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CITY PRAYER POLICY UPHELD Fredericksburg Free Lance - Star Fredericksburg Virginia http://www.fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2008/072008/07242008/397448 Date published: 7/24/2008 BY AMY FLOWERS UMBLE Fredericksburg City Council can keep Jesus Christ out of its prayers. The 4th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals yesterday upheld the city's right to start its meetings with nonsectarian prayers. Retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor sat on the three-judge panel hearing the case and wrote the opinion. "She didn't feel my rights were being violated, but my rights are definitely being violated," said City Councilman Hashmel Turner, who filed the case. "It removed an opportunity for me to pray...

NEW YORK — Sandra Day O'Connor is developing a free interactive Web program for middle schoolers on the U.S. court system. The program will be called Our Courts and allow students to participate in realistic government simulations and investigate and argue actual cases. Arizona State and Georgetown universities are helping the retired Supreme Court justice develop the program. Arizona State professor James Paul Gee says the program will teach children the importance of free and independent courts in a democracy. The Web site will be launched this fall. O'Connor is the first woman to have served on the nation's highest...

Her spouse's Alzheimer's has exacted a toll her, and the country feels it, too.From Arizona last week came the sad news that John O'Connor, husband of former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, has grown romantically attached to another patient in an Alzheimer's facility where both live. For Justice O'Connor, the pain of watching her husband drift away must at some level be balanced by the notion that his new relationship brings him some measure of happiness andpeace. Their son reported she was gratified that her husband "was relaxed and happy and comfortable living here." John O'Connor's fading connection stands...

The retired Supreme Court justice's spouse, John O'Connor, has had Alzheimer's disease for 17 years, and after moving into an assisted-living center in Phoenix, he began a romance with a fellow patient also suffering from the mind-debilitating ailment. But the justice isn't jealous - the O'Connor family believes the love has given John, 77, a new lease on life. "Mom was thrilled that dad was relaxed and happy and comfortable living here and wasn't complaining," their son Scott O'Connor, 50, told Phoenix's KPNX-TV. Scott said that when his father recently arrived at the Huger Mercy Living Center, he was depressed....

Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor has been happily married to her law school sweetheart, John O'Connor, since 1952. John O'Connor has Alzheimer's disease and lives in a Phoenix home care facility, where he has found a new girlfriend. Story Send Us Your Questions About Living With Alzheimer's Speaking to a Phoenix TV station this week, O'Connor's son, Scott, described his father as acting "like a teenager in love" and says his mother is happy for him. Unusual as that sounds, doctors say the O'Connors' situation is not uncommon. Dr. Walter Fanburg at Arbor Place Dementia Care says, "The...

The husband of retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor has struck up a romance with a woman who is a fellow Alzheimer's patient and lives at the same assisted living center as him, according to a television news report. The retired justice isn't jealous about the relationship and is pleased that her husband is comfortable at the center, the couple's son, Scott O'Connor, told KPNX in Phoenix in a broadcast that aired Thursday. "Mom was thrilled that dad was relaxed and happy," Scott O'Connor said. An effort by The Associated Press to reach Scott O'Connor on Tuesday morning was...

Hubert O'Connor, the disgraced Roman Catholic bishop, has died of a heart attack in Toronto. He was 79. His death was announced by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops. He resigned as bishop of the British Columbia diocese of Prince George after being charged with sex crimes in 1991. He was convicted in 1996 of committing rape and indecent assault on two young aboriginal women during the 1960s when he was a priest. He was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison by Mr. Justice Wally Oppal, who is now British Columbia's attorney general. After serving six months, the disgraced...

Undoubtedly, the most significant aspect of the Supreme Court's April decision in Gonzales v. Carhart was that it narrowly upheld Congress' "partial-birth abortion" ban. That said, Justice Anthony Kennedy's opinion may affect America more for what it said about abortion than what it decreed about the law of abortion. The case appears to have opened up a new phase in abortion jurisprudence -- one in which abortion is largely permitted though disdained. This is not surprising, because Carhart represents the first recent occasion on which Kennedy set our national abortion policy. What may be surprising is how greatly both sides...

Most people remember Sinéad O'Connor one of two ways: as that angelic, lovelorn figure in the video of her smash "Nothing Compares 2 U," or for tearing up a picture of the pope on Saturday Night Live. Her 20-year career has been marked with pop stardom and accolades, but also with controversy and misunderstanding. Even as she takes the stage at Joe's Pub in New York, one can sense the polarity. The venue only seats 150, enough to house a handful of fans and some of the biggest papers in town. But O'Connor, 40, isn't there to impress anyone. Her...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Sandra Day O'Connor is no longer on the Supreme Court but that doesn't mean the pro-abortion judge can't use her influence to try to shape its decisions. In an interview with Fox News, the ex-justice offered a hidden rebuke to the Supreme Court members for their recent decision upholding the federal partial-birth abortion ban. The high court's decision overturned her opinion in a similar 2000 case regarding a Nebraska partial-birth abortion ban. In the 2000 case, O'Connor wrote for the 5-4 majority saying the state's ban on the three-day-long abortion procedure was unconstitutional because it lacked...

A civil servant who leaked a secret memo about George W. Bush wanted it to be seen by US presidential candidate John Kerry, the Old Bailey heard. David Keogh, 50, from Northampton, is said to have passed a highly sensitive document detailing talks between Mr. Bush and Tony Blair to Leo O'Connor. Mr. Keogh told jurors the contents of the memo had preyed on his mind. Mr. Keogh and Mr. O'Connor, 44, also of Northampton, deny three charges under the Official Secrets Act. Mr. Keogh had been asked to copy out the memo for distribution to high-ranking UK officials. The...

A civil servant and an MP's researcher have been found guilty of leaking a secret memo about talks between George Bush and Tony Blair. David Keogh, 50, from Northampton, has been found guilty of two offences under the Official Secrets Act. MP's researcher Leo O'Connor was found guilty of one Official Secrets offence. It recorded Oval Office talks between Mr. Bush and Mr. Blair about Iraq in 2004, the Old Bailey was told. Sentencing was adjourned for reports........

Just seven years ago, Justice O’Connor voted with the court’s liberals to strike down a similar Nebraska law banning the procedure, known medically as intact dilation and extraction. It involves removing an intact fetus rather than dismembering the fetus in the uterus. The decision recast the court’s approach to abortion, shifting its emphasis toward fetal life and away from deference to medical judgments about women’s health. The decision last week brought into focus the greatest hopes of conservatives and the worst fears of liberals. Is the court about to make sweeping changes in important areas of constitutional law, including in...

Justice O'Connor continued to defend her original position. She lamented statistics that showed that as a result of California's Proposition 209 (passed in 1996) only 2.2% of UCLA freshmen were black, and a fifth of those were on athletic scholarships. (California's overall population is 6.1% black.) She seemed strangely unaware, however, of the growing evidence that racial preferences might have actually decreased the likelihood that blacks and Hispanics will graduate from college. Put differently, if the body of evidence is correct, the whole affirmative action enterprise has been deeply and tragically flawed from the beginning, failing to achieve its most...

WASHINGTON - Three of the five Supreme Court justices who handed the presidency to George W. Bush in 2000 say they had no choice but to intervene in the Florida recount. Comments from Justice Anthony Kennedy and retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor are in a new book that was published this week. Justice Antonin Scalia made his remarks Tuesday at Iona College in New York. Scalia, answering questions after a speech, also said that critics of the 5-4 ruling in Bush v. Gore need to move on six years after the electoral drama of December 2000, when it seemed the...

The latest critic of a Supreme Court ruling turns out to be the justice who supplied the key vote in its favor: Sandra Day O'Connor. Addressing a legal conference in Texas, the former associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court had some second thoughts about her opinion in Minnesota v. White back in 2002, which struck down that state's restrictions on judges' expressing their political views in campaigns for the bench. The case was decided 5 to 4, and Justice O'Connor's concurring opinion made all the difference. Renowned in her time on the court as its swing vote, she's now...

The latest critic of a Supreme Court ruling turns out to be the justice who supplied the key vote in its favor: Sandra Day O'Connor. Addressing a legal conference in Texas, the former associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court had some second thoughts about her opinion in Minnesota v. White back in 2002, which struck down that state's restrictions on judges' expressing their political views in campaigns for the bench. The case was decided 5 to 4, and Justice O'Connor's concurring opinion made all the difference. Renowned in her time on the court as its swing vote, she's now...

As a Supreme Court justice, Sandra Day O'Connor exasperated critics by balancing on a reed-thin beam without planting her feet firmly on either side. But in retirement, she doesn't equivocate in defense of judicial independence. She has crossed the country warning that "spurious" attacks on the judiciary -- by politicians and other talking heads -- threaten judges' doing their jobs without fear or favor. When federal appellate Judge Danny Boggs said at a Friday legal conference at Las Colinas that physical assaults aimed at judges have come mainly from "the deranged," O'Connor underscored the safety concerns. "Every member of the...

Latest deaths illustrates 'the evil' Canadians are fighting in Afghanistan, PM says Mike Blanchfield CanWest News Service; Ottawa Citizen Tuesday, September 19, 2006 OTTAWA - The suicide bombing deaths of four Canadian soldiers Monday while trying to give candy to Afghan children illustrates the "evil" they are fighting and the nobility of their cause, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said. "Nothing more than this incident illustrates the evil that they are fighting and the goodwill and the nobleness of the cause that they are taking to the Afghan people," Harper told the Commons as his government confronted its toughest political...

PITTSBURGH -- On a day when this city experienced the confluence of grieving and glory, burying a popular mayor in the morning and then having to turn out to support its beloved Super Bowl champions just a few hours later, it was left to a Pittsburgh Guy to turn tears into cheers. OK, so Steelers backup Charlie Batch isn't really from Pittsburgh. But Homestead, Pa., just a short drive across his city's locally well-known High Level Bridge, a span that once carried thousands of steel workers to their sooty jobs in the blast furnaces and to a livelihood in a...

Mayor Robert E. O'Connor Jr. was his formal title and name, but even in untimely death it seems too pretentious. The people knew him as Bob, a Pittsburgh original, as friendly and straightforward as the city where he lived and died ... the city of Pittsburgh that now comes together to mourn him. The passing of Bob O'Connor is so freighted with irony and disappointment that calling it tragic doesn't convey the full measure of sadness. If Mr. O'Connor were a literary scholar instead of a man of the people, you might more easily call it Shakespearean in its abundant...

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN -- Canadian soldiers should join local forces fighting Taliban insurgents inside Pakistan, Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor says, making a tentative first attempt at raising the explosive issue of foreign troops trespassing on Pakistani territory. Mr. O'Connor held meetings with several military and intelligence officials in Islamabad yesterday in which he urged his counterparts to step up their actions against the insurgents who emerge from hideouts in Pakistan to attack Canadian troops in southern Afghanistan. "Among other things, I suggested that some Pakistan officers be stationed with our troops in Kandahar and Canadian troops be stationed on the Pakistan...

(KDKA) PITTSBURGH The man next in line to replace Mayor Bob O’Connor will be sworn in tonight. At 10:30pm, City Council President Luke Ravenstahl will officially become the next mayor of Pittsburgh. At 26 years old, Ravenstahl will be the youngest mayor in the city’s history. Earlier today, he told reporters he was ready. “My experience and my actions on council here over the last two-and-a-half years,” Ravenstahl cited. “I’ll let the people decide that. That is an issue that many will raise. “I’m here. I’ve been the president, I have been elected by my district, I have been elected...

(KDKA) PITTSBURGH It's the news people in Pittsburgh and beyond have been dreading; this afternoon, Dick Skrinjar announced that Mayor Bob O'Connor has passed away. O'Connor had been hospitalized since July 10th after learning that he suffered from a rare form of cancer called primary central nervous system lymphoma. On Monday, doctors downgraded the mayor's condition after revealing that brain scans showed "seizure activity" and tests indicated an infection in his spinal fluid. The hospital stopped issuing updates on Mayor O'Connor's condition on Tuesday, which fueled rumors and speculation about his deteriorating condition. Sources told KDKA late Wednesday night that...

Mayor O'Connor Near Death POSTED: 11:06 am EDT August 31, 2006 UPDATED: 11:23 pm EDT August 31, 2006 PITTSBURGH -- A representative has confirmed the suspected gravity of Mayor Bob O'Connor's medical situation late Thursday night.After a nearly two-month battle with a rare form of brain cancer, O'Connor was taken off life support and is living "hour to hour," mayoral spokesman Dick Skrinjar said.The mayor was resting comfortably with family and close friends by his side at UPMC Shadyside, according to Skrinjar.As long as he is alive, O'Connor will remain the city's mayor -- a job he has held for...

O'Connor Still In Intensive Care POSTED: 4:11 pm EDT August 28, 2006UPDATED: 6:37 pm EDT August 29, 2006PITTSBURGH -- Pittsburgh Mayor Bob O'Connor remains in intensive care at UPMC Shadyside Hospital after doctors spent Tuesday putting him through neurological tests to find out the exact cause of his seizures and his downward turn.After undergoing surgery on Monday, the hospital's latest statement on O'Connor was that he was in serious condition."I was with my classmate, Father Terry, and Judy O'Connor was there, and some other family and friends," said Father Thomas Burke, a family friend of the O'Connors. "We had some...

Mayor Bob O'Connor was admitted to UPMC Shadyside today to begin treatment for primary central nervous system lymphoma.

Aaron Harber of the Aaron Harber show (harbertv.com) has an interview with Justices Breyer and O’Connor tomorrow afternoon, and he has solicited SCOTUSblog readers to help him formulate some questions for the two Honorable interviewees. So, if you have a query or two about the law or the Court that you think would be appropriate for either of the two Justices, post it as a comment on this post or e-mail jharrow [at] akingump.com by 1:00 PM Eastern Time tomorrow, Thursday, July 6. Hopefully, we can send Aaron a few good questions and he will report back to us with...

As the Supreme Court wraps up its session, there has been so far fairly little attention paid to the fact that this is when U.S. Supreme Court retirements are typically announced. All of the last 14 retirements were announced between May 14th and October 1st of their respective years; the last to retire outside of those dates was Charles Whittaker, whose doctor ordered him to retire on account of a worsening disability making it impossible for him to sit at his bench. Of those 14, 9 announced their retirement between June 12 and August 3rd, a space of only seven...

Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor told a University of Minnesota audience Tuesday night that she has been "saddened and disturbed" by the verbal attacks on state and federal judges that have been made by member of Congress who disagree with their decisions. O'Connor said lawmakers, who she didn't name, have threatened retaliation against judges -- including "mass impeachments" and cutting off court jurisdictions from certain kind of cases -- for decisions that are politically unpopular. Such efforts to politicize the court jeopardize the balance of powers, O'Connor said, and defy the wisdom of the framers of the Constitution,...

"There are people," says Jesuit Father John Foley, with a hint of a smile, "who have complained that we wrecked the whole tradition of church music." "We" meaning the St. Louis Jesuits, whose collaborative composing efforts remain arguably the single greatest influence on contemporary liturgical music of the post-Vatican II era. Writing Scripture-based music (itself a revolution of sorts) in a style of music that was more in keeping with that of the secular world and thus more familiar to many ears (itself not just revolutionary but heretical, in the minds of some --- and nothing less than musical manna,...

Hard to believe how the time's flown, but six years ago tonight, John Cardinal O'Connor passed from our midst much too soon. How quickly we forget. In his final years, as he wound down his ministry as archbishop of New York, I was immeasurably blessed to know the cardinal, to meet up with him every so often, and to have received a good bit of his wisdom, humor and the lessons he had picked up along the way. His kindness to a young upstart was a gift which remains alive with me constantly. At sunset on 3 May 2000,...

 The stars must have been aligned that January morning in 1955 when John G. Roberts Jr. was born in Buffalo, N.Y., because almost everything thereafter led him straight to the Supreme Court of the U.S. He graduated from Harvard College, then excelled at Harvard Law School as well as in his work at the U.S. Attorney General's office. It was there that our paths first crossed, for he helped prepare briefing papers for my confirmation hearings to the Supreme Court in 1981. He was later a successful litigator and partner at the Washington firm of Hogan & Hartson. He argued...

Last night the President and First Lady held a retirement dinner in honor of Justice O Connor at the White House. Today the President delivered remarks to the Small Business Week Conference at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington. Today was Andy Card's last day at the White House. Later in the day the Presdent departed from the White House to spend the Easter weekend with his family at Camp David. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met Canadian Foreign Minister Peter MacKay at the State Department Enjoy your visit to Sanity Island

Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor is concerned about the state of politics in Washington. Even with a script in front of her about the sacrifices America's Founding Fathers made to write a fledgling country's Constitution, the 76-year-old justice took the opportunity Friday in Salt Lake City to lament current events - including the war in Iraq and the muddled separation of powers in the nation's capital, where the president, Congress and the courts attempt to restrain each other. "We as a nation face many challenges," O'Connor said. "I'm worried about the stability of the constitutional system of...

WILLIAMSBURG - Sandra Day O'Connor said yesterday that she was sad that a woman was not chosen to fill the U.S. Supreme Court seat opened by her retirement. "I was disappointed to see the women on the Supreme Court drop by 50 percent," O'Connor told an audience of more than 700 students at the College of William and Mary.

WILLIAMSBURG (AP) -- Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor traded judge's robes for an academic gown yesterday as she was installed in the honorary post of chancellor of the College of William & Mary. < snip > Mrs. O'Connor succeeds former Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger, who was appointed in 2000 to replace former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. William & Mary was chartered in 1693 by King William III and Queen Mary II. The chancellor serves as an adviser to the president and an advocate for the school and meets occasionally with students and faculty. Until...

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York announced plans yesterday for the most sweeping reorganization in its history of more than 150 years, recommending the closing of 31 parishes and 14 schools throughout the metropolitan region.At the same time, the archdiocese recommended creating five new parishes in Staten Island, Orange County and Dutchess County and constructing several new church buildings, mostly in northern Westchester County, Rockland County and Dutchess County, where many Catholics who have left the city have relocated.The closings would hit the archdiocese the hardest in its southern parts — the Bronx, Staten Island, Manhattan, Yonkers and central...

Speeches by Supreme Court justices are usually sleepy civics lessons studded with references to the Federalist Papers and the majesty of the law. That seems to be changing. This month, former Justice Sandra Day O'Connor told an audience at Georgetown University that a judiciary afraid to stand up to elected officials can lead to dictatorship. Last month, speaking in South Africa, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said that the courts were a safeguard "against oppressive government and stirred-up majorities." ....... The recent speeches, said Kermit L. Hall, the editor of "The Oxford Companion to the United States Supreme Court," may be...

<p>WASHINGTON – Now that she's left the Supreme Court, Sandra Day O'Connor has a few things to get off her chest. One of the first was to warn that the nation could slide into dictatorship if harsh critiques of the judiciary – from the likes of Texas Sen. John Cornyn and Rep. Tom DeLay – go unanswered.</p>

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor used a speech at Georgetown University to attack pro-life lawmakers who sided with Terri Schiavo's parents in their efforts to prevent their daughter's euthanasia death. She claimed a Congressional effort to have federal courts review the case was a first step towards a dictatorship. O'Connor, who backs abortion, announced her retirement last year and was recently replaced by federal appeals court judge Samuel Alito, who pro-life advocates hope will be more open to upholding laws that protect the right to life. "We must be ever-vigilant against those who would...

Former top judge says US risks edging near to dictatorship · Sandra Day O'Connor warns of rightwing attacks · Lawyers 'must speak up' to protect judiciary Julian Borger in Washington Monday March 13, 2006 The Guardian (UK) Sandra Day O'Connor, a Republican-appointed judge who retired last month after 24 years on the supreme court, has said the US is in danger of edging towards dictatorship if the party's rightwingers continue to attack the judiciary. In a strongly worded speech at Georgetown University, reported by National Public Radio and the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, Ms O'Connor took aim at Republican leaders...

O'Connor May Sit on Bench Again By Tony Mauro Legal Times March 13, 2006 The next stage of retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's public life began taking shape last week: a combination of speaking out, receiving accolades and even, she hinted, sitting as a judge again. In a talk Thursday at Georgetown University Law Center, she demurred when it was suggested she could be more candid now that she's no longer a justice: "I've retired, but I'm still a federal judge." Retired justices can sit by designation on any federal court, but O'Connor did not indicate where she hopes to...

Retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor showed Thursday that she's not absent from judicial issues. During a speech in Washington, she said Republican leaders' attacks on the courts threaten the constitutional freedoms of Americans.So now the Supreme Court can't be criticized. I hate judges...

(...) Third party sources are now telling me that the John Paul Stevens rumor is true and that the White House is now planning for a third vacancy, but not until the end of the year [2005]. Third party sources, who I treat as credible, say that Stevens has begun taking actions in his personal life to make arrangements for personal affairs. It is presumed that Stevens is taking steps to retire. A separate third party source tells me that Ginsberg is not expected to retire, as her health is fine. Stevens has reportedly sent signals that he will retire...

The Supreme Court can sometimes seem like an unsentimental place, and Monday was one of those times. It was probably Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's final day on the bench after 25 years on the Court, yet no one paused to note that fact. No final huzzahs, no commendations from her colleagues, nothing. Two justices, John Paul Stevens, and Antonin Scalia, were not even on the bench for the occasion. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who will soon become the only woman left on the high court, seemed more forlorn than usual, and O'Connor herself seemed somber. But other than that it...

I have been watching the Judicial Committee and collateral news events for a long time. I am struck by the continued use of the term "Swing Vote"! Now, I am an attorney but certainly not an expert on the supremes. My Question is, WHAT IS A SWING VOTE? Do the Justices vote in order of senority? No, that would make Souter or Ginsburg the final vote. Did the Court decide to make SDO'C wait until the adults voted before allowing her to speak out? Is she some revered mental wiz that is, by virtue of her supreme knowledge, allowed to...

Most analysts predict (and I agree) that if confirmed, Judge Samuel Alito will be more conservative than Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, whom he would succeed on the Supreme Court. That's why O'Connor was practically begged to stay on by liberal Democratic senators such as Barbara Boxer of California and Patrick Leahy of Vermont; moderate Republican senators such as Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania and Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine; and liberal groups such as the National Organization for Women. Alito's critics have ignored evidence that his 15 years of precedent-respecting work as a judge tell more about him than...

The taking of people’s property by eminent domain in order to sell it to private developers is getting totally out of hand, and crying for justice. After the infamous Kelo vs. New London case was decided in favor of developers by the liberal majority on the Supreme Court, there was a spate of stories about how the US Congress and various states were enacting laws to counter this abysmal (and plainly unconstitutional) decision. It is becoming clear, however, that people’s rights (especially poor people) are being trampled on all over the country, and the only way to right this wrong...

Blame GOP 'Leadership' for Renegade Specter by Thomas Sowell Posted Nov 8, 2005 The recent announcement by Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Arlen Specter that confirmation hearings on Judge Samuel Alito have been postponed until January was only the latest in a series of painful examples of what happens when Senate Republicans wimp out. Senator Specter did not wimp out. The Senate Republican “leadership” wimped out when they made him chairman of the Judiciary Committee after he had fired a shot across the bow of his own President, right after the election, publicly warning President Bush not to nominate anyone to...