A federal court has issued an interesting ruling after the arrest of various members of the Mongols motorcycle gang: gang members, their family and their associates are enjoined from wearing, licensing, selling or distributing the gang’s logo. It is a novel and questionable order, in my view, by U.S. District Court Judge Florence-Marie Cooper.
Continue reading “Judge Bars Gang Members and Associates From Distributing Mongol Logo and Symbol”
Category: Constitutional Law
If the difference between a Hockey Mom and a pit bull is lipstick, Gov. Sarah Palin may also want to throw in “and $150,000 in expenses.” It turns out that the lipstick is paid for by the Republican National Committee. This week Palin has been hammered by disclosures that she spent $150,000 of campaign money on clothes and make-up. In the meantime, another report has disclosed that she used state funds in Alaska to pay for the travel of her children — including changing records to indicate that they were on official travel despite the fact that the event organizers did not invite family members.
Previously classified memos from the White House confirm that torture was directly approved at the highest level of the government. The Administration has previously suggested that it rescinded the infamous torture memo signed by former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and treated that memorandum as an aberrant mistake. However, it is now confirmed that the White House approved a known form of torture to be used on detainees.
Continue reading “White House Directly Approved Torture in Newly Disclosed Memos”
When the military tribunals were being created at Guantanamo Bay, some of us publicly stated that we would not take cases because the rules written by the Administration were fundamentally unfair and did not recognize core principles of due process. Since then, there have been a steady stream of prosecutors and defense lawyers in the military who have resigned in protest. The latest is Lt. Col. Darrel J. Vandeveld, who decided that he could no longer live with himself as a person or an attorney to participate in such a sham legal system.
In a major civil liberties ruling, the Connecticut Supreme Court has ruled that gay and lesbian couples have the right to get married. While conservatives like Sarah Palin have insisted that we should leave questions like abortion to the states, this ruling is likely to increase calls for a federal constitutional amendment to prevent states from deciding the question as a matter of federalism.
Continue reading “Connecticut Rules In Favor of Same-Sex Marriage”
The Georgia Supreme Court has ruled that a woman who won a Riverdale City Council position in November did not mislead voters because she was born a man. Michelle Bruce did not tell voters that she was once man and the losers in the election cried foul. Georgia Fuller and Stan Harris filed actions to invalidate the election that they lost to Bruce, but the Supreme Court ruled for the transgender city councilperson.
The White House has long been obvious in its effort to run out the clock on the constitutional challenge to the subpoenas for former White House Counsel Harriet Miers and White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten. As a court found, the White House arguments are meritless, but the Administration has been relying on the calendar more than the Constitution. This week, that strategy succeeded with an appellate court issuing a stay that guarantees that the subpoenas will expire with this Congress.
A federal district court judge has issued an interesting decision in Miller v. Penn Manor School District, (ED PA, Sept. 30, 2008). This case originally captured national attention when a high school student, Donald Miller III, was prevented from wearing a T-shirt that said “Special Issue-Resident-Lifetime License, United States Terrorist Hunting Permit…” The Court upheld the ban on such messages including violent messages. However, it struck down a religious-related ban.
Continue reading “Federal Court Enjoins Limitations on Student Religous Expression”
In a clear effort to simply delay an investigation until after the November election, Alaskan GOP politicians have appealed the recent ruling upholding the investigation of Gov. Sarah Palin. Anchorage Superior Court Judge Peter Michalski dismissed their lawsuit Thursday shortly before the debate. I discussed the ruling on the Rachael Maddow Show. This is precisely the same tactic used by Dick Cheney and the Bush Justice Department in filing motions and appeals to advance meritless claims for the sole purpose of delay. In political cases, justice delayed is justice.
Continue reading “Delay and Conquer: GOP Politicians Appeal Troopergate Ruling”
A major fight is brewing in the tranquil environs of the Hamptons. Rabbi Marc Schneier and Orthodox Jews want Westhampton Beach officials to approve the placement of an eruv, a religious boundary that allows observant Jews to perform minor tasks on their Sabbath or on religious holidays. Citizens have objected, including some more secular Jewish citizens and there is talk of a lawsuit.
Continue reading “Religious Controversy Grips the Hamptons”
The good people on the board of education in Clovis, New Mexico have voted to review all of the content of all student publications after a Yearbook published pictures of lesbian couples in their high school. Principals are also empowered to censor such publications like the Plainsman Yearbook. The Plainsman of Clovis High will be be both plain and straight.
Continue reading “Keeping the Plainsman Plain (and Straight): New Mexico Board of Education Takes Over Student Publications After Lesbian Yearbook Picture”
Gov. Sarah Palin has campaigned on being resistant to earmarks and corruption, but she can now claim to be witch-resistant. A video below has emerged on YouTube that shows Palin participating in a collective blessing from Bishop Thomas Muthee, a regular at her evangelical Wasilla Assembly of God church, who prays for protection from “every form of witchcraft.”
We have been discussing an alarming trend against free speech rights — in the West. Another such example emerged this week with criminal charges filed against leading French author Pierre Péan, who is charged with racial hatred for derogatory things said about Tutsis in a book in a book about Rwandan genocide.
Continue reading “Leading French Author Pierre Péan Prosecuted for Hate Speech”
Even at eleven years old, Daxx Dalton shares his father’s intense conservative views and displayed those views by wearing a tee-shirt to school that read “Obama is a terrorist’s best friend.” The fifth grader wore the tee-shirt on a day when the students at Aurora Frontier K-8 School were asked to wear red, white and blue to show their patriotism. The school suspended him for the infraction and created a first amendment controversy.
Continue reading “Student Suspended for Wearing Political Tee-Shirt in Colorado”
The Administration has lost another ruling in its opposition to open government rules. The Bush Administration and particularly Vice President Dick Cheney has spent a huge amount of time and money fighting efforts to preserve documents and emails. On Saturday, U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ruled that Cheney must preserve a broad range of records from his time in office under the Presidential Records Act.
Continue reading “Bush Administration Loses Ruling on Cheney Records”