Free Republic

Combat judicial activism by utilizing checks on judicial power Constitutionally available to the elected branches of government. (Read an extended white paper on restoring the proper role of the judicial branch here.)

The trustee overseeing MF Global's liquidation has come out and confirmed that the amount of customers’ funds of the failed brokerage are now expected to be at least $1.6 billion. This gap has now risen from the previous estimate of $1.2 billion. This is the biggest financial crime perhaps in history far worse than Madoff. This is the outright theft of client funds that nobody is being called to account for no less the recipients of such funds being made to return them. The collapse of MF Global, which was headed by former Goldman Sachs CEO, Senator, and New Jersey...

The 9th Circuit Federal Appeals Court upheld District Court Judge Vaughn Walker’s overturning of the voter-approved amendment (Proposition 8) banning the state’s recognition of same-sex “marriage.” “Voters have no right to amend their state’s constitution in ways that contradict clearly established federal policies,” the Court wrote in its decision. “To allow such ‘willy-nilly’ revisions on a state-by-state basis would lead to a patchwork of divergent laws across the nation. Things that are permitted in some states might be disallowed in others. Uniformity and equality of rights throughout the 50 states would be sacrificed to a misguided notion of state and...

<p>SAN ANTONIO — A federal judge blasted by Newt Gingrich and other conservatives for his ruling that prohibited prayer at a Texas high school graduation is firing back in accepting a settlement to the case.</p> <p>U.S. District Judge Fred Biery on Thursday admonished those who “demagogued this case for their own political goals.” He then added, “You should be ashamed of yourselves.”</p>

PHILADELPHIA (Legal Newsline) - A roundtable of federal and state judges from across the country will convene at the posh Ritz Carlton on Feb. 9 to address topics such as "Can MDL's keep up with state court trial settings;" "Priority of deposition examination;" "State and federal cooperation;" and "Forum non conveniens." Sponsored by Mass Torts Made Perfect, the event is open to plaintiff and defense lawyers. It is not, however, open to the media. Since public servants are convening to discuss public issues (mass torts dramatically affect the economy and the court systems), should the conference be open to the...

For years defendants in tort cases have said that Philadelphia's courts are biased, but little in the way of empirical data was available to substantiate the claims. But, a new study - by Professor Joshua D. Wright for the International Center of Law and Economics (ICLE), Portland, Ore. - indicates that the accusations of structural biases in favor of plaintiffs are justified. Wright is a law professor at George Mason University School of Law School in Arlington, Va. The study, originally published in October 2011, has updated information as of February 2012 that ...

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's interview to an Egyptian televison network the other day gave us a rare insight into why America is has so quickly gone down the road of self-destruction - judicial tyranny, plain and simple.

WASHINGTON — A second term for President Barack Obama would allow him to expand his replacement of Republican-appointed majorities with Democratic ones on the nation's appeals courts, the final stop for almost all challenged federal court rulings.

PHILADELPHIA (Legal Newsline) - Pennsylvania is known as the Quaker State and Philadelphia as the Quaker City because both were founded by William Penn, who was a member of the Society of Friends - also called Quakers. Quakers hold to "a belief in the possibility of direct, unmediated communion with the Divine." Some would suggest, however, that Philadelphia's courts are anything but divinely inspired. The January edition ...

WASHINGTON, D.C., January 31, 2012, (LifeSiteNews.com) – Barack Obama’s new appointee for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals “will be one of the strongest pro-abortion justices on the ninth circuit,” according to Clarke Forsythe, senior counsel at Americans United for Life (AUL). Senate hearings began Thursday for Andrew D. Hurwitz of Arizona, whom the president nominated for a seat on the controversial court. Hurwitz has boasted of playing a role in laying the groundwork for Roe v. Wade. In a 2002 article for the New York Law School Law Review, Hurwitz wrote of the “remarkable” career of Judge Jon O....

The three-member U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the voter-passed initiative blocking state courts from using Muslim sharia law to decide cases . The Court held that the initiative impeded plaintiff Muneer Awad’s right to fully practice his faith. “U.S. secular law does not recognize concepts like ‘honor killings,’ ‘fatwas,‘ and the suppression of blasphemy that are fundamental to the Islamic faith,” the Court said. “Consequently, if the initiative were allowed to stand, Mr. Awad might be prosecuted for acts that his faith commands him to commit. This interferes with his right to religious freedom under theUnited States’ Constitution.”...

CNSNews.com) – Twenty-seven members of Congress, including House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas), have signed an amicus brief asking the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down the entire Obamacare law if it finds that the individual mandate provision is unconstitutional. The Family Research Council filed the amicus curiae in the case challenging the constitutionality of the individual mandate of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare. The individual mandate is one provision in a larger law that also requires certain employers to provide government-approved insurance or face a penalty, establishes exchanges for government-approved insurance plans...

Former U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement told U.S. Supreme Court justices Monday that lower federal courts cannot redraw state-approved election district maps unless they can point to concrete "identifying specific statutory or constitutional violations." Instead, Clement said during oral arguments on Perry v. Perez, two federal district judges have nullified the will of the people in Texas. The evident frustration of at least some of the Supreme Court justices suggests they agree with Gov. Rick Perry that state sovereignty must be restored. Clement represented Perry and the state of Texas in an appeal of lower court decisions throwing out new...

Glenn Beck on Thursday blasted President Barack Obama’s use of executive authority to make a recess appointment, calling him a dictator who views the American people as children. On Wednesday, Obama announced he was appointing Richard Cordray the country’s chief consumer watchdog, making a recess appointment while the Senate was technically in session. The same day, he named three members to fill vacancies on the National Labor Relations Board. Explaining his decision before a crowd in Cleveland, Ohio, Obama said he has “an obligation to act on behalf of the American people” when Congress refuses and hurts the economy as...

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (LifeSiteNews.com) - Attorneys with Texas Center for Defense of Life (TCDL) representing a 14-year-old girl secured a temporary restraining order (TRO) on Wednesday from a Texas court that blocks several of her family members from forcing her to have an abortion against her will. According to a TCDL press release, the teenager’s family members had scheduled an appointment for her to have the abortion at a local Corpus Christi clinic this week. The girl has been under intense pressure to have the abortion, was allegedly physically assaulted last week by one family member, and has been prevented...

In 2005, Congress barred our terrorist enemies from appealing their wartime detention to the civilian courts. The Detainee Treatment Act (DTA) was an eminently reasonable statute. The handling of captives in wartime had always been exclusively an executive-branch prerogative — war being a political and military exercise, not a litigation. The framers committed all aspects of warfare to the political branches, accountable to the people whose lives are at stake, not to the politically insulated judiciary. Congress acted comfortably within its powers: The Constitution makes it master of the federal courts’ jurisdiction. Indeed, other than the Supreme Court, all federal...

(CNN) – Mitt Romney on Monday tore into fellow Republican presidential frontrunner Newt Gingrich, describing his opponent's recent proposals to dismantle federal courts and expel judges as unconstitutional. "There are a lot of decisions by judges I vehemently disagree with," Romney said on Fox News. "But I also agree with the Constitution. The solution to judges-out-of-control is not to tear up the Constitution and say the Congress of the United States becomes the now ultimate power in this country."

There Is No Power and No Reason to Subpoena Federal Judges December 19, 2011 12:21 P.M. By Andrew C. McCarthy I was surprised that the usually excellent Megyn Kelly’s debate question to Newt Gingrich about his proposal for reining in the judiciary intimated that former Bush administration attorneys general Michael Mukasey and Alberto Gonzales had panned the proposal as “dangerous, ridiculous, totally irresponseible, outrageous,” etc. To be sure, that’s what they said about some aspects of Gingrich’s proposal; but not the overall plan. In fact, as Megyn’s report states, Judge Mukasey said of Gingrich’s plan, “There’s a lot in there...

DECEMBER 19, 2011 Gingrich vs. Courts Echoes South's Criticism of 1950s Segregation Decisions BY JESS BRAVIN In his call to rein in the judiciary, Newt Gingrich has gone further than any major candidate in recent memory, with scalding rhetoric rarely heard since the 1950s and '60s, when Southern politicians claimed the Supreme Court exceeded its authority to order the end of segregation. (Subscriber Content only)

Two former attorneys general under President George W. Bush have found a few things to like in Newt Gingrich's position paper on reining in the authority of the federal courts, but other parts, they say, are downright disturbing. Some of the ideas are "dangerous, ridiculous, totally irresponsible, outrageous, off-the-wall and would reduce the entire judicial system to a spectacle," said former Attorney General Michael Mukasey. In a 28-page position paper entitled, "Bringing the Courts Back Under the Constitution," Gingrich argues that when the Supreme Court gets it wrong constitutionally, the president and Congress have the power to check the court,...

Statement by Gov. Rick Perry: U.S. Senate Should Reject Nomination of Liberal Judicial Activist Caitlin Halligan AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry today issued the following statement: “As New York Solicitor General, Caitlin Halligan used her liberal interpretation of the law to target pro-life Americans, gun owners, and gun manufacturers, and otherwise use the law as a liberal political tool. The last thing the American people need on the second highest court is another liberal judicial activist, like Ms. Halligan, who lacks respect for the U.S. Constitution. “The nomination of liberal activist Caitlin Halligan to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals...

Animal rights groups suffered a setback as the Appellate Division of the New Jersey state Superior Court....

Print CP Article 'Live Nativity Scene' to Be Displayed at Supreme Court, Capitol Building Tue, Nov. 29, 2011 Posted: 10:08 PM EDT The Christian Defense Coalition and Faith and Action are publicly sharing the message of Christmas this season by sponsoring a live nativity scene in front of the United States Supreme Court.Part of “The Nativity Project,� a nationwide campaign that seeks to bring the focus of Christmas back to Jesus Christ, the display not only hopes to proclaim the powerful message of the Gospel but also celebrate religious freedom, countering the hostility toward public expressions of faith.“Sadly, we...

The Department of Labor announced last week that it recovered $7,968,744 in back wages, fringe benefits and 401(k) plan assets for more than 2,000 security guards formerly employed by USProtect Corp. USProtect is a now-defunct company that provided security services for federal buildings across the country. The DOL's actions against the company related to violations of the McNamara O'Hara Service Contract Act

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s idea for checking judicial activism is a textbook case of historical revisionism that is strikingly similar to the court-packing scheme of liberal icon Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Gingrich said Congress should just pass a law eliminating specific judgeships, presumably immediately ousting the activist judges currently filling those seats. Gingrich lionizes an incident now regarded as profoundly troubling by constitutional scholars. When Thomas Jefferson replaced John Adams as president in 1801, the outgoing Congress created new federal courts and judgeships which Adams promptly filled. The new Congress repealed the law and the judges were ousted. Jefferson considered...

WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) - Independent scientific research institutes whose work influences the policies of the U.S. government as well as governments abroad, also impacts litigation in the states, an economics professor says. "The information from these think tanks does bubble up," said Professor Alex Tabarrok, chair of the Economics Department at George Mason University in Virginia. And one such organization is the Collegium Ramazzini, an independent international academy founded in 1982 by Irving J. Selikoff, Cesare Maltoni and other scientists. Selikoff is credited as a pioneer in field of asbestos research, having established a link between the inhalation of asbestos...

Independent scientific research institutes whose work influences the policies of the U.S. government as well as governments abroad, also impact litigation in the states. "The information from these think tanks does bubble up," said Professor Alex Tabarrok, chair of the Economics Department at George Mason University in Virginia. And, James Copland, director of the Center for Legal Reform at the Manhattan Institute in New York, said organizations that host "research" conferences affect trial outcomes. "A lot of lawyers pay top dollar to attend these conferences," Copland said. One such organization is the Collegium Ramazzini (CR), an independent, international ...

In New York, they call it the Bronx Jury Effect. Here, it's called the South Philadelphia Jury Effect, which looks something like a wealth redistribution scheme, according to a legal observer. "Philadelphia's courts have been bad for years," said James Copland, Director of the Manhattan Institute's Center for Legal Reform. Copland said the effect is a net result of juries that will award exorbitant amounts to plaintiffs who are suing anyone - such as doctors or large corporations - they perceive as being able to pay and that they believe should pay out large amounts. Empirical data exists that indicates...

American jurisprudence: Fair, reasonable, following the rule of law and delivering the best chance for justice anywhere, right? Well, how about a Texas district court case in which there are allegations a judge threatened a participant, ordered that his assets be seized, told him he was not allowed to hire defense counsel and then pronounced he had the full power of the Navy, Army and Marines to enforce his will? Those are the allegations contained in a case pending before the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that – by the description of a volunteer attorney working on arguments –...

Over his 10 years in office, Rick Perry has picked more Texas Supreme Court justices than any other governor, and if he wins the White House, his choices could be a clue about what kind of justices he would nominate in Washington. While Perry has been praised even by his critics for bringing diversity to the state’s highest civil court, critics say the governor leaned heavily on conservative, business-friendly ideology and gave too little consideration to judicial qualifications. Texas high-court judges are elected, but the governor fills vacancies when sitting justices step down, so six of the nine current justices...

The costs associated with the United States tort system are excessive compared to other countries Recognizing this, the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform commissioned a study that examines the economic consequences in all 50 states because of the legal milieu. The study was conducted by NERA Economic Consulting of New York City. The report "uses a first-of-its-kind econometric model to estimate the economic savings each state can realize by improving its legal environment." NERA is a global firm of experts that solves complex business and legal problems through the application of economic, finance and quantitative principles. The study, authored...

With so much at stake for businesses weighted down by litigation costs, can juries in asbestos cases be trusted to render fair and just verdicts? While there is general agreement on some pieces of the scientific puzzle - for example there's no dispute that amphibole fibers cause mesothelioma - there are differences among highly regarded scientists about the effects of chrysotile fibers. Two Philadelphia lawyers, one a plaintiffs attorney the other a defense attorney, were asked how they address asbestos science in the courtroom.

We should be wary of allowing any court to define Constitutional terms. Even more important, for the very sake of representative government, we must resolutely oppose judicial interference with the Presidential election process. From Madison’s record of the Federal Convention, it is clear the Framers considered anyone born in the US, less slaves and indians, to be a natural born citizen. They did not bother to specify parentage because it just didn’t matter. What was important was to minimize the possibility of a paid foreign born agent becoming President. Yes, I know Wiki says it was to keep foreign aristocrats...

Does the Second Amendment protect anything other than a handgun in the home? When anti-gun laws are challenged in court, should judges uphold repressive ordinances like the District of Columbia’s gun licensing scheme, which forces applicants to spend hundreds of dollars and dozens of hours just to buy an ordinary rifle? These are the questions being fought in the courts right now, in cases backed by the NRA. What answers the courts will provide are far from certain. The ultimate answers will depend on whether or not the next generation of federal judges is appointed by a President who values...

The Texas attorney general’s office will act as special prosecutor leading the re-investigation and possible prosecution in the 1986 murder of Christine Morton after DNA evidence recently revealed that her husband, Michael Morton, was wrongly convicted of the crime. Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley said he requested a special prosecutor because the state agency has expertise leading complex cases, particularly cold cases that require considerable investigation, from re-locating witnesses to developing new evidence. “Given the complexities and age of the Morton case, I wanted to make sure that we had an office and a special prosecutor with substantial experience...

A Ukraine court has found former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko guilty of abuse of authority for signing gas contracts with Russia and sentenced her Tuesday to seven years in prison. Authorities deployed hundreds of police officers around the court to keep order, state media reported. Dozens of angry Tymoshenko supporters took to the streets of Kiev in August when she was taken into custody. "Dear friends, I just want to say that I disagree with this verdict and I am saying that the year 1937 is back again," Tymoshenko said in the courtroom on Tuesday, making a reference to Josef...

Constitutional Role of Judges at 2:30 PM CSpan3

MAGNOLIA, WI — John Adams can’t see the nearly 3,000 cows on the dairy farm two miles from his Wisconsin home, but when the wind blows he can smell them. The stench gives him and his wife headaches. They blame the big farm for contaminating their air and polluting the groundwater well they use for drinking, bathing and watering their garden. They no longer feel safe eating the vegetables they grow. Adams also blames the state, which requires local governments to grant permits to large farms that meet certain limited criteria, even if there are additional environmental concerns. The rural...

A Rochester man has been sentenced to six years in prison for violating the Clean Air Act and making false statements to a federal inspector. Keith Gordon-Smith, 54, was also sentenced to serve three years of probation following his prison term and ordered to pay a $1,100 fine. U.S. District Court Judge Charles J. Siragusa pronounced sentence on Gordon-Smith in federal court in Rochester on Wednesday. His sentence comes less than two weeks after ...

WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) - Asbestos litigation has become a multibillion-dollar industry -- bankrupting large corporations, enriching lawyers and courts and providing much needed relief to victims of the deadly diseases that exposure to some types asbestos in specific amounts will cause. Asbestos has been called by U.S. Rep. Trent Franks "the worst occupational health disaster in U.S. history." But Franks, R-Ariz., condemned much of the legal process of those who are suing to recover damages caused by some of these substances. There is much about asbestos that is unknown. It is not all settled science. There is general scientific concurrence...

A sunken treasure worth about $500 million was discovered by an American company has been awarded to Spain by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit. The treasure-laden Spanish ship was located off the coast of Gibraltar in 2007. It had been sunk during a naval battle with the British navy in 1804. Several parties made claim to the treasure. The company that made the recovery, Odyssey Marine Exploration Inc., the governments of Spain and Peru, and 25 individuals who were descendants of the sailors on the ship. The federal district court, which heard...

Georgia inmate Troy Davis's last-ditch request for a lie detector test to try to prove his innocence ahead of tonight's planned execution has been denied by Georgia Department of Corrections. Defence lawyer Stephen Marsh said he had hoped the polygraph would convince the state pardons board to reconsider a decision against clemency, which was rejected yesterday. Davis, 42, is scheduled to die at 7pm tonight. It is the fourth time in four years that Davis' execution has been scheduled by Georgia officials.

The so-called Missouri Plan for judicial selection has become controversial in dozens of states that use it for giving disproportionate influence to liberals and trial lawyers. Now Missouri itself is again illustrating why. To fill a vacancy on the state supreme court, Missouri's judicial nominating commission has chosen a slate of three candidates that would make George Soros blush. Leading the trio sent to Governor Jay Nixon is Joe Jacobson, a trial lawyer...A second nominee, County Circuit Judge Michael Manners, spent two decades as a trial lawyer himself...Rounding out the trio is George Draper III, a state appeals-court judge and...

The practice of making duplicate claims from asbestos tort and trust systems was hammered by Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) during a House subcommittee hearing Friday. Franks said that asbestos litigation has long been - and continues to be - rife with deception and exploitation, negatively effecting asbestos victims, the legal system and the employment of American workers. He noted that it has been five years since Congress provided oversight of asbestos litigation. At the time, widespread fraud in mass asbestos screenings was uncovered. "This massive fraud turned the worst occupational health disaster in U.S. history into one of the country's...

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — The family of a Yale University graduate student killed in a research lab just days before she had planned to get married in 2009 sued the Ivy League school Tuesday, claiming it had failed to adequately protect women on campus for years. The wrongful death lawsuit was filed in New Haven Superior Court by lawyers for the family of Annie Le, a 24-year-old Placerville, Calif., native whose strangled body was found stuffed upside-down in a wall at the Yale lab building on Sept. 13, 2009. That was the same day of her scheduled wedding and five...

U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks issued an injunction against a Texas law that would require a woman seeking an abortion to receive a sonogram and hear about its results at least 24 hours prior to the procedure. “The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that in this country any woman has the right to have an abortion at any time and for any reason,” Sparks wrote. “The intent of the Texas law is to provide information and time during which a woman might change her mind. It is an unacceptable infringement of this well-established woman’s right.” read more... http://azconserv1.wordpress.com/2011/09/03/obama-miffed-over-date-rebuff/

Individuals wiser than I tell us the balance of nature allows for both good and bad, although not always in equal measure. Most of the time, we must search hard for the good in a situation so our personal scales will balance. Priests and preachers put it another way by teaching us that God does not close a door without opening another. In the case of our family and of the man who tortured and killed my wife’s sister nearly 30 years ago, the closing of his prison cell opens the door for our long-delayed healing. If you have not...

In a few days, exactly one week as I write this, our family will look once more into the eyes of evil and hope that our long journey for justice will be ended. Events happen throughout our lives that we remember with a clarity undimmed by the passage of time. The day was Oct. 26, 1981. I was home for my dinner break when my mother-in-law called to deliver the awful news that my wife’s sister was dead, murdered in her Greencastle, Ind., home. When I saw President Bush’s face as Andy Card told him about the 9/11 attacks, I...

The Delaware American Civil Liberties Union has filed court papers to stop sex offenders from being evicted from a safe house that is located near a new day care center. The ACLU along with an attorney representing the safe house and three sex offenders has asked a judge to issue a temporary restraining order to prevent the city from evicting the residents. “The state has asked the residents to leave and if they don’t leave they will be arrested,” attorney Daniel Wolcott, Jr. told Fox News Radio. Read the entire story at www.toddstarnes.com

There has been no shortage of court cases regarding the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act. Before today, four courts, including the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, examined the health reform law and found it constitutional. Today, a different court ruled against the Affordable Care Act’s individual responsibility provision. We strongly disagree with this decision and we are confident it will not stand. The individual responsibility provision – the main part of the law at issue in these cases – is constitutional. Those who claim this provision exceeds Congress’ power to regulate interstate commerce are incorrect. Individuals who choose to...