This week saw the demise of a landmark case in the area of constitutional criminal procedure: Michigan v. Jackson. In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court rolled back on the protection of defendants that guaranteed that they had the advice of counsel before speaking with police at critical stages of a prosecution. In Montejo v. Louisiana (07-1529), Justice Antonin Scalia said that the protection was not worth the loss of confessions and only caused confusion. The Obama Administration supported the rollback on protections for criminal defendants and argued for Michigan v. Jackson to be overturned.
Continue reading “Supreme Court Overturns Landmark Case Michigan v. Jackson — With The Support of the Obama Administration”
Category: Constitutional Law
Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi has previously threatened to crackdown on the media for reporting his regular gaffes and notorious conduct. Now, the media mogul is reportedly trying to block publication of pictures with young women after the media pursues allegations of affairs. His wife, Veronica Lario, sought a divorce due to Berlusconi’s, 72, alleged fondness for girls, including a particular 18-year-old Neapolitan Noemi Letizia.
Continue reading “Italian Premier Accused For Trying to Suppress Photos With Young Girls”
The debate over Judge Sonia Sotomayor continues to rage this week. What is remarkable is how much is being said and how little substance can be found in the coverage. One would think that the law of averages alone would guarantee that some substantive points would be hit, if only by accident. It is becoming increasingly clear that, once again, we will not have a substantive and civil review of the qualifications of a Supreme Court nominee. Neither conservatives nor liberals seem to want (or are willing to tolerate) objective discussion of Sotomayor’s qualifications or opinions. For what it is worth, I would like to discard some of the most often heard arguments in the vain hope that we might still achieve some level of reasonable discourse in this debate.
Continue reading “Confirming Nonsense: Both Liberals and Conservatives Distort Debate Over Sotomayor”
Legislators in the Knesset gave initial approval to a law that would make it a crime to deny the right of Israel to exist — mandating a year in prison for such an exercise of free speech.
Continue reading “Israel Moves To Criminalize Statements Against Israel’s Right to Exist”
Theodore B. Olson, the U.S. solicitor general under Bush and his lawyer in Bush v. Gore, and David Boies, who represented former vice president Al Gore in that case, have joined forces to challenge Proposition 8 in federal court after this week’s loss in the California state court system.
Continue reading “Olson and Bois Team Up on Proposition 8 Challenge”
What happen when you hold a trial and the police are the ones who take the Fifth? That question was answered by Cook County Circuit Judge Clayton Crane who ordered a new trial for Gangster Disciple member Cortez Brown, who alleged that he was forced to confess during beatings in custody.
While buried by the news of the Sotomayor nomination, yesterday was a disappointing day for many of us who favor same-sex marriage. The California Supreme Court voted 6-1 to uphold Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage. The only good news for couples is that the Court ruled that the 18,000 unions licensed before the proposition would not be invalidated.
President Obama has selected Judge Sonia Sotomayor of United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. She has an inspiring life story and gave a moving speech at the White House. She is not the intellectual powerhouse that many academics had hoped for. However, many nominees did not find their voices until after years of service on the Court. I discussed the nomination on this segment of Countdown. [For an update on debunking conservative and liberal attacks in this debate, click here]
Continue reading “The President’s Pick: A Review of Sonia Sotomator’s Rulings”
The late Rev. Jerry Falwell always insisted that he spoke for “the moral majority.” However, it appears that his university, Liberty University, is equally interested in silencing what they consider to be the “immoral minority.” The school this week shutdown the the Liberty University College Democrats as inimical to their moral mission. The Republican Student organization was retained.
Continue reading “The Price of Liberty: University Bans Democratic Student Organization on Morality Grounds”
A French judge has ordered a magazine off newsstands for publishing a photo of a Jewish man Ilan Halimi, who was allegedly tortured to death. The alleged culprits are facing trial. Judge Phillipe Jean-Draeher based his decision on the “exceptional” attack by Choc magazine on the feelings of Halimi’s mother and sisters.
Continue reading “French Judge Censors Magazine to Protect Feelings of Family in Torture Case”
The “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy has claimed another American hero. Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach, an F-15E Strike Eagle with nine Air Medals, including one for valor for assaulting an Iraqi ambush position while under heavy anti-aircraft fire has been discharged for liking men instead of women.
Continue reading “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell: Hero Pilot Discharged for Being Gay”
Colleen Hauser and her son, Daniel, have disappeared in the wake of losing the court fight to block chemotherapy needed to save Daniel’s life. He is suffering from Hodgkin’s lymphoma and an x-ray on Monday showed that the tumor had grown.
Continue reading “Minnesota Mom Flees with Ailing Son To Avoid Chemotherapy”
We have seen a number of cases on this blog where prosecutors fought efforts by prisoners to obtain DNA tests that might prove their innocence — only to be proven innocent once the tests were performed. Prosecutors are rarely denounced for these reprehensible efforts. The story in the New York Times indicates that prosecutors are continuing to oppose such testing even in states that passed new laws guaranteeing such testing.
Continue reading “Prosecutors Still Opposing DNA Access for Prisoners Despite New Laws”
The Frisco Independent School District in Texas was faced with complaints about Gideon volunteers hanging around outside of schools to pass out bibles to children. They solved the problem by inviting them into the school where free bibles are now made available to the students — a move that has caused some parents to object.
Continue reading “Texas School District Resolves Controversy Over Christian Groups Distributing Bibles Outside of Schools By Inviting Them Inside”
CIA Director Leon Panetta struck back at Speaker Nancy Pelosi today in a memorandum to CIA employees saying that she was fully and truthfully briefed in 2002. He indirectly accuses Pelosi of “making hay out” of the CIA and misrepresenting her briefing for political purposes. I discussed the Pelosi story last night on this segment of Countdown.
Continue reading “Haymaker: Panetta Contradicts Pelosi and Says That She Was Fully Briefed”