And then there were six. The New Hampshire legislature has voted to recognize same-sex marriage joining five other states with such recognition in a continuing and encouraging trend among the states. Gov. John Lynch signed the bill soon after it was passed by the legislature. The question now is whether religious conservatives will try to stop states from determining their own matrimonial laws by passing a federal constitutional amendment.
Category: Politics
Former New Jersey municipal judge Richard Sasso has been permanently banned from the bench by the Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct. Among the violations found by the committee was Sasso’s abuse of both lawyers and litigants; his presiding over cases while under the influence of alcohol and Vicodin, and improper public conduct including an unpleasant scene at a strip club called Torpedo’s Go-Go Club.
Continue reading “Torpedoed: Former New Jersey Judge Richard Sasso Banned For Life”
The Obama Administration succeeded yesterday in getting three dozen public interest lawsuits dismissed against telecommunication companies. President Obama voted for the bill that gave the companies immunity and sought to prevent a court from declaring the warrantless surveillance program illegal. U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker also ordered investigations in Maine, New Jersey, Connecticut, Vermont and Missouri to be halted. However, he retained the issue of whether to sanction the Justice Department for its conduct in the case.
Continue reading “Federal Judge Tosses Out Unlawful Surveillance Cases”
The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has handed down a decision that could play a role in the Sotomayor confirmation process. In National Rifle Association v. Chicago, the Seventh Circuit upheld a Chicago ordinance banning handguns and automatic weapons within city limits. In so doing, it held that the individual right to bear arms is not a fundamental right applicable to the states. It is precisely the hypothetical that some of us discussed in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision in District of Columbia v. Heller, which recognized an individual right to bear arms in the Second Amendment. It also supports the view of Judge Sonia Sotomayor, who has been criticized for two opinions (including one after the Heller decision) that rejected the right to bear arms as a fundamental right. Sotomayor received indirect support from two unlikely sources: conservative icons Frank Easterbrook and Richard Posner.
With hearings scheduled for House Judiciary Committee Task Force on Impeachment, U.S. District Judge Samuel B. Kent has decided to turn in this resignation to President Barack Obama. His lawyer Dick DeGuerin says that the hearings are now unnecessary and Judge Kent will not participate. However, his resignation will reportedly only be effective June 1, 2010.”
Continue reading “Judge Kent Resigns On Eve of Impeachment Hearing — Effective One Year From Now”
Former Vice President Dick Cheney said Monday that he supports same-sex unions and believes that the question should be left to the states — as opposed to a federal prohibition or constitutional amendment. Cheney, who has a lesbian daughter, insisted “I think, you know, freedom means freedom for everyone. I think people ought to be free to enter into any kind of union they wish, any kind of arrangement they wish.”
Dartmouth Students David Rufful and Josh Riddle have become the conservative versions of Snoop Doog and Willie D. “The Young Con Anthem” chas hit over 115,000 views. Known as Stiltz & Serious C, the students espouses conservative values for hard-right homeys. The video contains such serious ganstra wall street rap as “I don’t speak lies but I spit the facts/28% the new capital gains tax/Porkulus bill lacks a few stats/The more money we spend, the more mine is worth Jack.”
Continue reading ““I’m Rapping Jesus Christ”: Conservative Dartmouth Students Become YouTube Hit”
There has been a long controversy over “legacy” admissions and the politically well connected applicants in law schools. The University of Illinois law school has been entangled in this controversy with the release of an embarrassing email exchange between former Dean Heidi Hurd, Chancellor Richard Herman, and Illinois State Sen. Chris Lauzen on a student Hurd believed was unworthy of admission — but then accepted.
A Kansas man, Scott Roeder, has been arrested for the murder of Dr. George Tiller (left), 67, who was shot while serving as an usher at his Wichita church Sunday morning. Tiller was one of the few U.S. doctors performing late-term abortions in the country and had previously survived a 1993 shooting outside of his clinic when he was shot in both arms. I discussed this case on this segment of Rachel Maddow Show.
Continue reading “Police Arrest Alleged Killer of Dr. George Tiller”
With the world still talking about UAE Crown Prince Sheik Issa bin Zayed al Nahyan and is torture videos, another royal family has been accused of torture and abuses. Teenage model Manohara Odelia Pinot was only 16 when she was married to Tengku Temenggong Muhammad Fakhry, a prince of Malaysia’s Kelantan State. While in Singapore, she was able to escape with the help of police and tell an incredible story of being drugged, tortured, and confined by the family.
Continue reading “Gilded Cage: Malaysian Royal Family Accused of Drugging and Torturing Princess”
With the virtual absence of any objective review of Sonia Sotomayor’s opinions or positions by members of Congress, the Senate Judiciary Committee appears to be gearing up for another confirmation process with little substantive content. As noted previously with regard to the Roberts and Alito hearings, confirmation hearings have become little more than extended photo ops for Senators.
Continue reading “Senate Prepares for the Sotomayor Confirmation Hearings”
The United Nations has released a new report on human rights that has found the record of the United states to be “deplorable.” With the continuing refusal of the Obama Administration to investigate war crimes and to support the Bush policies in court, we have lost an opportunity to show the country has committed itself to change these policies and demand accountability for those who implemented them.
Continue reading “United Nations: U.S. Human Rights Record “Deplorable” — Including the Continuing Failure to Investigate Torture By the Obama Administration”
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”
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”
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has made a name for himself as a Holocaust-denying, gay-bashing, Israel-hating, religious nut. None of that appears to have made him particularly unpopular in Iran. However, he is now accused of buying votes with potatoes.
Continue reading “Potato Politics: Ahmadinejad Goes From Gross to Grocer”