Supreme Court

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Philly Boots Scouts Over Gays
Philly Boots Scouts Over Gays

Philly Boots Scouts Over Gays

City won't give anti-homosexual group $1 lease on city property

(Newser) - Philadelphia will evict the Boy Scouts from a municipal building known as the group’s birthplace, citing its exclusion of gay members, the New York Times reports. The city requires renters to put nondiscriminatory language into leases; the BSA has fought the stipulation at the building where it's held the...

Supreme Court Weighs Third Gitmo Case

Watershed verdict on detainees rights will help define Bush legacy

(Newser) - The White House is in the hot seat today as the Supreme Court begins hearing arguments on the rights of Guantanamo Bay inmates to judicial review. Detainee cases were also considered by the court in 2004 and 2006—both rulings went against the administration—but the decision in this case,...

Supreme Court Gets First-Ever Wall Calendar

Birthdays, key decisions won't go begging for legal eagles in '08

(Newser) - The Supreme Court may not come knocking at your door over the holidays, but the stars of the judicial branch have their very own calendar for sale, the Washingtonian reports. Legal Times court reporter Tony Mauro is to thank for the effort, which will help ensure that law junkies and...

Supreme Court Will Hear Landmark Gun Case

Hearing will be first on the topic in 68 years

(Newser) - The Supreme Court agreed today to hear its first case on the meaning of the Second Amendment in 68 years. At question is the scope of the “right to bear arms”: A circuit court ruled last year that it applied to individuals' guns, but the city of Washington argued...

Supreme Court Stops Another Execution

Justices halt lethal injection in Florida to review constitutionality

(Newser) - The Supreme Court today halted the execution of Florida man convicted of killing a child in 1991—another sign the court wants executions halted as it considers the constitutionality of lethal injection. Mark Dean Schwab was scheduled to die at 6 p.m., but he will now wait until the...

Musharraf Says Edict Protects Elections

General reiterates refusal to lift emergency, jibes back at Bhutto

(Newser) - Pervez Musharraf defended his 10-day-old emergency rule today, rejecting the US demand to lift it quickly and saying the edict is meant to protect elections. In a Times interview, Pakistan’s president said, “I don’t know, I don’t know” when asked the duration of the suspension of...

Ex-Ill. Governor Must Report to Federal Prison

Justice Stevens denies Ryan's last-ditch bid to remain free on bail

(Newser) - George Ryan will report to prison tomorrow after Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens today refused the ex-Illinois governor's request to stay free on bail while fighting a corruption conviction. Ryan, 73, will begin serving his 6½-year sentence in a Wisconsin prison, the Chicago Tribune reports. He was convicted...

Bush May Shut Gitmo, Give Detainees Rights

Move designed to undercut US Supreme Court case, analysts say

(Newser) - Plans are quietly circulating to grant Gitmo prisoners more rights, the New York Times reports, and perhaps shut the prison down. Unnamed officials say one scheme has Washington sending a third of prisoners home, and bringing the rest to the US, some to face trials with federal judges and lawyers....

Judge Draws Ire for Shelving Capital Trial

Six other states can't fund them; issue may be bigger than injection

(Newser) - Judge Hilton Fuller has drawn ire for shelving a Georgia death penalty case, but other states are hitting the same snag: low funds for capital court costs, the New York Times reports. Georgia can’t afford the $1.2 million to defend Brian Nichols, charged with killing four in a...

Justices Stay Execution, Signaling Moratorium

Lower courts will defer until 2008 review

(Newser) - The Supreme Court delivered an eleventh-hour stay for a prisoner slated to die by lethal injection last night, giving what the New York Times calls a "nearly indisputable indication" that a majority of justices are willing to block all executions until they rule on a death penalty case next...

Court Blocks Another Execution
Court Blocks Another Execution

Court Blocks Another Execution

Supreme Court decision may halt all lethal injections for months

(Newser) - The Supreme Court tonight stayed the execution of a Mississippi murderer just before he was scheduled to die by lethal injection, a decision that will likely bring a temporary halt to such executions nationwide, the New York Times reports. The fate of this prisoner and others won't be decided until...

Supremes Will Rule on Exxon Valdez Appeal

Record damage award in 1989 disaster washes up in Washington

(Newser) - The Supreme Court will end more than a decade of legal battles over the Exxon Valdez oil spill and review a ruling that awarded a record $2.5 billion in punitive damages in the case. Exxon is hoping the court will throw out or reduce the amount awarded in the...

A Death Penalty Moratorium?
A Death Penalty Moratorium?

A Death Penalty Moratorium?

Not so fast: the Supreme Court is sending mixed messages

(Newser) - Is there a stay on all US executions? The Supreme Court has recently granted 2 and refused to nix a third, as more inmates challenge lethal injection. “The states are getting the message,” says one expert, while another mentions “moratorium mojo” on his blog. But critics warn...

Supreme Court Halts Another Lethal Injection

Stay of execution for Virginia man could signal moratorium

(Newser) - The Supreme Court issued a stay of execution yesterday for Christopher Scott Emmett, four hours before the Virginia inmate was scheduled to die. Observers say the move signals a de facto moratorium on executions, as the court considers the legality of lethal injection. One expert called it “the most...

Last-Minute Stay Spares Nev. Murderer

State puts lethal injection on hold until next year's ruling

(Newser) - Nevada stayed a convicted killer's execution today, 90 minutes before he was to receive lethal injection, BBC reports. William Castillo's stay is the latest in a series of postponements by states awaiting a US Supreme Court ruling on lethal injection. The ACLU, which appealed Castillo's case, calls the method "...

Supremes Won’t Hear CIA Torture Suit

Earlier dismissals rested on concerns about national security

(Newser) - The Supreme Court declined today without comment to hear the case of a German citizen who claims he was kidnapped and tortured by the CIA. Lower courts had dismissed Khaled el-Masri's case on the grounds that a trial would expose state secrets. German authorities have said the US acknowledged abducting...

Ex-Thomas Clerk Says Critics Are Unfounded

Emphasizes justice's humanity, at-times liberal ideology

(Newser) - A former clerk for Clarence Thomas lashes out at critical reaction to the justice's new autobiography in a Wall Street Journal commentary today. While liberals accuse Thomas of excessive bitterness over the grilling he received on his Supreme Court nomination, as well as subsequent unfairness, John Yoo points to a...

Ban Stands on Alabama Sex Toys, Finally

Much-challenged law will affect women unfairly, gripes writer

(Newser) - After 9 years of court challenges, an Alabama judge has green lighted enforcement of a state law banning the sale of sex toys—the Supreme Court declined to hear the case last week—making Wired’s Regina Lynn cry misogyny. The statute does not outlaw Viagra to help men achieve...

Justice Memos Endorse Torture
Justice Memos Endorse Torture

Justice Memos Endorse Torture

Officials gave green light for array of painful interrogation techniques

(Newser) - The Justice Department under Alberto Gonzales secretly endorsed the use of torture techniques during interrogation by the CIA, the New York Times reports. A classified 2005 legal memorandum authorized the harshest  techniques ever used by the CIA, the Times says, including a combination of head-slapping, waterboarding, sleep deprivation, freezing, loud...

Polarized Court Damages Own Legacy
Polarized
Court Damages Own Legacy

Polarized Court Damages Own Legacy

Analyst not excited to see ‘childish’ panel back in session

(Newser) - Despite the chief justice’s declared intentions, the Roberts Court ravages the idea of “rule based on principle,” acting instead like a polarized political body, the New Republic’s Benjamin Wittes argues. Speeches about division's acidic effects aside, John Roberts smirks at precedent even as lefty colleagues on...

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