Free Republic

Note: Judge appointed by President Clinton When Jeff Baron came to Washington this month, he was wearing a borrowed suit. Once upon a time, the Internet pioneer -- who taught himself computer programming and created innovative software to register domain names -- lived the good life in a Dallas suburb. His company, Ondova, was a cash cow, pulling in $1.5 million in profit each month. It all started unraveling when Baron, now 44, hired some high-powered Texas attorneys to help manage his holdings, and he was approached by a potential business partner who promised to turn Ondova into the next...

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...

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 ...

Speaker Gingrich's campaign position paper, "Bringing the Courts Back Under the Constitution," has serious flaws such as proposing that Congress and the Executive could limit the jurisdiction of the courts to hear cases challenging unconstitutional laws that are enacted by those two branches.One of the controversial positions in the paper that has drawn criticism is that Congress may subpoena judges to testify about judicial opinions they've written. Subpoenaing judges actually may be one of the better ideas in the paper, and could be implemented independent of the other proposals. In fact, there is no provision in the Constitution barring Congress from...

Sen. Charles Schumer’s brother-in-law was quietly nominated this month to a federal judgeship in New Jersey — a move that has some in the Garden State crying political foul, The Post has learned. Kevin McNulty, who is married to Schumer’s sister, Fran, was named to the US District Court by the White House late on Friday, Dec. 16. According to a boilerplate quote, President Obama believes McNulty is a “distinguished individual” who “will serve the American people with integrity and a steadfast commitment to justice.”

Can't post Bloomberg, but they say others also have plans that would challenge balance of power, including Perry, Bachmann and Paul. Not surprisingly, Romney seems to be about the only one willing to go along with the status quo. Wouldn't want to rock the boat or cause a constitutional crisis. As a true blue establishment RINO, he'd rather just play it safe and go along with the liberal activists.

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...

In last night’s debate among Republican presidential candidates, Newt Gingrich defended his proposal to oust bad judges from office by statutorily abolishing the judicial offices they occupy. In a series of posts, Matt Franck and I will explain why we believe that this particular proposal of Gingrich’s is constitutionally unsound and politically foolish. (Matt and I may have somewhat different thinking on the underlying issues, so the views expressed by one of us should not necessarily be imputed to the other.)In this opening post, I will set forth Gingrich’s proposal to abolish judgeships. At the outset, let me emphasize that...

GOP presidential frontrunner Newt Gingrich said Congress has the power to dispatch the Capitol Police or U.S. Marshals to apprehend a federal judge who renders a decision lawmakers broadly oppose... Gingrich made his remarks during a Sunday appearance on CBS’s “Face the Nation” where he defended his position that the president has the power to eliminate federal courts to disempower judges who hand down decisions out of step with the rest of the nation...

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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...

<p>A judge handed Occupy Boston a major win today, granting a court order that forbids police to carry out a New York-style clearing of the Dewey Square encampment except in cases that pose a major threat to public safety. Suffolk Superior Court Judge Frances McIntyre issued a temporary restraining order this afternoon, saying Occupiers will allowed to stay camped peacefully opposite South Station until a court hearing for a preliminary injunction Dec. 1. Police are still allowed to clear the park if there is an “outbreak of violence” or a catastrophe such as a fire, she said. “It’s a big victory,” said Occupy Boston member Kristopher Eric Martin. “Not only in Boston, across the country, this is a big victory in the sense our First Amendment rights are going to be heard.” The order does not, however, prevent police from making arrests on the property, part of the state-owned and privately managed Rose Kennedy Greenway. Lawyers for the Occupy Boston requested the restraining order as a pre-emptive move, after police in New York removed protesters and seized tents from Zuccotti Park, the site of the original and figurehead Occupy Wall Street demonstration. Attorneys for the city argued that Occupy Boston’s lawyers jumped the gun; there has been no wholesale clearing of demonstrators to date, and they say the city has no plans to carry out such an operation. “This is a simple matter,” attorney Raquel Webster argued on the city’s behalf. “We should not be here today. It’s premature.”</p>

Christie attacks jurists' motives in pension caseBy Beth DeFalco Associated Press Posted: Fri, Nov. 11, 2011, 3:00 AM TRENTON - Gov. Christie questioned the motives of two state Supreme Court justices Thursday after the court agreed to fast-track a case involving a Superior Court judge's challenge to a new requirement that judges - like other state employees - pay more toward their health insurance and pensions. The suit maintains that the higher contributions in effect reduce judicial salaries and thus violate the state Constitution provision that the salaries of Supreme Court and Superior Court judges "shall not be diminished during...

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 –...

Texas Governor Rick Perry, who entered the GOP presidential race less than two weeks ago, is the latest Republican presidential candidate to sign a pro-life pledge put forward by the Susan B. Anthony List on abortion and judges. The pledge has the candidates promising to support only judicial nominees who won't interpret the Constitution in a way that supports Roe v. Wade, select pro-life Cabinet members on positions affecting abortion policy, supporting legislation to stop taxpayer funding of abortions and Planned Parenthood, and to support a fetal pain bill that would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. "I not...

"Governor Rick Perry has always championed the pro-life cause, tirelessly advocating for the sanctity of innocent human life in numerous ways," Texas Right to Life executive director Elizabeth Graham tells LifeNews.com. "Governor Perry has worked alongside Texas Right to Life, helping shepherd our pro-life bills and eagerly supporting our measures," Graham said. "As governor of Texas, he has intervened to stop anti-life legislation on a number of occasions, and he has helped clear obstacles when necessary."

Delaware Superior Court Judge Peggy L. Ableman ordered two opposing lawyers in asbestos litigation to attend a mandatory civility course over the Labor Day weekend. A letter addressed to attorneys Loreta P. Rufo and David W. deBruin suggested they needed a refresher course in civility. In the Sept. 1 letter, which was posted in Abovethelaw.com, Ableman wrote, "In view of the recent correspondence regarding the Anderson and Morgan trials, the Court has decided that it is necessary to ...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- A U.C. Berkeley law professor whose nomination to a federal appeals court was blocked by Senate Republicans is about to become a member of the California Supreme Court. The state's three-member Commission on Judicial Appointments unanimously voted to approve Liu's nomination by Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday. T

Media: Just days before the U.S.-Colombia free trade pact heads for a vote, the Washington Post publishes a story claiming Colombia's miracle is a sham. This is a smear unworthy of the name "journalism." Topping the front page in its Sunday edition with "A case of aid gone bad in Colombia," the Post attempted to rewrite history by claiming the U.S.'s $8 billion Plan Colombia military program that broke the back of its drug cartels was really ... a waste. Pay no attention to the safety, security and economic growth that have made Colombia such an attractive partner for a...

RALEIGH, N.C. -- North Carolina cannot withhold funding from Planned Parenthood until a lawsuit over that provision of the state budget has been resolved, a federal judge ruled late Friday. In a 35-page ruling, Judge James Beaty Jr. sided with Planned Parenthood of Central North Carolina, one of the state's two Planned Parenthood affiliates, in its effort to halt the portion of the state budget that would withhold funding for non-abortion services, a provision referred to throughout the judge's ruling as Section 10.19.

TAVARES — Lawyers for civic leader Bruce Duncan may learn today if they persuaded a judge to toss out evidence that strongly suggests Duncan was drunk when authorities say he caused a fatal accident. Circuit Judge Michael Takac listened to two hours of argument and testimony Friday from five witnesses, including Duncan, 47, who has pleaded not guilty to DUI/manslaughter in the death of retired postal worker Herbert "Steve" Muller, 61, of Mount Dora. --snip-- Muller was known for his white beard and a collection of one-liners at the Mount Dora post office. Duncan recently participated in an economic-development workshop...

CINCINNATI (The Blaze/AP) — In the first ruling by a federal appeals court on President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul, a judicial panel in Cincinnati on Wednesday affirmed an earlier ruling that Congress can require Americans to have minimum insurance coverage (commonly referred to as the “individual mandate”). A conservative law center had challenged the provision, saying that it was unconstitutional and that Congress was overstepping its powers. The three-judge 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel delivered a long opinion with disagreement on some issues. The 2-1 majority opinion was written by a Jimmy Carter appointee and agreed with...

The White House announced Wednesday evening that President Barack Obama is nominating Alaska Supreme Court Justice Morgan Christen to the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. "I am proud to nominate this outstanding candidate to serve on the United States Court of Appeals," Obama said in a statement. "I am confident Justice Morgan Christen will serve the American people with integrity and distinction."

The recent hotly disputed judicial election in Wisconsin election brings home some deeper questions: should we elect judges?  Should justice be political?  Should it be ideological?  Whether judges should be political or not, they have been since at least the Dred Scott case in 1858.  That decision may have led to the Civil War.  The Roe v. Wade decision has caused a similar sort of civil war by lifting abortion out of the province of state law. State judges, including state Supreme Court justices, are elected in many states.  Seven states have partisan election of these justices, and electing...

Senate Republicans have successfully filibustered the nomination of Berkeley law professor Goodwin Liu to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The final vote on cloture was 52 to 43, with one Senator (Orrin Hatch of Utah) voting “present,” well short of the 60 votes required to end a filibuster. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R., Alaska) voted yes, while Sen. Ben Nelson (D., Neb.) voted no. Sens. Bauchus, Hutchison, Moran and Vitter did not vote.

On summer nights in the mid-1960s, while black-and-white television crackled elsewhere in his Staten Island home with news of Southern violence and Vietnam, Bobby Lasnik would stretch out in his bedroom to let the righteous soundtrack of the civil rights movement waft into his impressionable teenage soul. Tuned in to WBAI-FM, coming across the water from Manhattan, he heard baleful laments about injustice that he would carry with him for a lifetime. FOR THE RECORD: Bob Dylan lyrics: In the May 9 Section A, an article about the use of singer-songwriter Bob Dylan's lyrics in legal opinions and briefs quoted...

No freeman is to be taken or imprisoned or disseised of his free tenement or of his liberties or free customs, or outlawed or exiled or in any way ruined, nor will we go against such a man or send against him save by lawful judgement of his peers or by the law of the land. To no-one will we sell or deny of delay right or justice.

Final county tallies show Prosser with a 7,316-vote lead over Kloppenburg. State election officials aren't declaring an official winner in case Kloppenburg decides to request a recount. She has until Wednesday to call for one, and her campaign said on Friday afternoon that she is weighing her options. Prosser received about 752,000 votes while Kloppenburg received about 745,000.

No, it was not a headline from the satirical newspaper, The Onion. It was just the latest scorn by President Obama toward conservatives everywhere, and conservative women in particular. The President has seriously nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit Stephen Six, whose prints are all over the obstruction of justice in an investigation of an alleged systematic statutory rape cover-up at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Kansas. The people of Kansas know Steven Six well. Radical pro-abortion advocate Kathleen Sebelius, former Kansas Governor and now Secretary of the Department of Health & Human Services ,...

Even if it could be proved that judges who are making rulings that go counter to the written law produce better results in those particular cases than following the letter of the law would have, that does not make society better off. When laws become unreliable and judges unpredictable, lawsuits become a bonanza for charlatans, who can force honest people to settle out of court, for fear of what some judge might do. * The mainstream media never expressed half the outrage about Mao Zedong as they did about Ronald Reagan. Yet, when it came to killing millions of innocent...

It wasn’t long ago that we were all assured that there is no future of Sharia being implemented in the United States. Groups like CAIR and ISNA work diligently to calm our fears and to ensure that we harbor no concern for what many have labeled creeping Sharia. There was a significant outcry against the recent ban of Sharia in Oklahoma, and other states have followed a similar path. Opponents of such ban claim it is simply “anti-Muslim,” and mock anyone who tries to express a concern that Sharia may take root in the United States. Unfortunately, what happened in...

"three federal judges in California do believe thugs released early from prison will make people safer—causing one to question if they are driven by ideology more than law."

The following is adapted from a speech delivered on February 16, 2011, at a Hillsdale College National Leadership Seminar in Phoenix, Arizona. TO BEGIN, consider one of the most important measures of property, the kilogram. It’s a measure of mass or, for non-scientific purposes, weight. According to the papers last week, a global scramble is under way to define this most basic unit after it was discovered that the standard kilogram—a cylinder of platinum and iridium that is maintained by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures—has been losing mass. You may think that this is impossible. Of all the...

There is no place in British law for Christian beliefs, despite this country’s long history of religious observance and the traditions of the established Church, two High Court judges said on Monday. Lord Justice Munby and Mr Justice Beatson made the remarks when ruling on the case of a Christian couple who were told that they could not be foster carers because of their view that homosexuality is wrong. The judges underlined that, in the case of fostering arrangements at least, the right of homosexuals to equality “should take precedence” over the right of Christians to manifest their beliefs and...

Tuesday night, a federal judge in Washington D.C. ruled that the new healthcare law is constitutional with an important side-note. Judge Kessler is the third judge to do so, while two judges ruled that it isn’t constitutional. Judge Kessler ruled that the individual mandate to buy health insurance within the new law falls under Congressional power under the Commerce Clause of the Constitution. While the Department of Justice largely counts this as a win in their favor (and it is) there is one detail that could cause major problems further down the road. While the main argument from the Obama...

<p>At least one mystery from Sarah Palin's short reign as governor of Alaska appears to have been cleared up by claims made in a manuscript for a book proposed by former Palin aide and confident Frank Bailey.</p> <p>Many have wondered why Palin, who professes to be pro-life, named to the Alaska Supreme Court Morgan Christen, who is pro-choice. The move took both conservatives and liberals by surprise in 2009.</p>

Dane County Circuit Court Judge Maryann Sumi denied a Madison School District request to force teachers back into the schools. But a lawyer for Madison Teachers Inc., the local teachers union, said in court teachers will return to school Tuesday. The district late Friday filed for a temporary restraining order to bar teachers from taking part in any further work stoppages such as teacher demonstrations that have closed schools three days this week. The filing characterizes the work stoppage as an illegal strike. Strikes by teachers are prohibited by state law.

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama, moving on the recommendation of Sen. Lindsey Graham, nominated to the federal bench Wednesday a South Carolina family court judge with a case before the U.S. Supreme Court. Obama sent to the Senate the nomination of Timothy M. Cain to replace U.S. District Judge G. Ross Anderson, a 1980 appointee of President Jimmy Carter who's been on semi-retired "senior status" with a reduced workload for two years. Obama cited Cain's "unwavering commitment to justice" and expressed confidence he would "continue to serve the American people with integrity." Cain, 50, received undergraduate and law degrees from...

New Jersey, the Garden State, has just taken its first step toward becoming the Sharia State, with Governor Christie's nomination of Sohail Mohammed, an attorney to detained terrorist suspects, to a Superior Court judgeship in Passaic County. The Sohail nomination continues Christie's unfortunate pandering to the American Muslim Union and the Islamic Center of Passaic County. Passaic County has the second largest Muslim population in the country. And the Islamic Center of Passaic County is the state's largest mosque, and it's the only one run by an an Imam who was a member of the Hamas terrorist organization. But when...

Facing the first test of their controversial slip-and-sue snow-removal ruling, three of the state’s seven high court justices yesterday flunked the Herald’s spot inspection of the sidewalks, paths and stairs at their own homes.

After a monthslong blockade, Senate Republicans have agreed to let at least 19 of President Barack Obama's non-controversial judicial nominees win confirmation in the waning days of the congressional session in exchange for a commitment by Democrats not to seek votes on four others, according to officials familiar with the deal.

To anyone in the Pro-Life movement for any length of time Paul Schenck is an iconic figure. The image which adorned the cover of Life magazine of a younger Paul Schenck, still a Protestant minister at the time, is a part of the pictorial history of the movement. ... ...In 2004 I served as the Deacon at the Mass where Fr. Frank Pavone received Paul into full communion with the Catholic Church. Paul laid aside his ordained ministry in the Reformed Episcopal Church to become a Catholic. ... With a dispensation from Rome waiving the celibacy requirement, Paul was ordained...

Republicans, Libertarians, Tea Partiers, et al. are celebrating our big Election Day victory. America was teetering on the brink of destruction and needed the infusion of decency and smaller less intrusive government we got. Our new majority will begin the painstaking process of reconstructing our democracy but we can expect it to be hindered every step of the way by Democrat appointed judges. It does not have to be that way. The judicial area of government has grown apace in size, arrogance, and intrusiveness, particularly in the Federal Appellate courts. For far too long we have laid supine as life...

Bristol Palin is no Ginger Rogers. She’s not even Britney Spears. Bristol made it to the final three of ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” because the viewers are fans of her mother, Sarah Palin. So what? Sarah Palin is enormously popular with main street Americans. Recent polls show that Palin is the leading Republican presidential candidate for 2012. Palin is treated like a rock star at public appearances. Her TLC reality travel show, “Sarah Palin’s Alaska”, premiered last week as the sixth highest-rated show on cable. (The ratings fell by the second show, but held at three million viewers, which...

Given its lame-duck status, the U.S. Senate is unlikely to take up any huge legislative efforts between now and January. And that means Senate Democrats, who still control 59 seats, can get down to tying up some loose ends, like moving some of President Obama’s more controversial judicial nominees to the floor for a vote...

When I think of modern America, conjured up is an image of a boxer who, while sometimes bobbing, weaving, blocking, and occasionally directing a blow with his right, intermittently hits himself in the head with his left. I also might then imagine how the other man in the ring would laugh upon witnessing the spectacle of an opponent who, inexplicably, does half his job for him. The latest hard left thrown in our masochistic, self-flagellating land is the reaction to the Oklahoma constitutional amendment forbidding judges from using international or Sharia law when making decisions. First, and not surprisingly, a...

A conservative tsunami rolled across the nation Tuesday night, bringing with it Republican majorities to the U.S. House, governorships, and state legislatures.  But did the tidal wave also affect judicial races and ballot issues across the country? Iowa has received much of the media attention for firing three of its state Supreme Court justices who last year discovered a constitutional right to same-sex marriage.  These soon-to-be former justices will not only be making far more money in private practice then they ever did on the bench, but they will be saluted by the Bar whenever they enter a room.  They...

Results of the recent elections showed that growing numbers of Americans are fed up with “public servants” who act as if they are public masters. This went beyond the usual objections to particular policies. It was the fact that policies were crammed down our throats, whether we liked them or not. In fact, laws were passed so fast that nobody had time to read them. Whether these policies were good, bad, or indifferent, the way they were imposed represented a more fundamental threat to the very principles of a self-governing people established by the Constitution of the United States. Arrogant...

Results of the recent elections showed that growing numbers of Americans are fed up with "public servants" who act as if they are public masters. This went beyond the usual objections to particular policies. It was the fact that policies were crammed down our throats, whether we liked them or not. In fact, laws were passed so fast that nobody had time to read them. Whether these policies were good, bad or indifferent, the way they were imposed represented a more fundamental threat to the very principles of a self-governing people established by the Constitution of the United States....

Judicial Retention: Three judges in Iowa were disrobed on Tuesday for voting to end the state's ban on gay marriage. Even those who legislate from the bench would be wise not to ignore we the people. We've often complained about the power of unelected judges who, when not circumventing the U.S. Constitution and those of their respective states, are busy inventing new rights that often conflict with the will of the people, even after voters or their elected representatives have voted the opposite way. In some states, while voters may not get to pick the judges, they can vote to...