Free Republic

A marathon deportation case against two Palestinian immigrants, pursued by the administrations of four U.S. Presidents over 20 years, has been dismissed. The ruling closes a Byzantine legal saga that wound its way through federal appellate courts, the U.S. Supreme Court and federal immigration boards, breaking new legal ground along the way. It ended at the Department of Homeland Security, where the dismissal order was entered Tuesday. One of the defendants, Khader Musa Hamide, said in an interview that he will never get over the experience of being under suspicion for 20 years but now "I can breathe better." A...

NAVAL STATION GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba, June 4, 2007 – In a decision that could affect the future of the military commission system, the judge in the military commission case of accused terrorist Omar Khadr today dismissed all charges against Khadr and adjourned the hearing. Halting what was supposed to be a routine arraignment here, Army Col. Peter Brownback, the military judge, dismissed the charges based on a question about the jurisdiction of the military commission regarding the status of enemy combatants. Specifically, the conflict arose because Khadr’s Combatant Status Review Tribunal designated him as an “enemy combatant” and not an...

CHICAGO - An immigration activist who took refuge in a church after the government ordered her deported to Mexico said Saturday she will remain holed up there, even though a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit filed on her behalf. The lawsuit against the government had contended that deporting Arellano would effectively deport her son Saul, who is a U.S. citizen, and would violate his rights. U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve ruled Friday that although the 7-year-old would face hardships, they weren't of constitutional magnitude. Arellano, 31, and her son have been living at the Adalberto United Methodist Church since...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 17, 2005 – The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff today dismissed rhetoric that the United States has lowered its expectations in Iraq. Speaking with Matt Lauer in Baghdad, Iraq, on NBC's "Today" program, Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers blamed the rhetoric on people hoping to expose a rift between military leaders in Iraq and officials in Washington. Emphasizing that plans in Iraq are "on track," the United States' top military officer said those who say otherwise are "are trying to find some divide between the military leadership over here and the folks back in Washington...

TEANECK, N.J. (AP) - An adjunct history professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University who hosts a webcast program called "White Viewpoint" has been dismissed for missing too many days of class, school officials said. Jacques Pluss, 51, acknowledged he is a member of the National Socialist Movement, a pro-Nazi group. University officials said Pluss was dismissed for missing too many days of a class, but Pluss said each of his three absences was excused with a doctor's note. "What I suspect is somebody on campus discovered I crossed the line of political correctness," Pluss said. John Snyder, dean of Fairleigh Dickinson's...

EDITORIAL: Dismissal of case fails smell test Former law enforcement official walks after driving-under-the-influence arrest Those employed by local government like to tell the taxpayers that no special privileges are gained from membership in the bureaucracy. "We're just like you," they purr as their salaries grow faster than Jack's beanstalk. But every once in a while, the bright light of public scrutiny reaches the dark office corners where secret handshakes and passwords are handed down, and common citizens are reminded of the perks enjoyed by insiders. Such was the case last week, when Edward G. Henderson, the former chief Southern...

Judge Alfred Delucchi surprised court observers when he dismissed juror No. 5 only hours after the jury had resumed deliberations. On Tuesday, juror No. 7, a woman from San Mateo County, California, was also taken off the jury and deliberations had started up again.

Kerry's Dishonorable Discharge... "Reporting for duty"? For a guy who's hitched his entire presidential campaign to his military service record, John Kerry sure is parsimonious when it comes to releasing that record. As noted in this column on more than one occasion, Kerry has consistently refused to sign a Standard Form 180 authorizing the Department of Defense to release all of his records. George W. Bush's military records were so spotless that Dan Rather gleefully trotted out some fabricated documents in order to kick up a little dust. Of course, if Rather were a real journalist rather than just a...

Blair view on Iraq dismissed by Powell By Anton La Guardia, Diplomatic Editor (Filed: 04/06/2004) America again slapped down Tony Blair yesterday when it insisted that the new Iraqi government would have no veto over US and other coalition troops. "You can't use the word 'veto'," said Colin Powell, the US secretary of state, in an interview with the Arab satellite channel, Middle East Broadcasting Centre. Mr Powell said the United States would co-ordinate with the Iraqi interim government. "But circumstances could arise where a situation is developing and our troops have to act in a way that protects them,"...

<p>Sacramento federal prosecutors lied and misled three judges to conceal dealings between the U.S. attorney's office and a Placer County narcotics detective, a defense attorney alleges in a sealed court document. The charge arises in a marijuana case against a former Rio Linda couple and grew out of attorney William Panzer's four-year quest for information about a federal grand jury subpoena.</p>

<p>SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (AP) - Judges on Tuesday dismissed a petition filed by environmental groups claiming the bankrupt Pacific Gas and Electric Co. is unqualified to build a spent-fuel storage facility at the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant.</p> <p>Three administrative judges, who are part of the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board of the Texas-based U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), concluded that the petitioners "failed to demonstrate there is any genuine and substantial dispute of fact or law."</p>

Former FAU prof says he was fired for failing students By Jennifer Peltz Staff Writer Posted July 16 2003 A former Florida Atlantic University engineering professor is suing over his firing last year, saying he was dismissed because he wouldn't pass students who didn't deserve to. FAU maintained that professor Peter Szabo had been insubordinate to superiors and irresponsible toward students, according to Szabo's court filings. FAU officials said they hadn't seen his complaint, filed Tuesday afternoon, and so couldn't discuss it. Szabo declined to comment, and his lawyer could not be reached Tuesday evening, but according to the court...

<p>SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - More than 2,000 protesters arrested for clogging city streets to demonstrate against the war in Iraq could see all charges against them dropped.</p> <p>San Francisco court commissioner Paul Slavit signaled Thursday he would dismiss charges against 2,300 people arrested in protests the day after the war started - unless the district attorney's office files new charges.</p>

<p>SACRAMENTO (AP) - A Pacific Gas and Electric Co. lawsuit against the state seeking $4.1 billion for breach of contract was dismissed by a Sacramento Superior Court judge Thursday.</p> <p>The utility had claimed the state owed it for money lost when it couldn't sell its power plants, or sell the energy produced in them, at market rates as promised under a 1996 deregulation law.</p>

It was a case of mistaken identity, but it still landed a Clear Lake dentist and accused killer back in court Monday. Clara Harris, the dentist accused of murder for repeatedly driving over her husband, sits in a courtroom with her lawyer, George Parnham. Clara Harris, 44, accused of repeatedly running over her husband with a car and killing him, remained free on bond after her attorney convinced prosecutors she did not go to the home of her husband's mistress in violation of the court's order. Prosecutor Mia Magness withdrew a motion to revoke bond after concluding Clara Harris did...

<p>INDIO, Calif. (AP) - Drug charges against actor Robert Downey Jr. were dismissed Friday by a judge who also ended his probation.</p> <p>Riverside County Superior Court Judge Randall D. White made his ruling after determining that Downey had stayed clean and sober for 14 months.</p>

<p>WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) - A man exonerated of rape by DNA tests died on the same day the charges against him were dismissed, his lawyer said.</p> <p>An autopsy was being performed to determine why 34-year-old Clinton F. Healy Jr. died Tuesday at a Worcester hospital, said his lawyer, Michael S. Hussey.</p>