Constitutional Law

Congress Probes Latest Torture Concerns

Congressional committees are launching investigations, after a New York Times article today revealed that two secret Department of Justice opinions in 2005 endorsed prisoner interrogation techniques some consider tantamount to torture. However, the White House has reiterated prior assertions that the U.S. doesn’t torture prisoners. The Democratic chairs of both…

Oct 4, 2007 9:22 PM CDT

Experts: Lethal Injection Will Live On in TX

Although the state of Texas halted an execution at the last minute this week, apparently because of a U.S. Supreme Court challenge over another state’s lethal injection approach, experts expect this won’t change Texas death-penalty practices much in the long run. Instead, they predict, Texas lethal injections will live on—reformulated,…

Oct 4, 2007 8:51 PM CDT

Judge: Sen. Craig Can’t Withdraw Guilty Plea

Updated: In a ruling that could sound the death knell for Sen. Larry Craig’s career in office, a Minnesota judge has ruled that the Idaho Republican can’t withdraw his guilty plea to a disorderly conduct charge. However, Craig reportedly says he won’t resign, despite the urgings of many members of…

Oct 4, 2007 6:16 PM CDT

Judge Allows NASA Background Checks

A federal judge has refused to halt background checks for 28 workers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. U.S. District Judge Otis Wright of Los Angeles refused to issue an injunction after the government said information about past drug use would not be used in criminal cases against the workers, the…

Oct 4, 2007 6:04 PM CDT

Justices Ask: What’s Wrong With ‘Sham’ Judge Elections?

Skeptical U.S. Supreme Court justices appear to side with the state of New York in a challenge to its system of electing judges. In oral arguments yesterday, only Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg appeared sympathetic to the judge challenging the nominating convention system where political party leaders hold sway. And she…

Oct 4, 2007 11:59 AM CDT

Congress Urged: Address Terrorism War Problems

The Washington Post is urging Congress to address judges’ concerns with two tools used by the Bush administration to gather evidence in its war on terror: national security letters and warrants issued under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. National security letters are used to gather customer information from telecommunications companies.…

Oct 3, 2007 6:40 PM CDT

White House Wiretap Secrecy a ‘Legal Mess’

A former Justice Department official told a Senate committee yesterday that he encountered “a legal mess” when reviewing a secret terrorism eavesdropping program. Jack L. Goldsmith, who formerly led the DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel, said White House secrecy and its belief in executive power made it difficult to review…

Oct 3, 2007 3:18 PM CDT

Court Weighs ‘Anything Goes’ Sentences

The U.S. Supreme Court considered whether “anything goes” is the standard for federal sentences in oral arguments yesterday. The court is being asked to consider how much leeway judges have to depart from federal sentencing guidelines given its two-year-old ruling in United States v. Booker that the guidelines are advisory…

Oct 3, 2007 11:42 AM CDT

Court Declines Tobacco Appeal

Tobacco companies lost a bid for U.S. Supreme Court review of a decision that will aid Florida smoking plaintiffs in future lawsuits. The court refused to hear the case yesterday, Bloomberg News reports. The Florida Supreme Court had ruled that smoking plaintiffs may rely on a 1999 jury finding that…

Oct 2, 2007 2:11 PM CDT

Court Won’t Walk Church-State Line

The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear two religion cases yesterday, keeping the church-state issue off the docket entirely so far this term. One case was a challenge by Christian charities to a law requiring employers to pay for birth control pills. Another challenged a public library’s refusal to allow…

Oct 2, 2007 11:23 AM CDT

Justices Debate Voter Confusion Over WA Primary Law

Both sides left the U.S. Supreme Court in an optimistic mood after oral arguments yesterday in a challenge to a Washington state law that curbs the influence of political parties. The law allows candidates in a primary to designate their own political party preference, Legal Times reports. The top two…

Oct 2, 2007 10:35 AM CDT

John Grisham Sued for Libel

The best-selling author of numerous legal thrillers has been sued for libel over his first nonfiction work, The Innocent Man. In an unusual federal libel conspiracy case, John Grisham, along with other authors and publishers, has been sued by a prosecutor and law enforcement officer over three nonfiction books published…

Oct 1, 2007 10:49 PM CDT

Surveillance Backlash in Britain

The U.K.’s famously state-of-the-art national surveillance system (at least compared to the U.S.), is suddenly taking it on the chin. A blog post today by the Pinsent Masons law firm says up to 95 percent of the closed-circuit television systems in Britain and Wales are illegal—and that may soon be…

Oct 1, 2007 6:50 PM CDT

Editor in F-Word Controversy Hires Lawyer

The editor of a college newspaper that used the f-word in an editorial headline has retained a lawyer for advice on his First Amendment rights. The editorial protested a police officer’s use of a Taser against a student who wouldn’t stop asking questions at a forum featuring Sen. John Kerry.…

Oct 1, 2007 6:08 PM CDT

Will Court—and Kennedy—Swing Left?

It’s the first Monday in October, which means the U.S. Supreme Court is beginning its new term, and publications are publishing their previews of the cases. Many stories attempt to read the tea leaves, analyzing the type of cases selected and their backgrounds for insights into whether the court’s conservatives…

Oct 1, 2007 4:31 PM CDT