http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/judiciary/ en-us Sun, 3 Jan 2010 23:07:34 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2420243/posts In separate rulings, one in California and the other in Minnesota, judges ordered those states’ governors to restore spending that they had reduced because of soaring deficits. In Minnesota, District Judge Kathleen Gearin directed state Governor Tim Pawlenty (R) to reinstate cuts he had made to a food distribution program, calling the Governor’s actions “callous and immoral.” “At a time of high unemployment it is exceedingly cruel for a state official to be denying people access to the food they need to live,” Gearin said. “This is especially the case when it is obvious that the government has not maximized... A Semi-News/Semi-Satire from AzConservative http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2420243/posts#comment Sun, 3 Jan 2010 23:07:34 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415245/posts The fallout is already coming from this year's Supreme Court Caperton decision on judicial bias, and it isn't good. A new rule on judicial recusal in Michigan shows how the decision could expose nearly every judge to charges of prejudice. In Caperton v. Massey, the Supremes set out a new standard requiring judges to recuse themselves if there is a "probability of bias" in a case. That was a marked departure from historical standards, which required a judge to step off primarily when he had a direct financial interest. Under the new rule, created by the Michigan Supreme Court to... Wall Street Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415245/posts#comment Sat, 26 Dec 2009 12:02:38 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2414186/posts A group of judges, political officials and lawyers, led by the retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, has begun a campaign to persuade states to choose judges on the basis of merit, rather than their ability to win an election. As a state legislator in the 1970s, Justice O’Connor helped Arizona create a merit selection system for judges. She is now chairwoman of the O’Connor Judicial Selection Initiative, announced this month by the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System at the University of Denver, to help make judges more than “politicians in robes,” as she has... New York Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2414186/posts#comment Thu, 24 Dec 2009 01:45:14 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2408487/posts Just in time for the holidays, ATRA, or the American Tort Reform Association, as they’ve done the past several years, has announced their list of the year’s Judicial Hellholes. The organization describes the hellholes thusly: Judicial Hellholes are places where judges systematically apply laws and court procedures in an inequitable manner, generally against defendants in civil lawsuits. . . . Not coincidentally, the local or state economies in many of these Hellholes jurisdictions have suffered more than most during the latest recession. And while reasonable people may disagree about the specific rankings assigned to each, no one can reasonably argue... Wall Street Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2408487/posts#comment Wed, 16 Dec 2009 05:02:51 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2388521/posts The stage is being set for a major ruling from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on the question of whether the United States judiciary actually can enforce the provisions of the U.S. Constitution. The basic question is being raised as an appeal is being assembled to a district judge's decision to dismiss at legal challenge to President Barack Obama's occupancy in the Oval Office based on claims he doesn't even qualify for the position under the requirements of the U.S. Constitution. WND previously reported when U.S. District Judge David Carter decided to dismiss the complaint that listed several... WorldNetDaily http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2388521/posts#comment Tue, 17 Nov 2009 22:22:07 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2385766/posts -- Vote could come as early as MondayHe has been called "extreme" by some. But to others, he's beyond extreme... he's a "Radical's Radical."  Whatever he is, he could become President Obama's next choice for the federal judiciary. This radical is Judge David Hamilton, and he's been nominated for a position on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Hamilton has made many political enemies on the right, seeing that his politics are to the far left of the political spectrum.  Oh yes, judges aren't supposed to be political, but this one has engaged in quite a bit of leftist activism.... Gun Owners of America http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2385766/posts#comment Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:12:05 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2379107/posts Joan Orie Melvin, a Republican judge from Western Pennsylvania, prevailed in the Philadelphia suburbs yesterday to claim a decisive win in the hard-fought battle for a vacancy on the state Supreme Court. Melvin's victory shifts the political balance on the state's most powerful bench to Republican, and could portend a re-energized conservative base in the 2010 gubernatorial and congressional elections. Philadelphia Inquirer http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2379107/posts#comment Thu, 5 Nov 2009 14:13:00 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2373348/posts A panel concludes its investigation of the 9th Circuit's chief judge after he says he has stopped e-mailing his 'gag list.' No action is taken against him.Alex Kozinski, chief judge of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, has apologized for having maintained an e-mail "gag list" in which he distributed crude jokes and other humorous material, according to an opinion made public Tuesday. Kozinski was admonished earlier this year in a separate case for being "judicially imprudent" and "exhibiting poor judgment" by placing sexually explicit photos and videos on an Internet server that could be accessed by the public.... Los Angeles Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2373348/posts#comment Thu, 29 Oct 2009 01:18:12 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2325856/posts Cruel to Be Kind? by: Brittany Fortier, August 27, 2009 One of the more controversial trends in the criminal justice system today is the lobbying effort currently underway to abolish life-without-parole for juvenile offenders. Anti-incarceration activists seek to extend the Supreme Court’s ruling in Roper v. Simmons, which prohibited the death penalty in the cases for juveniles. If they are successful, the “cruel and unusual punishment” analysis used in Roper will be applied to life-without-parole sentences. A panel of legal experts discussed this issue at the Heritage Foundation on August 17, 2009. Paul Wallace, Chief of Appeals at the Delaware... Campus Report http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2325856/posts#comment Thu, 27 Aug 2009 17:35:02 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2316663/posts TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's Supreme Leader appointed Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani as the new head of the country's judiciary on Saturday, state television reported. Some reformist websites had recently reported that Larijani was hesitant to accept the position because of the mass arrests of moderate detainees over unrest that erupted after the country's disputed June 12 presidential election. He will face controversy straight away -- the semi-official ISNA news agency said a new trial would start on Sunday of 25 opposition supporters detained after the election. Larijani, a brother of parliament speaker Ali Larijani and a member of Iran's hardline constitutional... Al Reuters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2316663/posts#comment Sat, 15 Aug 2009 14:28:51 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2305219/posts Federal law now criminalizes activities that the average person would never dream would land him in prison. ---------------------------cut--------------------------- Every year, thousands of upstanding, responsible Americans run afoul of some incomprehensible federal law or regulation and end up serving time in federal prison. What is especially disturbing is that it could happen to anyone at all -- and it has. We should applaud Reps. Bobby Scott (D-Va.) and Louie Gohmert (R-Texas), then, for holding a bipartisan hearing today to examine how federal law can make a criminal out of anyone, for even the most mundane conduct. --------------------------------------cut------------------ This is an inevitable... fox forum http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2305219/posts#comment Fri, 31 Jul 2009 14:16:39 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2302837/posts Along largely partisan lines, the Senate Judiciary Cmte backed SCOTUS appointee Sonia Sotomayor, Pres. Obama's first high court pick, this morning by a 13-6 vote. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) was the only Republican to support Sotomayor. The Senate cmte's Dems voted unanimously for the Bronx native. The full Senate will vote next, but with the Dems' 60-vote majority, Sotomayor's confirmation is all but a done deal. She will be the first individual of Hispanic heritage to sit on the SCOTUS. National Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2302837/posts#comment Tue, 28 Jul 2009 16:17:42 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2298977/posts "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" -- Emma Lazarus, "The New Colossus" (engraved on pedestal of Statue of Liberty) Foreign litigants suing American companies for torts committed abroad hope the golden door swings open into American courtrooms, even when the conduct and events underlying their claims occurred in far-off lands and have no effect on U.S. citizens. With increased frequency, American companies conducting operations abroad face lawsuits in American courts by... Law http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2298977/posts#comment Thu, 23 Jul 2009 07:27:17 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2292659/posts <p>Speaking of judicial empathy, where was the empathy for the helpless Terri Schiavo as she was dehydrated to death by judicial order, without even the simple kindness of allowing the grieving parents to whet her blistering lips as she was being tortured to death?</p> http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2292659/posts#comment Wed, 15 Jul 2009 00:09:09 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2291249/posts This one's going to blow baby boomers' minds. It concerns a little-known law dating to Elizabethan England suddenly being enforced with gusto in Pennsylvania. The law can force adult children to pay their parents' health-care costs. If Mom and Pop can't pay, you pay. If they have the money but refuse to pay, you pay. If you don't, watch your credit rating sink under the weight of a legal judgment that will haunt you for life. It happened to Don Grant. It can happen to you. The Havertown man is nearly 50 and struggling to pay his mortgage and $100,000... The Philadelphia Inquirer http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2291249/posts#comment Mon, 13 Jul 2009 04:29:17 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2287952/posts WASHINGTON - Former Bush White House official Karl Rove was questioned by House Judiciary Committee lawyers Tuesday on any role he may have played in politically motivated firings of U.S. attorneys. AP/MSNBC http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2287952/posts#comment Wed, 8 Jul 2009 12:29:08 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2278426/posts It seems that every time we have a contentious judicial nomination process, especially for the Supreme Court, a great fuss is made over not asking certain questions. More to the point, we're told that nominees should not answer questions that could disclose how they may rule on certain issues in the future. Hogwash. The problem with this notion is that the federal judiciary has grown ever more powerful over the years versus our other branches of government. Further, the Supreme Court is held to be the final arbiter of what the Constitution actually "means" at any given point in time... Conservative Outpost http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2278426/posts#comment Wed, 24 Jun 2009 16:28:15 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2275464/posts WASHINGTON – The House on Friday impeached a federal judge imprisoned for lying about sexual assaults of two women, in the first such vote since impeaching former President Bill Clinton a decade ago. The impeachment of U.S. District Judge Samuel Kent of Texas sets up a trial in the Senate. Kent is the first federal judge impeached in 20 years. The House approved four articles of impeachment against Kent accusing him of sexually assaulting two female employees and lying to judicial investigators and Justice Department officials. All four articles passed unanimously. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2275464/posts#comment Fri, 19 Jun 2009 20:47:26 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2266158/posts WASHINGTON -- U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions, in the Republican Party's weekly message, said today that confirmation hearings of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor will be respectful, but he also warned that any evidence her personal history would shape her decision-making will be challenged forcefully. "Although we sometimes take our heritage of neutral and independent judiciary for granted, the truth is, this great tradition is under attack. And the American people are rightly concerned," Sessions said in the GOP address distributed nationally as a counterpoint to President Barack Obama's weekly address. ... In his remarks, Sessions maintained his cordial approach to... The Birmingham News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2266158/posts#comment Sat, 6 Jun 2009 14:04:40 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2264789/posts This is Mr. Speaker’s second time on the schmuck list. (First time was last year when he jumped on the man-made global warming climate change bandwagon.) Congrats, Newt. Sorry, but Newt Gingrich is a wuss. After calling Sonia Sotomayor a racist for her 2001 comment that a Latina woman would make better conclusions than a white man, he since has retracted it, admitting he was too harsh. Rather than sticking to his guns, he took the political way out. And naturally, the Obamedia is enjoying reporting on this supposed arrival at decency. (Because we know Democrats have never smeared or... Vocal Minority http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2264789/posts#comment Thu, 4 Jun 2009 18:15:16 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2264240/posts First lady Michelle Obama used some high-profile examples - including Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor - to reassure high school graduates any doubts they have about how they will do in college and beyond are not unusual. She mentioned her own anxieties when first starting at Princeton University, as well as the concerns of Sotomayor, the first Hispanic considered for the nation's highest court. Sotomayor attended Princeton before Mrs. Obama and has said the surroundings intimidated her. "I don't know if you know about this phenomenal woman, but the president - she's the president's nominee for the Supreme Court -... The Dallas Examiner / The Associated Press http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2264240/posts#comment Thu, 4 Jun 2009 00:50:36 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2263579/posts Judges should never show special "empathy" for the downtrodden and unfortunate. To do so not only undermines the integrity of the legal system, but goes against Biblical morality. How do we know? Because the Hebrew Scriptures are explicit and unequivocal on this issue, as I explained in a column a month ago. The controversy over the Sotomayor nomination gives that column fresh (and, if I do say so, prophetic) relevance. In fact, I suspect that in her confirmation hearings Judge Sotomayor will display the good sense to back away from some of the most controversial recent statements that she has... Townhall http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2263579/posts#comment Wed, 3 Jun 2009 09:16:40 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2261708/posts Judge Sonia Sotomayor, Barack Obama's pick to replace David Souter on the United States Supreme Court, will be confirmed. Nothing anyone can do or say can prevent that. Republicans are falling all over themselves trying to determine whether it is in their best interest to make a show out of fighting her nomination. The infighting among conservatives escalated to a head this past week with Rush Limbaugh and Newt Gingrich calling her a racist, and former congressman Tom Tancredo comparing the organization La Raza, of which Sotomayor is a card carrying member, to the Ku Klux Klan without the white... America Talks http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2261708/posts#comment Sun, 31 May 2009 19:07:28 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2261226/posts How President Obama's choice for the Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor, will place identity politics and liberal ideology above the Constitution. youtube http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2261226/posts#comment Sat, 30 May 2009 15:32:45 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2261046/posts Unless you've taken a very long Memorial Day vacation, you've no doubt heard the big news. President Obama has picked an anti-gun radical to replace Justice David Souter on the Supreme Court. Obama's pick is Judge Sonia Sotomayor, who is currently on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second District. There she has racked up an anti-Second Amendment record and has displayed contempt for the rule of law under the Constitution. The Heller decision put the Supreme Court in support of the Constitutional protection of the individual right to keep and bear arms. Sotomayor, a politically correct lover of... Gun Owners of America http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2261046/posts#comment Sat, 30 May 2009 04:20:40 GMT