Category: Constitutional Law

Congress, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, International, Justice, Lawyering, Politics, Society

Obama Considering Continuing Bush Policy of Indefinite Detentions Without Trial

225px-official_portrait_of_barack_obamaThe Obama administration has already adopted extreme executive privilege arguments that dwarfed the arguments of George Bush. It has moved to kill dozens of citizens lawsuits to uncover criminal acts of the government. This week, it refused (despite a court ruling) to release embarrassing photos of detainee abuse. Now, in the continue morphing with the prior Administration, Barack Obama is considering a continuation of the Bush policy of indefinitely detaining suspects without trial. I will be discussing this and other issues today on the Ed Beck Show on MSNBC.

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Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, International, Politics, Religion, Society

Bauer: Good Christians Torture

200px-Cristo_crucificadotorture -abu ghraibThere has been a long controversy over the ability of the religious right to justify most any position of the GOP on the environment or civil liberties in terms of religious faith. However, the recent Republican effort to embrace and justify torture presented a bit of a problem for the faithful, particularly Christians who worship a man who was tortured to death on a cross. That presented no problem for Gary Bauer, a former Republican presidential candidate and leader of the religious right, who has announced that it would have been immoral for the Bush administration not to torture people.

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Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Society

Tracking Privacy Rulings: New York Finds Warrantless Use of GPS To Be Unconstitutional While Wisconsin Gives Police Unlimited Use

180px-Magellan_GPS_Blazer12In a major ruling, the New York Court of Appeals has held that the police cannot use a GPS device on a suspect’s car without a warrant — ordering a new trial for Scott Weaver, 41, a burglary suspect. In the meantime, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals came to the opposite conclusion: finding no need for a warrant in the use of GPS devices against citizens for any reason by the police.

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Congress, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, International, Politics, Society

Obama Reverses Decision and Refuses to Release Abuse Photos

225px-official_portrait_of_barack_obamatorture -abu ghraibDespite earlier indications that there would be a release of detainee photos, President Obama has ordered that the photos been withheld in defiance of a judicial ruling. I discussed the development on this segment of the Rachel Maddow Show.
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Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, International, Society, Supreme Court

Inmate Paul House Cleared of Murder After 22 Years on Death Row

Terrehaute_gurneyAfter 22 years on death row, Paul House has now been cleared of murder charges with Tennessee state prosecutors asking for all charges to be dropped against him. He had been sentenced to die in 1986 and his case is already being used by opponents of the death penalty as an example why states should move to life without parole as the ultimate punishment in this country.

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Bizarre, Constitutional Law, International, Society

New Jersey Student Claims Discrimination Over Referenced to Himself as “White African American”

Aumd_home_grouped_07 student at University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey has made an interesting discrimination claim. Paulo Serodio says that he was harassed and suspended for calling himself a “white African-American” because he was born in Mozambique and later became a U.S. citizen.

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Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, Lawyering, Politics, Society

Judge Samuel Kent Sentenced to 33 Months in Federal Prison

gavel2Federal judge Samuel Kent has been sentenced to 33 months for obstruction of justice for lying to a judicial committee investigating allegations that he sexually harassed an employee. Kent, who was viewed as a harsh sentencer for criminal defendants, avoided a maximum sentence of 20 years. One of the alleged victims referred to him as a “drunken giant.”
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Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Religion, Society

Dirty Dancing: Christian High School Suspends Student for Attending a School Prom

800px-Il_Ballo2Tyler Frost, 17, a senior at Heritage Christian School in Findlay, Ohio has been suspended for attending a prom with his girlfriend because the Findlay High School’s prom allowed dancing and music. This Taliban-like ruling is based on the Christian school’s policy that forbids dancing, rock music, hand holding and kissing.
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Bizarre, Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, International, Media, Politics, Society

Reid: Torture Might Have Been Illegal But Still “Right” Thing To Do

225px-harry_reid_official_portraitChristiane Brown has released an amazing audio interview with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid where he admits that waterboarding is torture and we did torture people. However, he suggests that it was “the right” thing to do and should not be punished. The audio tape is worth listening to. It is a brilliant interview by Brown.
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Congress, Constitutional Law, Criminal law, International, Military, Politics, Society

Pelosi Changes Account On Briefing On Torture

220px-nancy_pelositorture -abu ghraibSpeaker Nancy Pelosi has issued a new statement (and explanation) after released documents appeared to contradict her earlier denials that she had ever been briefed on the use of torture. As discussed in a prior blog, Pelosi previously insisted that she was never told that these “enhanced techniques” (aka torture) were being used and assumed that the briefing concerned just a hypothetical use of the methods. Now, she is changing her story to acknowledge that she, at a minimum, knew that the methods would be used — even though she is denying that she was actually told that they had been used. I discussed the story on this segment of Rachel Maddow’s show.
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Academia, Bizarre, Constitutional Law, Religion, Society

Christian College Suspends Student for Work as Gay Porn Actor

GCC_LogoGrove City College, a Christian College in Western Pennsylvania, has suspended John Gechter, 21, for one year after a student saw him in a gay porn movie performing under the name of “Vincent DeSalvo.” It is not clear how the student came across this information.
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Columns, Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, International, Justice, Lawyering, Media, Military, Politics, Society

Three Legal Truths: The Case for The Prosecution of War Crimes By the Bush Administration

torture -abu ghraibBelow is today’s column in the U.S. News and World Report on the case for prosecuting torture and responding to the dwindling number of defenders of the Bush torture program:
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Constitutional Law, Criminal law, International, Politics, Society

Report: Pelosi Knew of Use of Torture Despite Earlier Denials

220px-nancy_pelositorture -abu ghraibIntelligence officials leaked documents to the Washington Post and ABC News last night that sharply contradict the statements of Speaker Nancy Pelosi who has denied ever being told that torture was being used on detaineees. She previously insisted that the use of waterboarding (aka torture) was only discussed in the future tense — a dubious moral distinction. I discussed the story on this segment of Rachel Maddow’s show.
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