Constitutional Law

Texas Judge and Law Prof in Civil Rights Case is Arrested

A part-time Houston municipal judge and Texas Southern University law professor who is one of five plaintiffs in a federal civil rights suit against Harris County apparently spent at least several hours in jail yesterday after sheriff’s deputies arrested her. April Jill Walker was arrested yesterday evening in the driveway…

Jul 3, 2008 5:10 PM CDT

New ‘Rule of Law Index’ Will Measure World Justice

A new Rule of Law Index unveiled today at the World Justice Forum in Vienna is still under construction. But when the initial version is completed within another three years or so, it should help show how well 100 nations are doing at complying with fundamental requirements of their justice…

Jul 3, 2008 3:56 PM CDT

Justice Department Admits Snafu in Death Penalty Case

The U.S. Justice Department has admitted it erred when it failed to inform the U.S. Supreme Court that a law adopted in 2006 authorized the death penalty for child rape in military cases. The solicitor general’s office did not file a brief in the case, Kennedy v. Louisiana, the New…

Jul 3, 2008 12:25 PM CDT

Problems and Genesis of State Secrets Privilege Detailed in Book

An Air Force accident report that was shielded from litigants because of the state secrets privilege turned out to carry no secrets but instead information indicating negligence. The plaintiffs were three widows whose husbands were killed 60 years ago on a secret mission aboard a B-29 bomber that crashed. Their…

Jul 2, 2008 4:02 PM CDT

‘Real’ Joe Horn Didn’t Shoot & Kill 2 Men

Joe Horn, the Texas retiree that a grand jury declined to indict for killing two apparent burglars outside his home in Pasadena, says he didn’t mean to shoot them and that his “real” self wasn’t the man who acted that day in November 2007. But after hearing the two break…

Jul 2, 2008 3:54 PM CDT

Blogger Points Out Substantial Error in Supreme Court Decision

A blogger has pointed out an important fact missed by Justice Anthony M. Kennedy and the authors of 10 Supreme Court briefs: The military has a law authorizing the death penalty for child rape. Kennedy wrote the majority opinion last week in Kennedy v. Louisiana, a 5-4 decision barring the…

Jul 2, 2008 11:34 AM CDT

Rejected Job Applicant Sues DOJ for Political Hiring

A former applicant for the Justice Department’s honors program has filed a suit that contends his First Amendment rights were violated when he was denied a job because of his liberal affiliations. The plaintiff, Sean Gerlich, had received good marks as a Justice Department intern and believed his first job…

Jul 2, 2008 11:00 AM CDT

Law re Sex Materials Sellers Voided by Federal Judge in Indiana

Saying that it could apply to a drugstore selling a romance novel or a widow making a few bucks by selling her husband’s Playboy magazines at a garage sale, a federal judge in Indiana has voided a new state law requiring retailers to pay a registration fee in order to…

Jul 1, 2008 10:38 PM CDT

DOJ Probe Sought in Jail Slaying of Inmate Charged in Cop’s Murder

The family of an African-American inmate apparently slain in an isolation cell after being charged with first-degree murder in the death of a white Prince George’s County, Maryland, police officer is calling for a Department of Justice investigation. Only seven guards and an unknown number of jail supervisors had access…

Jul 1, 2008 9:40 PM CDT

ABA President Calls for Mugabe to Restore Rule of Law

Against a backdrop of increasingly violent contention that has led Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II to rescind the knighthood of Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe, the president of the ABA today sent a letter (PDF) to Mugabe. It calls for Mugabe to put an end to “state-sponsored violence and intimidation of lawyers”…

Jun 30, 2008 10:35 PM CDT

‘Enemy Combatant’ Opinion Released: Verifiable, Reliable Evidence Required

Updated: In a 39-page opinion that cites the author of Alice in Wonderland, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit says that verifiable and reliable evidence is required to hold a suspect without trial as an “enemy combatant.” The opinion in the case of Huzaifa Parhat was decided…

Jun 30, 2008 8:50 PM CDT

Want the Gov’t to Read Legal Docs? Travel Abroad With a Laptop

It may come as a surprise to a number of lawyers, but the government can legally read what’s on a foreign traveler’s laptop. So, like other individuals frequenting the international airways, attorneys would be well-advised to leave their personal computers at home unless they’re clean of any documents they might…

Jun 30, 2008 8:08 PM CDT

Texas Supreme Court Says Church Can’t Be Held Liable for Exorcism

The Texas Supreme Court has held the First Amendment protects a church from liability for an exorcism performed on a teen who claims the incident traumatized her. Laura Schubert was 17 when members of the Pleasant Glade Assembly of God tried to exorcise demons from her in 1996, report the…

Jun 30, 2008 4:54 PM CDT

5 Iraq Appeals Judges Escape Bomb Blasts at 5 Homes Today

Just days after the chief judge of one of Baghdad’s two appeals courts was assassinated as he was driving home, five more judges in the same Iraq appeals court escaped serious injury in five bombings at their homes today. “All five bombs in different neighborhoods detonated but failed to kill…

Jun 30, 2008 3:41 PM CDT

Prof Says D.C. Handgun Ban Didn’t Affect Number of Murders

A Florida State professor says the handgun ban in the District of Columbia did not affect the murder rate. Gun control advocates argue handgun bans are needed to keep the weapons out of criminals’ hands. Gun control opponents, on the other hand, say the bans take guns away from law-abiding…

Jun 30, 2008 2:29 PM CDT