Constitutional Law

Va. Supreme Court Holds Anti-Spam Law Violates First Amendment

The Virginia Supreme Court has reconsidered a 6-month-old ruling and struck down the state’s anti-spam law for violating the First Amendment. The law is unconstitutionally overbroad because it bars anonymous transmission of political, religious and other speech protected by the First Amendment, the court ruled in its decision (PDF) issued…

Sep 15, 2008 1:38 PM CDT

Judge Requires Probable Cause for Cell Phone Location Information

A federal judge has ruled the government needs a warrant based on probable cause to obtain information about the geographical movements of a cell phone customer in a drug investigation. The opinion is the first by a federal judge on the issue, the Washington Post reports. The decision by U.S.…

Sep 12, 2008 5:49 PM CDT

All-White Jury to Decide O.J. Simpson Case

A jury of 10 whites and two Hispanics will decide whether to convict O.J. Simpson of robbery and kidnapping charges, prompting objections from defense lawyers. Simpson’s lawyers fought to keep two black women on the panel and charged that the prosecutor’s use of peremptory challenges to exclude them violated the…

Sep 12, 2008 11:49 AM CDT

Lawyer Who Sued President and Three Justices Targets Obama

A Philadelphia lawyer who has sued President Bush and three U.S. Supreme Court justices has filed a new suit against a new high-profile defendant—Barack Obama. In his latest lawsuit with a political twist, lawyer Philip Berg of Lafayette Hill claims Obama was born in Kenya and he should be thrown…

Sep 11, 2008 6:41 PM CDT

2 Colorado Judges Censured for Prosecutorial Work Years Ago

Two former Colorado prosecutors who didn’t turn over potentially exculpatory information to the defense in a first-degree murder case have been censured for their role in sending a man who says he is innocent to prison for almost a decade. That man, Timothy Masters, was released earlier this year, after…

Sep 10, 2008 7:42 PM CDT

Multiple Mistakes Killed Inmate, Chicago Newspaper Says

John Lambert was in the Cook County Jail because he was an addict. And, thinking that he couldn’t abuse drugs or alcohol while he was there, his family didn’t bail him out. Less than a month after his arrest on cocaine possession and probation violation charges, he was found unconscious…

Sep 10, 2008 6:48 PM CDT

Family Challenges London Police Shooting of Armed Barrister

There’s no dispute that a wealthy London barrister was firing a shotgun from his upscale home this spring, before he was shot and killed by police. But authorities overreacted to a situation in which Mark Saunders, 32, wasn’t a threat, his family contended in a High Court hearing this week.…

Sep 10, 2008 5:55 PM CDT

Trial Judge in Fla. Strikes State-Law Ban on ‘Gay Adoption’

A 31-year-old prohibition against adoptions of children by same-sex couples in Florida has been held unconstitutional by a trial judge in Monroe County. The ruling, which allows a 52-year-old openly gay foster parent in Key West to adopt the disabled teenager he has been raising since 2001, held that the…

Sep 10, 2008 4:52 PM CDT

Justice Thomas Says Affirmative Action Mantra ‘Almost Trumps Thinking’

Justice Clarence Thomas, a longtime opponent of racial preferences, criticized the “mantra” of affirmative action in a speech Tuesday to leaders of historically black colleges. Thomas warned that reading the Constitution to allow consideration of race will present problems in the future, the Associated Press reports. Affirmative action “has become…

Sep 10, 2008 12:51 PM CDT

Supreme Court Orders Briefs on Whether to Rehear Child Rape Case

The U.S. Supreme Court has asked for briefs and set a short deadline for the parties to address whether the justices should reconsider their decision that it is unconstitutional to impose the death penalty for child rape. The state of Louisiana and the Justice Department are seeking a rehearing in…

Sep 9, 2008 10:43 AM CDT

Gag Order Implies Private Hearings for Federal Judge in Sex Abuse Case

A gag order has been issued by a federal judge who has been brought in from Florida to hear the criminal case against U.S. District Judge Samuel Kent of Texas, who is accused of sexually abusing his former case manager. The unusual order, which was issued late Friday by Senior…

Sep 8, 2008 7:52 PM CDT

Chief Justice Ponders ‘Choose KKK’ License Plates in Moot Court Case

University of Florida law student Cary Aronovitz was only about a minute into his moot court argument when Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. interrupted him with a question. Aronovitz said he had anticipated the question, although it was a difficult one that he didn’t want to answer, FlaLaw Online…

Sep 8, 2008 2:32 PM CDT

White House Obtains Stay of Order to Turn Over Documents in Firing Probe

A federal appeals court has granted a stay of a judge’s order that White House chief of staff Joshua Bolten must turn over documents to a House committee probing the firing of nine U.S. attorneys. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit granted the temporary stay on Thursday…

Sep 8, 2008 11:27 AM CDT

Kansas High Court Asked to Decide: Can Judges Fill Out Questionnaires?

A federal court has asked the Kansas Supreme Court to weigh in on a question of state law: Can state judges ethically fill out questionnaires that ask them about their opinions on issues that are likely to come before them? On the one hand, judges have a First Amendment right…

Sep 5, 2008 9:14 PM CDT

8th Circuit: Bankruptcy Provision Violates Lawyer Free Speech Rights

A federal appeals court has struck down a provision in the 2005 federal bankruptcy law that bars lawyers from advising clients to take on more debt before filing for bankruptcy. The St. Louis-based 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the ban violated the free speech rights of lawyers and…

Sep 5, 2008 11:00 AM CDT