David Wise, a worker at a Firestone facility in North Carolina, will be forced to chose between his faith and his job under an important ruling from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. A member of the the Living Church of God, Wise is required to take a greater number of days off than most employees and sued when he was terminated for these practices as violative of his religious rights. The Court ruled against him and held that Firestone could refuse to accommodate such religious practices. Continue reading “Word to the Wise: Fourth Circuit Rules that Firestone Employee Not Entitled to Extra Days Off Due to His Faith”
Category: Justice
President Bush is trying to use his final eleven months in office to guarantee that someone — anyone — will be convicted in his controversial military commission tribunal system. After millions of dollars, international scorn, and years of litigation, the Administration wants to try six detainees in the system. Some are reportedly victims of torture. Having destroyed evidence of the torture, it appears that the subjects could also be terminated — the military indicated it will seek the death penalty and Bush himself is the ultimate appellate “decider.” Continue reading “A Tribunal in Search of a Purpose: Bush Seeks to Execute Six in Cuba in His Final Eleven Months”
With the Bush Administration seeking to execute six detainees at Cuba including one identified as the “20th hijacker,” this prior column on the line of previously identified “20th hijackers” might be helpful. Continue reading “Bush Administration Seeks to Execute the Latest “20th Hijacker””
Leave it to Hugo Chavez to make people actually feel sympathetic for Exxon Mobil. Cementing his reputation as an enemy to the rule of law, Chavez is threatening the United States with an oil cutoff if the company wins in a court of law over Chavez’s effort to seize billions of dollars in assets. Since taking over as Venezuelan president, Chavez has tried to model himself after Fidel Castro, including the latter’s contempt for checks on his power and the independence of the court system. Continue reading “Hugo Chavez Threatens to Cut Off Oil to U.S. — If He Loses in Court”
A federal appellate panel found last week that the Bush Administration’s policy on relaxing controls on power companies would cause neurological injuries in 60,000 newborns a year. The unanimous panel (including Republican appointees) took the relatively rare step to strke down the EPA plan on mercury pollution as inimical to public health. The ruling also shows the real consequences to citizens in the Bush policies that consistently favor industry interests over public health interests. Continue reading “Court Blocks Bush Policy that Could Cause Neurological Injuries in 60,000 Newborns Each Year”
Many attorneys perfect the firm handshake and winning smile as a signature of success. For attorney Kathy Brewer Rentas, 49, it may prove to be also the basis for assault on a prosecutor. Rentas is accused to shaking the hand of Assistant US Attorney Jennifer Keene so hard that it caused injury. What is most interesting is that this is not a unique charge. Continue reading “Strong-Arming the Prosecution: Attorney Charged with Assault for Aggressive Handshake”
The Bush Administration has reversed its decision to deny a visa to Amy Winehouse due to allegations of drug abuse. However, the visa’s issuance will not result in her attending the Grammy Awards. The entire incident demonstrates the disturbing degree of discretion in the visa system, discretion that can lead to the arbitrary and capricious use of the laws governing entry into the United States. Continue reading “Administration Reverses Its Earlier Denial of Amy Winehouse’s Visa”
The last state has finally accepted what has been obvious to 49 other states: electrocution is cruel and unusual punishment. The Nebraska Supreme Court barred the use of the electric chair in the last state that still used it as its sole means of execution. Continue reading “The End of Electrocution in the United States?: Nebraska Supreme Court Bans Use of Electric Chair as a Method of Execution”
Michael and Marla Sklar, a Jewish couple, have led a long and lonely battle against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) over what they allege is special treatment given to the Church of Scientology. The IRS has long stonewalled inquiries over the deal with Scientology. Still viewed as a cult and not a religion in some countries, Scientology itself litigated for years against the U.S. government over its tax status. At the heart of the case is the controversy over such Scientology practices such as auditing. This case has long been fascinating and could result in an important constitutional decision. Continue reading “Sklar – Scientology Case Enters Critical Stage Before Ninth Circuit”
Majority Leader Harry Reid has alleged that the Bush White House has offered to effectively trade off 84 nominees to the executive and judicial branches if the Senate confirms Steven Bradbury for head of the Office of Legal Counsel. It is another example of a made man in the Bush White House, who must be confirmed at any cost. Continue reading “Bush Reportedly Puts 84 Nominees at Risk for the Single Confirmation of Bradbury”
The most dangerous thing at Saudi Starbucks is not the caffeine — if you are a woman at least. An American businesswoman named Yara (she is withholding her last name) was arrested, strip searched and forced to sign a false confession after she was captured in the act of sitting with a male at a Starbucks in Riyadh. Continue reading “A Latte and Hold the Lashes, Please: American Businesswomen Arrested, Strip Searched, and Forced to Sign False Confession for Sitting with Male Colleague at a Starbucks”
Attorney General Michael Mukasey has performed the central task for which he was chosen by the President and leading congressional leaders — he is refusing to allow a criminal investigation into water-boarding. It was a decision that seemed inevitable after Democrats like Chuck Schumer and Diane Feinstein saved his confirmation. Continue reading “Mukasey Refuses to Allow Criminal Investigation on Torture — Democrats and Republican Leaders Silently Cheer”
U.S. District Judge Richard Bennett has reduced by over half the damages awarded against a fundamentalist Kansas Church, which protests funerals of fallen soldiers from Iraq in a bizarre anti-homosexual crusade. The Westboro Baptist Church will now have to pay Albert Snyder, the fatehr of a dead Marine, $5 million rather than $10.9 million. Continue reading “Court Reduces Punitive Damages Against Radical Anti-Homosexual Church”
The Ninth Circuit has handed down a very interesting decision in a case of a police officer fired because he and his wife ran a private porn site in his free time. In January of 2002, the Chandler Police Department
discovered that Officer Ronald Dible was running the site, featuring his wife , Megan Dible, who performed various sex acts with various partners and objects. It was too much for the town and he was fired. It is a case that raises some difficult constitutional questions and the decision could cut deeply into first amendment rights. Continue reading “Court of Appeals Upholds Termination of Police Officer Over Private Porn Site”
Many opposed the selection of China as the host for the next Olympics due to its rampant pollution and repression of freedom. China has proven far worse on both fronts. As part of a crackdown on anyone voicing dissent, China has now convicted and sentenced journalist Lu Gengsong “inciting subversion of state power.” His crime was to detail some of the well-known corruption of government officials on the Internet. Continue reading “Let the Games Begin: China Prepares for Olympics by Convicting Journalist for Writing About Government Corruption”