Free Republic

(English-language translation) Yesterday's media headlines in Puerto Rico and the United States leave no room for doubt over the historical impact the confirmation of Judge Sonia Sotomayor as the 111th justice to join the United States Supreme Court has. The fact that the judge, the daughter of Puerto Rican parents, is the third woman to reach the highest court in the U.S. is in itself historic. In addition, however, she is the first member of the Hispanic community to join this body which interprets the application of the American Constitution. This factor is a transcendental step in making the Supreme...

Leo Donofrio filed a solid lawsuit. Hard to get behind Berg, his was not a good lawsuit. This, OTOH, is. Do I think it should be pursued, yes? Do I believe Obama was born in Hawaii? Probably. Is there something on Obama's birth certificate he does not want us to see. Foe shizzle. Should a President of the United States have to present his vault copy to take office? Absolutely. I don't know what is on the birth certificate- I do know Obama does not want us to see it. But with Obama - there is no law. It's Alinsky...

Less than a week before its October term is set to begin, the US Supreme Court became a spectacle of sound and fury on Wednesday over a landmark decision handed down three months ago declaring that the death penalty for child rapists is cruel and unusual punishment. At issue was whether the high court would revisit the landmark 5-to-4 decision after revelations last summer that contradicted the majority justices' conclusion that a "national consensus" had emerged against the death penalty for the rape of a child. The June 25 decision said only six states had laws authorizing capital punishment for...

The execution of José Ernesto Medellín Rojas by the state of Texas is a violation of international law, said Amnesty International today. "It undermines the authority of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) which had ruled in favour of a stay of execution."

Afghanis Get It, Too Bad Anti-Gun Elitists Don’t: NRA To Target Chicago + Neighboring Suburban Hand Gun Bans, After Supreme Court Ruling Commentary by Bill Zettler * According to the Associated Press, June 27, 2008, "The number of civilians killed in fighting between insurgents and security forces in Afghanistan has soared by two-thirds in the first half of this year, to almost 700 people, a senior U.N. official said Sunday." We have all seen pictures on TV of Afghan citizens walking the streets with AK-47's draped over their shoulders. And who can forget the Afghan weddings where hundreds of shots...

Just a theory, but so tantalizing that it warrants a post all its own....

The Supreme Court's Boumediene v. Bush used the U.S. Constitution to find extraordinary rights for the very same people trying to destroy that Constitution. In doing so, the five liberal members of the U.S. Supreme Court taped a "KICK ME!" signs to their own backs. But unlike other Kick Me Liberals, in the Supreme Court's case, they've also taped that sign onto the backs of 300 million of their countrymen. A few examples of Kick Me Liberals. United States Supreme Court Incredibly, these five Justices [the Court's liberal bloc of Justices John Paul Stevens, David Souter, Ruth Ginsburg and Stephen...

I get philsophical sometimes when I go running and have time to think outside the house and workplace... A question to all my fellow Freepers... During a joint session of Congress, could we simutaneously drug test all of our elected Federal representatives/Senators, judges and Excutive Branch employees? Could we have one same-sex military person stand there while Mr. Levin, Mrs. Ginsberg, Mr. Bush or Mr. Lott gives a urine sample, unannounced? If private sector, local, state and Federal employees are required to submit to a drug test, can one be done to the lawmakers? Just a ponderance...

As most of you will know, the U.S. Supreme Court held oral argument in District of Columbia v. Heller, the D.C. gun ban case. An extremely important Second Amendment case; in fact, the first of its kind in generations (about 70 years). The transcript of the argument is available here: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1987832/posts But what is truly interesting, is to see the listing of amicus: that is, third parties who have submitted "friend of the court" briefs, advocating one side or the other of the issue. Following is the list. It is arranged first according to those who support the ban -...

2008-01-12) On Friday the Bush administration filed an amicus asking the Supreme Court to remand the Parker case (“DC gun law case”) back to the District of Columbia to come up with a ‘softer standard of review’ on what constitutes reasonable gun regulations. In doing so, Bush strikes a major blow against all Americans in the on-going struggle over the scope of individual rights. Filed through the Department of Justice (DOJ), the administration’s stated purpose is to protect a host of federal laws that restrict private ownership of firearms. DOJ argues in its brief that the same reasoning which allowed...

It's been 68 years since the U.S. Supreme Court examined the right to keep and bear arms secured by the Second Amendment. It's been 31 years since the District of Columbia enacted its feckless ban on all functional firearms in the capital. It's been eight months since the second most important court in the country, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, declared the D.C. ban...unconstitutional. The obvious incongruity of those three events could be resolved soon. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court decided to review the circuit court's blockbuster opinion in Parker v. District of Columbia,...

As Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has firmed up her lead in the Democratic presidential race, speculation about her potential running mate is rising -- among Republicans! "Absolutely," said former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani when asked during a recent interview if he thinks Clinton will be nominated. "I believe she will be the nominee and Sen. [Barack] Obama will be the vice presidential nominee." Yes, some people already are talking about Clinton as though she were the nominee, even before a single Democratic primary or caucus voter has had a chance to weigh in. As Clinton leads by as much...

RUSH: We're truly honored today, ladies and gentlemen, to have with us at our microphones Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court, Clarence Thomas. His new book is out today, My Grandfather's Son. It is a powerful, motivational, inspirational memoir, and I'm so happy that you're doing all of this, Mr. Justice Thomas, because, as a member of the court, you can't say much other than what you write. It's the protocol -- and I have so long wanted people to get to know the man that I know and that so many people who know you know, because you're...

The District today asked the Supreme Court to uphold the city's ban on private ownership of handguns, saying the appeals court decision that overturned the law "drastically departs from the mainstream of American jurisprudence." Most legal experts believe the court will accept the case, which could lead to a historic decision next year on whether the ambiguously worded Second Amendment to the Constitution protects private gun ownership or only imparts a civic right related to maintaining state militias. The District argues in its petition for review that its law--one of the toughest handgun bans in the nation--should be upheld regardless...

The central meaning of the Second Amendment has long been settled in the courts. The last time the Supreme Court directly addressed the provision -- which reads, "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed" -- was in 1939, in a case called United States v. Miller. The court said that the Second Amendment's "obvious purpose" is to ensure the effectiveness and continuation of state military forces (the militia mentioned in the amendment), not to provide a private right to own...

When one is trying to advance a case in court, you have to have a plantiff with a good image. Lawyers at the NAACP achieved a major victory when the Warren Supreme Court came down with the Brown vs. Board of Education ruling. Now there were opportunities to use federal judicial power to overrule state segregation laws through lawsuits. In 1955 a number of people defied bus segregation in Montgomery, Alabama. But until seamstress and local member Rosa Parks came along, the NAACP stayed out of court. Earlier cases involved people who had bad reputations or who might break under...

Racial integration in the early part of the last century was very much a personal moral decision that involved no rules or laws to force it. If one chose to be in the company of other races it was a personal decision because legally speaking segregation was the "law of the land" at least in the mind of those who accept "stare indecisis" as their principle. When one chose to integrate it was very much a personal moral decision with laws not coming into play. Ronald Reagan related a story in his writings of his mother bringing a black basketball...

Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. made it clear as he began taking questions at yesterday's National Italian American Foundation luncheon that he couldn't reveal any of the Supreme Court's forthcoming opinions. But did he at least give a hint? Two of the court's biggest remaining cases focus on the First Amendment, and while Alito didn't mention either, he did make it clear that any restrictions on speech face a high hurdle with him. "I'm a very strong believer in the First Amendment and the right of people to speak and to write," Alito said in response to a question of...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court said on Monday it would decide whether President George W. Bush had the authority to direct a state court to comply with an international tribunal's ruling in the case of a Mexican on death row in Texas. The justices agreed to review a decision by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals that concluded Bush had exceeded his constitutional authority by intruding into the independent powers of the judiciary. The case involved Jose Medellin, who was denied the right to meet with a consular officer from Mexico after his arrest for murder. The World...

Next big test of power to seize property? The US Supreme Court will examine whether a private company can demand payment in exchange for not seizing private property. By Warren Richey | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor Bart Didden wanted to put a CVS pharmacy on his property in Port Chester, N.Y. He even obtained approvals from the local planning board. But because a portion of the CVS site was in a blighted redevelopment zone, Mr. Didden was told that planning board approval wasn't enough. He'd have to reach an understanding with a private company that had been...