social conservative and "a law-and-order guy" whose views do not impact his interpretation of the Constitution. In an interview on CBS' "60 Minutes," Scalia addressed issues from abortion to flag-burning. Were he to approach his job differently, Scalia said, he would adopt the position of abortion opponents who interpret the Constitution to mean that a state must prohibit abortion. But the authors of the Constitution did not write about abortion, so he does not support the approach favored by abortion opponents, said the justice, who is promoting a new book, "Making...

Texas court: State can take sect children to foster homes By: Associated Press Posted: 4/25/08 SAN ANGELO, Texas (AP) - Dozens of mothers from a polygamist retreat were bused away from their children Thursday, their legal efforts to stay united rejected as Texas officials sort out their massive custody case. Two buses took the women from the San Angelo Coliseum, where they had been temporarily housed with their children. Texas officials were preparing to move the last of more than 400 children to group homes, shelters and residences, some hundreds of miles away, over the next few days. One woman...

HARARE, Zimbabwe - Zimbabwe's High Court rejected an opposition demand Monday for the immediate release of long-delayed election results, prolonging a political crisis that has paralyzed this southern African nation for more than two weeks. An opposition spokesman said the party would stage a nationwide "stay-away" from work on Tuesday. The main opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, says he won the March 29 election outright, and has accused President Robert Mugabe of holding back the results so he can orchestrate a runoff and ensure his 28-year grip on power. Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change had hoped that the court — though...

MADISON, Wis. -- Michael Gableman had 51 percent of Tuesday's vote compared with 49 percent for Butler with 93 percent of precincts reporting. Butler is the first incumbent justice to lose a re-election bid since 1967. He joined the court in 2004 after being appointed by Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle. He built his campaign around the charge that Butler was a judicial activist. Gableman claims to be a judicial conservative. While the race was officially nonpartisan, Democrats including Gov. Jim Doyle and liberal special interest groups campaigned heavily for Butler while Republicans and conservative outside groups worked for Gableman. The...

Hollywood - A state appeals court has decided to support the city's controversial attempt to take a family's downtown property and use it for private development. The Fourth District Court of Appeal ruled 3-0 to overturn a Broward judge's 2006 ruling that said the city cannot take the Mach family's business property and give it to a powerful developer, according to the decision released Wednesday. The Mach family has owned the 2,900-square-foot building on Harrison Street since 1972. The building houses the family's hair salon and several other businesses. The city's downtown Community Redevelopment Agency has been fighting since 2005...

US court overturns death sentence Abu-Jamal has been on death row for 25 years A US federal appeals court has overturned the death sentence imposed on former Black Panthers member Mumia Abu-Jamal. The court said Abu-Jamal's conviction for murdering a Philadelphia police officer should stand, but that he should have a new sentencing hearing. The former radio journalist and activist was sentenced to death for the murder in 1982. While in jail he became a leading campaigner against the death penalty. He appealed against the sentence, on the grounds that racism on the part of the judge and the prosecutors...

NEW YORK - A federal appeals court has rejected a law requiring airlines to provide food, water, clean toilets and fresh air to passengers trapped in a plane delayed on the ground. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that New York's new state law interferes with federal law governing the price, route or service of an air carrier. It was the first law in the nation of its kind. The appeals court said the new law was laudable but only the federal government has the authority to enact such a regulation. The law was challenged before the...

When Wisconsin voters go to the polls this April Fool's day, the state Supreme Court may realize the joke's on them. After four years of judicial activism, one of the court's most liberal members, Justice Louis Butler, is up for re-election -- and voters get to send a message about what they expect from their judges.

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....

Like a fighter down for the count who gets back on his feet at the last moment, and then stuns spectators by knocking the opponent back on his heels, the team of Organic Pastures Dairy Co. and Claravale Farm scored a big win in a California courtroom today. Superior Court Judge Harry J. Tobias rejected the state’s heavy hitters from office of the Attorney General and the California Department of Food and Agriculture, and granted OPDC and Claravale a temporary restraining order prohibiting enforcement of AB 1735 and its ten-coliform-per-milliliter standard that had threatened to shut the dairies down.

The real question facing the Court was whether the District of Columbia’s total ban on handguns had gone too far and was therefore “unreasonable” within the meaning of past holdings.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Americans have a right to own guns, U.S. Supreme Court justices declared in a historic and lively debate that could lead to the most significant interpretation of whether the U.S. Constitution guarantees that right since the document's ratification two centuries ago. On the other hand, a majority of justices seemed to agree, governments have a right to regulate those firearms. There was less apparent agreement on the case they were arguing: whether the national capital's ban on handguns goes too far. The justices dug deeply Tuesday into arguments about one of the Constitution's most hotly debated provisions...

Oral arguments before the Supreme Court are a nasty business. Today the Supremes (depending on their disposition) heard or ignored arguments in the Heller Case, the Washington D.C. gun ban. The consensus among all of us who listened to the arguments is “we still don’t know how this is going to pan out.” Crap. Ginsberg, in her growing senile dementia, brought-up state bans on machine guns as a proxy for the ‘reasonable’ ban angle. Sorry guys. The fight has just begun and will last long after they have shoveled dirt on our faces. From the oral arguments and some insights...