Today in a congressional hearing, Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair acknowledged that the U.S. may, with executive approval, deliberately target and kill U.S. citizens who are suspected of being involved in terrorism. I discussed this story in the segment on MSNBC Countdown below.
Continue reading “Obama Administration Claims Right to Kill Americans Suspected of Terrorism”
Category: Constitutional Law
Associate Justice Clarence Thomas appeared to take on President Obama this week in discussing the ruling in Citizens United — contradicting the President’s portrayal in the State of the Union. In my view, the President did overstate the holding (not unheard of in the halls of Congress), but I continue to despair over the increasing public role played by justices (here). In my view, Thomas should not be engaging in such a public debate and should allow these decisions to speak for themselves.
Continue reading “Clarence Thomas Defends Recent Ruling on Campaign Finance”
Family Research Council’s Peter Sprigg does not appear quite ready to accept gays serving the country in the military. On Hardball, he not only opposed the elimination of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy but argued that all gays should be arrested as criminals.
France has been stepping up its opposition to the Muslim tradition of women wearing full veils. It has not only moved toward a ban in public places, but it has now denied citizenship to a Moroccan man for his attitude toward women, including forcing his wife to wear a veil.
Continue reading “France Refuses Citizenship to Moroccan Man Who Forces Wife To Wear Veil”
Lorianne Updike Toler, lawyer and head of the Constitutional Sources Project in Pennsylvania, has found a rare early draft of the United States Constitution in the hand of James Wilson. It is a major historical and legal find at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
Continue reading “Early Draft of Constitution Found”
The good people at The Laughingsquid showed the world how to deal with fanatics like the hate-mongering Westboro Church crowd. Westboro loves to show up at funerals and other events with large signs proclaiming such things as “GOD HATES FAGS.” A bunch of counter-demonstrators showed up recently with signs of their own proclaiming such things “I WAS PROMISED DONUTS” and “GOD HATES SIGNS.”
Continue reading ““God Hates Signs”: Westboro Protest Triggers Theater of the Absurd”
CBS has rejected a Super Bowl ad submitted by ManCrunch.com, a gay dating site that shows two male football fans making out. The network said that the commercial violated its standards and sources suggested it was just a ploy to get publicity. ManCrunch has called the move discriminatory and pointed to controversial commercials that have run in the past.
Continue reading “CBS Refuses to Air Gay Dating Commercial During Superbowl”
Leading Iranian Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati used his Friday prayer sermon to celebrate the recent executions of protesters and to call for more executions as the will of God. Jannati explained that the Koran (Qur’an) expressly allows rulers to execute critics.
Continue reading “Iranian Cleric Calls for Execution of More Protesters As Sanctioned By God”
In a breach of protocol, Associate Justice Sam Alito was filmed during the State of the Union address last night shaking his head and mouthing “not true” in response to the President’s criticism of the Citizens United ruling on corporate campaign finance limits. Ironically, Rep. Joe Wilson promised to restrain himself during this speech and not scream “you lie” again during the President’s speech. For a justice, this breach (shown below) is no less remarkable. It is, in a word, injudicious.
Recently, we saw how San Diego District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis ordered a boycott of a judge who is deemed too protective over defendant rights, here. Now the ABA Journal is reporting below that another prosecutor has followed suit with her own boycott of a judge in Santa Clara. District Attorney Dolores Carr confirmed that she is boycotting Superior Court Judge Andrea Bryan after the judge ruled for a criminal defendant. It is a dangerous trend that should result in a prompt rebukes from the bar as an attack on the very foundation of an independent judiciary.
Continue reading “California District Attorney Boycotts Judge Who Ruled For Defendant”
The good people of Menifee Union School District have taken a stand against indecency. Across the district in every school library Merriam Webster’s 10th edition dictionary has been locked away because one parent complained that it contained a definition of “oral sex.”
Venezuela president Hugo Chavez continued his assault on free speech and the free press with the closing of Radio Caracas Television (RCTV), the last major television channel offering criticism of his regime. Previously, his government kicked the station off free television channels. RCTV then continued to criticize his policies on cable. Now it has been barred from any broadcast.
Continue reading “Vast Wasteland: Chavez Shutdown Last Major Critical Television Station”
There is an interesting case out of Columbia, Missouri where an officer, Jessica McNabb, found a body in the trunk of the car of teenager, Daniel Sanders. That unfortunately is not so interesting in today’s world. What is striking is the reason for the search of the trunk: Sanders asked for a lawyer. The body turned out to be his mother.
Continue reading “The Incriminating Invocation: Officer Searches Car of Teenager After He Asks for a Lawyer and Finds Dead Mother”
In a decision that could have a dramatic effect on the upcoming elections, the Supreme Court has ruled 5-4 in favor of a group of conservative filmmakers in the “Hillary: The Movie” Case. The result of the decision could increase spending for corporations, unions, and nonprofits in the election. I previously discussed the case and the likelihood of this 5-4 ruling. I discussed the case on this segment of Countdown. Other commentators like Glenn Greenwald have also weighed in on the case with similar views, here.
Former Chinese Supreme Court Justice Huang Songyou, 52, has been sentenced to life imprisonment for corruption after being convicted of taking more than 3.9 million yuan ($570,000) in bribes from four lawyers in return for favorable rulings. He was also convicted of embezzling 1.2 million yuan of government funds in 1997 when he was president of a city-level court in Guang-dong Province.
Continue reading “Chinese Supreme Court Justice Sentenced to Life Imprisonment for Corruption”