Constitutional Law

Prof: Court Will Move ‘Step by Step’ to Right

This week’s abortion decision illustrates how the U.S. Supreme Court will “move to the right step by step,” a law professor tells the Washington Post. The emerging conservative majority is willing to reconsider precedent, says A. E. Dick Howard of the University of Virginia law school. But he believes the…

Apr 20, 2007 3:35 PM CDT

More Abortion Battles to Come

The fight over abortion moves to the states following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling this week upholding a ban on so-called partial birth abortion.

Apr 20, 2007 2:01 PM CDT

State High Court Allows Felon DNA Samples

The Washington Supreme Court has ruled the state may collect DNA samples from convicted felons without violating the state or federal constitutions, the Associated Press reports. The decision (PDF) issued today said Washington state’s constitution offers more protection than the federal document, but not in this context. The Washington Constitution…

Apr 19, 2007 8:55 PM CDT

Alito Vote Crucial in Abortion Decision

The justice who replaced Sandra Day O’Connor had the most important vote in yesterday’s 5-4 decision upholding the ban on so-called partial birth abortions, according to a story in the New York Times. Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. joined the majority. O’Connor had voted to strike down a similar law…

Apr 19, 2007 1:57 PM CDT

Ban on ‘Partial Birth’ Abortion Upheld

The U.S. Supreme Court has for the first time upheld a ban on so-called partial birth abortions in a 5-4 decision. Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote the majority opinion.

Apr 18, 2007 4:11 PM CDT

Judge Backs Ban of Anti-Gay Shirt

A federal judge in Chicago has sided with a suburban school that banned anti-gay T-shirts. A student wanted to wear a shirt that read “Be Happy, Not Gay” as part of a Christian campaign this week to oppose gay rights issues, the Chicago Tribune reports. The school district thought the…

Apr 18, 2007 3:47 PM CDT

Prison Newsletter Free to Circulate in California

California prison officials have agreed to stop blocking distribution of a newsletter that circulates to some 1,000 state prison inmates, in alleged violation of their First Amendment rights. The state will also pay $65,000 to settle their claims, with the money going to fund five-year subscriptions to 157 prison libraries.…

Apr 13, 2007 10:14 PM CDT

Lawyers Spar Over Abortion Law

A lawyer for abortion opponents told a federal appeals court yesterday than an injunction blocking an abortion warning law is interfering with the rights of pregnant women in South Dakota. The women are losing their “rights to a relationship with their children,” said Harold Cassidy, chief counsel for anti-abortion centers…

Apr 12, 2007 3:45 PM CDT

8th Circuit Reconsiders Abortion Issue

A federal appeals court will sit en banc today to reconsider an injunction blocking a South Dakota abortion law from taking effect. The 2005 law requires abortion providers to tell patients that the procedure will “terminate the life of a whole, separate, unique, living human being,” the New York Times…

Apr 11, 2007 1:33 PM CDT

Sweet Music to Jim Morrison Fans: A Pardon?

Is it time to pardon Doors frontman Jim Morrison, famous for his music and infamous for his bad behavior? Dave Diamond, a cable TV producer from Dayton, Ohio, thinks so. He wrote to Florida Gov. Charlie Crist last month asking him to pardon the hard-living rocker and Florida native for…

Apr 11, 2007 12:59 AM CDT

Study This, Mr. Principal: Student Wins Web Case

Placing a middle school student on probation for criticizing a school principal in expletive-laden language on a MySpace page violated her First Amendment right of free speech, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Monday. It ordered a juvenile court that had found her delinquent and put her on probation to…

Apr 11, 2007 12:19 AM CDT

Prof: Court Will Move ‘Step by Step’ to Right

More Abortion Battles to Come

State High Court Allows Felon DNA Samples

Alito Vote Crucial in Abortion Decision

Ban on ‘Partial Birth’ Abortion Upheld

Judge Backs Ban of Anti-Gay Shirt

Prison Newsletter Free to Circulate in California

Lawyers Spar Over Abortion Law

8th Circuit Reconsiders Abortion Issue

Sweet Music to Jim Morrison Fans: A Pardon?

Study This, Mr. Principal: Student Wins Web Case

A Sixth Sense About Criminal Trials

A Death Sentence Is Brought to Mind

Court Takes Cases Out of the Office

April 20, 1971

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