Constitutional Law

All Calls and E-Mails to be Stored in UK?

Updated: Officials in Great Britain are considering a possible plan to store all electronic communications—telephone calls, e-mails, text messages and Internet information—for up to a year in a massive government database, as a potential evidence trove in terrorism cases and other crimes. Phone calls and text messages are already kept:…

May 20, 2008 2:59 PM CDT

Texas Plans for FLDS Kids Unclear & Unfair, Lawyers Say

Plans discussed in court hearings today to reunite some 465 children removed from a communal ranch home in Texas last month with at least their mothers during the next year are so unclear that it’s impossible to comply with them, lawyers for some parents and children say. Some also are…

May 19, 2008 10:25 PM CDT

US Now Holding 500 Juveniles in Iraq; Was Holding 2,500

In a report to a United Nations committee, the United States says it is holding 500 juveniles, apparently in adult detention facilities, in Iraq and Afghanistan. Since 2002, a total of some 2,500 have reportedly been detained as suspected “unlawful enemy combatants.” “A total of 2,500 youths under the age…

May 19, 2008 9:06 PM CDT

Supreme Court Upholds Anti-Child Porn Law

In a long-sought victory for those eager to stamp out child pornography on the Internet, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed 7-2 to uphold a federal law that creates penalties for promoting child pornography. The court rejected concerns that the law could apply to mainstream movies, classic literature or innocent e-mail…

May 19, 2008 5:54 PM CDT

Supreme Court Upholds Tax Exemption for In-State Muni Bonds

Updated: The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that states may favor municipal bonds issued within their borders by exempting interest on them from taxation, SCOTUSblog reports. The appeal in Kentucky v. Davis had argued Kentucky violated the Constitution’s dormant commerce clause by exempting interest on in-state municipal bonds from taxation…

May 19, 2008 2:47 PM CDT

California Chief Justice: Doing the Right Thing Means Not Playing It Safe

Ronald George, the chief justice of the California Supreme Court, is known as a moderate Republican who heads a cautious court. Yet he made history Thursday when he wrote the majority opinion striking down a ban on gay marriages in the state. George told the Los Angeles Times in an…

May 19, 2008 12:09 PM CDT

Military Judge Delays Trial for Bin Laden Driver

A military judge has delayed the trial of the former driver for Osama bin Laden. The judge, Capt. Keith Allred, postponed the trial of Salim Hamdan until July 21 to give the U.S. Supreme Court time to rule in a case involving Guantanamo Bay detainees, the New York Times reports.…

May 19, 2008 11:44 AM CDT

Retiring NYT Legal Reporter Warns Law Grads Not to be Parasites

Linda Greenhouse, the retiring Supreme Court reporter for the New York Times, asked graduates of a Rhode Island law school on Friday to help the legal profession “climb back from the abyss.” Speaking at commencement ceremonies for the Roger Williams University School of Law, Greenhouse warned graduates not to be…

May 19, 2008 11:21 AM CDT

FLDS Children Interviewed By Police Without Legal Counsel, Attorney Says

A lawyer for several of the approximately 465 children removed from a Texas ranch run by a religious sect that reportedly advocates polygamy says her clients and others throughout the state are being interviewed by authorities without their attorneys present. While that apparently may be legal, as far as child…

May 16, 2008 11:31 PM CDT

California Supreme Court Strikes Down Gay Marriage Ban

Updated: The California Supreme Court has struck down the state’s ban on gay marriages in a 4-3 ruling. The court ruled the California Constitution gives gay couples the right to marry, making the state the second to permit such unions, the Associated Press reports. The Massachusetts Supreme Court has also…

May 15, 2008 5:25 PM CDT

New Texas Rules for FLDS Moms May Distance Them from Their Faith

As new hearings are about to begin Monday in the case of some 464 children of a fundamentalist religious sect removed from their communal ranch homes over allegations of sexual abuse, Texas child welfare officials have reportedly drafted family reunion goals that may force mothers to choose between their children…

May 15, 2008 5:17 PM CDT

Appeals Court Reviews Va. Lethal Injections, Considers ‘Excruciating Death’

A federal appeals court considered yesterday whether Virginia’s method of lethal injection is constitutional. The oral arguments before the Richmond, Va.-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals were the first to be held at the appellate level since the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Kentucky’s three-drug lethal injection cocktail in April,…

May 15, 2008 3:55 PM CDT

California Supreme Court to Rule on Gay Marriage Today

The California Supreme Court will issue a ruling today in a series of lawsuits that seek to overturn a law banning gay marriage. The Massachusetts Supreme Court is the only top state court that has found a right to same-sex marriages, the Associated Press reports. When the California Supreme Court…

May 15, 2008 11:24 AM CDT

Columnist Says ‘Judges Gone Wild’ Theory Is Incorrect

Are liberal activist judges thwarting the will of the people with their flexible reading of the Constitution? Ruth Marcus doesn’t think so. In an opinion column for the Washington Post she takes aim at presidential contender John McCain for criticizing judges who “legislate from the bench.” “The world he sketches…

May 14, 2008 3:52 PM CDT

Defendant Who Attacked PD Gave Up Right to a Lawyer, Court Says

The Minnesota Court of Appeals has affirmed a judge’s refusal to appoint a new lawyer for a defendant who attacked his public defender in court. The appeals court said William Lehman forfeited his right to a court-appointed lawyer when he attacked public defender Mark Groettum in the courtroom, the St.…

May 14, 2008 11:14 AM CDT