Bench Conference
This blawg closely tracks controversial legal news.
Author: Andrew Cohen writes a regular law column for the Washington Post. He is also CBS News' chief legal analyst and authors Court Watch.
Blawg Related Categories: Civil Rights • Constitutional Law • Criminal Justice • Terrorism • Trials & Litigation • Verdicts & Settlements • Legal News Publication
Recent Posts from Bench Conference
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Goodbye to All That
Alas, my friends, the time has come. After nearly two years of tumult (broken occasionally by brief periods of boredom), Bench Conference will end today with this post. It has been a fascinating experience, and…
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Jose Padilla Finally Catches a Break
Jose Padilla, the once-upon-a-time-but-not-really "dirty bomb" suspect, was sentenced today in federal court in Miami to 17 years and four months for his role in a terror conspiracy that barely got off the ground. The…
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Don't Cry for John Yoo
Former Justice Department official John Yoo, author of our nation's most ill-conceived and damaging terror-law policies, wants your sympathy. He's being sued in civil court by former "dirty bomb" suspect Jose Padilla, who alleges that…
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Safe Stall Sex: The Larry Craig Defense
Taking a position that will delight horny, late-night bar patrons everywhere, the American Civil Liberties Union is arguing that people who have consensual sex in bathroom stalls in public places have a reasonable expectation of…
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The Limits of Motherhood -- and the Constitution
Cody Miyler is a fellow with an abundance of gall. After being dismissed as police chief of East Galesburg, Ill., Miyler sued the town of 900, claiming a violation of his constitutional due process rights.…
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English Professors Bare Arms
You know you've got a humdinger of a Supreme Court case when a covey of grammarians -- "scholars who teach, write and speak about English, linguistics and the principles of grammar" -- feels the need…
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Sleaze and Sleazier: The Clemens Saga
It's a good thing that accused steroids star Roger Clemens' public appearance before a House committee has been delayed for a month. If it had gone off as scheduled next week, it would have reduced…
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No Way Jose Makes the Right Call
Pretend for a second you are Jose Rodriguez, Jr., the former CIA official who, early on in the Tapegate scandal, has been fingered (rightly or wrongly) as a culprit behind the destruction of interrogation videotapes.…
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Bush v. Gore II: Voting Fraud Back at Court
On this morning after the New Hampshire primary, the Supreme Court hears oral arguments in a voting rights case that presents the justices with the most starkly partisan choice they have faced since Dec. 12,…
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Uncomfortable Life-or-Death Moments for the Justices
"This never ends," an audibly frustrated Justice Antonin Scalia said this morning during the middle of oral arguments in the lethal injection case before the Supreme Court. "There will always be another case." The justice's…