Category: Justice

Congress, Justice, Military, Politics

Brain Injured Vets vs. Tricare

Submitted by Lawrence Rafferty, (rafflaw), Guest Blogger

 

I have previously written about certain politicians wanting to reduce Disabled Veteran’s disability payments in order to reduce the nation’s debt.  Now it seems that even the Military health care system called Tricare, is balking at providing the necessary, albeit expensive, cognitive rehabilitation therapy for brain injured military personnel.  Once again, wounded vets are being taken advantage of by the very system that is designed to provide them with medical care. 

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Justice, Military, Uncategorized

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell…DON’T Pay!: On Dan Choi, Gays, and the Military

Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger

Since the implementation of the U. S. Military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy in 1993, more than 14,000 gay and lesbian soldiers have been discharged from service. According to the GAO, of those discharged, more than 750 were mission-critical service members and more than 320 had skills in Arabic, Farsi, and Korean languages. Yet, while gays and lesbians with special knowledge and skills were being discharged from the military, the army increased its number of waivers for recruits. According to a 2007 article in the New York Times, military waivers increased 65% from 2003 to 2006. During those years, the Army accepted more applicants who were high school dropouts and applicants who obtained low scores on aptitude tests. The Army also increased its number of “moral waivers” for individuals with criminal pasts. The “sharpest increase” in waivers was for applicants who were guilty of serious misdemeanors—including burglary, robbery, vehicular homicide, and aggravated assault.

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Constitutional Law, Courts, Justice, Lawyering, Society, Torts

Playing It Straight: LPGA’s “Female By Birth” Rule Challenged

Submitted by Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger

California professional golfer (and former police officer) Lana Lawless is challenging the LPGA’s rule requiring tournament participants to be “female by birth.”  The LPGA has ruled, according to Lawless, that as a transgender woman, she is ineligible to compete. The rule seems to fly directly in the face of California’s Unruh Law which holds that all people in the state are “free and equal, and no matter what their sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, medical condition, marital status, or sexual orientation are entitled to the full and equal accommodations, advantages, facilities, privileges, or services in all business establishments of every kind whatsoever.”

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Congress, International, Justice, Military, Politics

State of the Union Wishlist


Submitted by Lawrence Rafferty (rafflaw), Guest Blogger

In light of the all the hoopla about President Obama’s upcoming State of the Union speech on Tuesday night, I have been thinking of all of the ideas and issues that I would like the President to address in his talk with the country. Since I am a Bears fan and  used to dreaming,  here it goes.
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Congress, Courts, Justice, Lawyering, Media, Politics, Society, Supreme Court

Scalia and the Rise of the Celebrity Justice: Should Justices Have a Political Base?

Here is today’s column in the Washington Post on the controversy over Justice Scalia’s appearance on Monday in a Tea Party Caucus event for new House members. I view the issue as having broader implications for the Court.
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Courts, Criminal law, Justice

The Ring of Truth

-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger

Last week, the Fourth District Court of Appeal of the state of Florida issued a ruling denying the motion to suppress. Ruiz v. State of Florida is a drug case dealing with “consent” to search. Freddie Ruiz, charged with trafficking in cocaine and possession of cannabis, moved to suppress, alleging that the evidence was seized unlawfully.

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Constitutional Law, Courts, Justice, Media

Americans Don’t Have the Right to Learn Just How Detainees Were Tortured

 

Submitted by Lawrence Rafferty (rafflaw), Guest Blogger

Earlier this week I read on the ACLU website the Appellate Court decision in ACLU, et al v. Department of Defense, et al,  which decided you and I are not entitled to learn how our government tortured detainees illegally. “A federal appeals court today ruled that the government can continue suppressing transcripts in which former CIA prisoners now held at Guantánamo Bay describe abuse and torture they suffered in CIA custody. The ruling came in an ACLU Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit to obtain uncensored transcripts from Combatant Status Review Tribunals (CSRTs) used to determine if Guantánamo detainees qualify as  “enemy combatants.” http://www.aclu.org/national-security/court-rules-government-can-continue-suppress-detainee-statements-describing-tort-0 It didn’t surprise me that the ACLU lost this appeal, but what surprised me is the lack of attention this case got in the main stream media. Continue reading “Americans Don’t Have the Right to Learn Just How Detainees Were Tortured” →

Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Justice, Lawyering, Media, Politics, Society

Justice Thomas Accused of Reporting Violations

Common Cause has sent the letter below to Justice Clarence Thomas raising concerns over his failure to report his wife’s income in prior years. For full disclosure, I have conferred with Common Cause on this nondisclosure issue and participated as an independent expert in the press conference yesterday on the absence of binding ethics rules for the members of the Supreme Court.

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Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Justice, Lawyering, Media, Politics, Society, Supreme Court

Should Scalia and Thomas Be Retroactively Recused From Citizens United?

I just participated in a press conference (with Stanford Professor Deborah Rhode) dealing with Common Cause’s letter (below) asking the Justice Department to look into alleged conflicts of interest related to Justices Scalia and Thomas in the Citizens United case. Common Cause identified extremely serious issues related to the participation of Scalia and Thomas in events organized by Koch Industries CEO Charles Koch as well as Ginny Thomas’ involvement in Liberty Central.

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Constitutional Law, Courts, Criminal law, International, Justice, Lawyering, Politics

“Spiritual Corruption”: Chávez Jails Judge Who Granted Bail To Banker

Hugo Chávez continues his assault on political and legal protections in Venezuela. In a move that has been denounced internationally, including by Amnesty International, Chávez demanded the arrest of Judge María Lourdes Afiuni after she granted bail to an accused banker. He is demanding 30 years in prison even though his prosecutors could find no bribe (as he originally alleged on the radio). Instead, they found “spiritual corruption” and threw her in jail with many convicts that she previously incarcerated.
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Courts, Justice, Supreme Court

Are Michael Mukasey, Tom Ridge and Rudy Giuliani Aiding and Abetting the Enemy?

Submitted by Lawrence Rafferty (rafflaw), Guest Blogger

 

I realize that one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter, but when organizations are added to the Federal government’s list of Terrorist Organizations, the Supreme Court has determined that any assistance to that organization is a criminal act. Even a speech in support of that particular group can be a criminal act.  http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/09pdf/08-1498.pdf   http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/03/opinion/03cole.html?_r=1   It seems that in December of 2010, former Attorney General Michael Mukasey along with former Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge and Rudy Giuliani, a former Mayor of New York City and a former Presidential candidate, all spoke at a conference in Paris in support of the Mujahedeen Khalq.  The Mujahedeen Khalq is an Iranian dissident group that the State Department has labeled as a terrorist organization.  http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/other/des/123085.htm 

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Academia, Constitutional Law, International, Justice, Military, Politics, Society

Their Rights As Englishmen: A Brief History of the Second Amendment-Part I

Submitted by Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger

Few words have sparked as much emotion on the blog –and may have even cost it a victory lap in the ABA blog voting this year — as the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.  Seems the history of the Amendment was just as jumbled and ferociously fought, or so contends Law Professor David E. Vandercoy, in his short history of the Second Amendment.

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Academia, Bizarre, Justice, Society, Things That Tick Me Off

Tacoma Student Sent Home For Wearing Wrong Jersey: Bears Gain New Fan

Submitted by Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger

Only on rare occasion do I disagree with our host on interpretations of law. On football, well that’s another matter. An unabashed Steeler and AFC fan, I run head long in Professor Turley’s (shall I say it?), obsession with those “Monsters of the Midway,” the Chicago Bears. Today, all that changed.

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Congress, Constitutional Law, Justice, Politics

On Civil Liberties & Freedom: Take 2

Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger

I thought I’d do a follow-up to my Let Civil Liberties & Freedom Ring! post about the erosion of civil liberties in Britain—which, in my opinion, is akin to what has been happening here in the United States in the past decade. My inspiration for a second post on the subject was Glenn Greenwald’s most recent piece at Salon—Homeland Security’s laptop seizures: Interview with Rep. Sanchez.

I have been reading about the seizures of cell phones and laptop computers by the DHS. I have found it troubling that our government has no compunction about confiscating the personal property of some of its own citizens without any warrant, probable cause, or suspicion that the citizens may have been involved in a criminal activity.

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Bizarre, Criminal law, Justice, Politics, Society, Uncategorized

Miss. Governor Frees Sisters Who Robbed $11 – But With A Catch

Submitted by Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger

Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, preparing for a run for President, has granted clemency to two African-American sisters serving life sentences for an armed robbery 17 years ago. The sisters were convicted of robbing at gunpoint two men who were driving them to a nightclub in northern Mississippi in 1993. They had no prior criminal record and got $11.00. Each was sentenced to two life terms. Civil Rights activists have lobbied for their release arguing the sentences were too long.

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