Constitutional Law

Airline Group Wants to Block Passenger Bill of Rights

A trade group for the airlines plans to ask a federal judge to block a New York law requiring food, water and other services to passengers sitting in a grounded airplane for more than three hours. The law requires airlines in such situations to give the waiting passengers “fresh air…

Dec 18, 2007 2:52 PM CST

10-Partner Firm Fights Tort Reform Laws

The law firm fighting tort reform laws doesn’t mention the word “tort” or “trial lawyers” in its name. The Center for Constitutional Litigation has 10 partners who seek to overturn state and federal laws that cap damages or otherwise limit recovery for injured plaintiffs. The center currently has about 40…

Dec 17, 2007 2:42 PM CST

Congress, DOJ Clash re CIA Videotapes Probe

Congress and the Department of Justice apparently may be headed for a showdown over the issue of whose investigation takes precedence concerning videotapes of al-Qaida interrogations destroyed by the CIA. Members of the House Intelligence Committee reacted angrily yesterday to a Justice Department request that the committee postpone their investigation…

Dec 15, 2007 9:47 AM CST

First Amendment Protects Woman Who Cursed at Overflowing Toilet

A Pennsylvania judge has cited the First Amendment in acquitting a woman who screamed profanities when her toilet overflowed. Judge Terrence Gallagher wrote that Dawn Herb’s profanities may be considered “offensive, vulgar and imprudent,” but they are protected by the First Amendment, the Times-Tribune reports. Herb, who lives in West…

Dec 14, 2007 7:19 PM CST

Arizona’s Crackdown on Hiring Illegal Immigrants Faces Court Test

A federal judge on Tuesday will consider whether to block an Arizona law that threatens to pull the business licenses of companies that knowingly hire illegal immigrants. The law, scheduled to take effect Jan. 1, is one of the toughest measures enacted by states to battle illegal immigration, the New…

Dec 14, 2007 3:57 PM CST

Cert ‘Very Likely’ in Child Rape Death Penalty Case, Blog Says

U.S. Supreme Court practitioner Thomas Goldstein says the U.S. Supreme Court is “very likely” to grant cert in a case that asks whether it is constitutional to impose the death penalty for the rape of a child. The lawyer makes his prediction about the Eighth Amendment case, Kennedy v. Louisiana,…

Dec 14, 2007 1:40 PM CST

Bush Aides Cited for Contempt in Prosecutor Probe

In the latest move toward a potential constitutional showdown between Congress and the White House, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted today to hold two aides to President George W. Bush in contempt for failing to cooperate with its probe of why nine U.S. attorneys were fired. White House Chief of…

Dec 13, 2007 4:56 PM CST

In Rare Public Opinion, US Spy Court Keeps Prior Rulings Secret

In its third public ruling in its 29-year history, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court said today that it will not make public secret rulings striking down portions of a controversial warrantless wiretapping program by the American government. Citing national security concerns, the ultra-secret court denied in its opinion (PDF) an…

Dec 11, 2007 11:09 PM CST

CIA Director to Testify About Tapes

The director of the CIA will testify before Congress tomorrow and Wednesday about at least two videotapes the agency destroyed of its interrogations of terrorism suspects in their custody. The interrogations are controversial because CIA agents reportedly use harsh techniques that some consider tantamount to torture. CIA Director Michael Hayden…

Dec 11, 2007 1:05 AM CST

R.I. Gay Couple Can’t Divorce There, State High Court Rules

The Rhode Island Supreme Court has refused to allow the state’s courts to grant a divorce to a lesbian couple married in Massachusetts. The 3-2 ruling (PDF) released Friday said Rhode Island defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman, and the legislature would have to change…

Dec 10, 2007 1:49 PM CST

Supreme Ct. to Hear Iraq Detention Case

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed today to decide whether American citizens held in Iraq by a coalition of military forces have a right to have their cases heard in federal court under habeas corpus principles. Solicitor general Paul Clement argues that they do not, because they are being held by…

Dec 8, 2007 12:43 AM CST

25th Birthday for Lethal Injections

Exactly 25 years ago today, strapped to a gurney in a Texas death chamber, 40-year-old Charlie Brooks Jr. became the first person in the U.S. to be executed by lethal injection. Since then, the method has been adopted by many states throughout the country, which considered it a humane alternative…

Dec 7, 2007 11:20 PM CST

Dems Seek Probe re CIA Tapes; Destruction a Plus for Suspects’ Defense?

Democratic legislators reacted angrily today to news that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency had destroyed at least two videotapes of harsh interrogations of al-Qaida terrorist suspects in its custody, and called for an investigation. Meanwhile, observers predicted potential litigation and an adverse effect on the prosecution of suspected terrorists. “Senator…

Dec 7, 2007 9:53 PM CST

N.Y. Times: CIA Destroyed al-Qaida Suspect Interrogation Tapes

Updated: Apparently seeking to avoid Congressional scrutiny and lessen the risk of legal repercussions against agents involved, the CIA reportedly destroyed in 2005 at least two videotapes that showed al-Qaida suspects in CIA custody being harshly interrogated. The CIA also was concerned that the recordings of the 2002 interrogations, if…

Dec 6, 2007 11:15 PM CST

Police Informant Sues Over Job Loss

A confidential police informant in Atlanta who lost his job after his identity was revealed because of a furor of publicity over a botched drug raid has sued the city for damages. Alex White contends in his federal lawsuit that he made about $25,000 annually from this work and seeks…

Dec 6, 2007 10:47 PM CST