My occasional take on important, cutting-edge or interesting legal news:
Legal News
Legal News
June 3rd, 2014
The U.S. Supreme Court rejected the appeal of New York Times' reporter James Risen over a lower court ruling that he must identify his confidential source for a national security story, Risen's colleague Adam Liptak reports. Risen could face jail if he refuses to comply with the court order. While the Obama administration said in its brief to the U.S. Supreme Court that there is no evidentiary privilege for reporters not to... Continue Reading
June 2nd, 2014
The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed a draft rule to regulate the carbon-dioxide emissions from fossil fuel-fired power plants, the Wall Street Journal reports. The mandate would require plants to cut their emissions by 30 percent by 2030. EPA is taking comment on the measure as well as another measure that would result in an estimated reduction of carbon emissions by 24 percent in 2025. Continue Reading
June 2nd, 2014
Political scientist Norm Ornstein suggests that term limiting Supreme Court justices would unlock the current gridlock in Washington, David Harsanyl, an editor at The Federalist and writing in Reason, says. But Harsanyl suggests that "no independent observer (if one exists) could convincingly argue that Chief Justice John Roberts is more 'partisan' than Justice Sonia Sotomayor or Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.... Continue Reading
June 1st, 2014
President Barack's Obama administration has ended a 33-year ban on Medicare coverage for gender reassignment surgery, The Washington Post reports. The decision will likely put pressure on private insurers to cover medical procedures for transgendered people, The Post also reports.
There are still barriers, however: "Patients covered under Medicare will not be guaranteed coverage for surgeries under Friday’s decision; they... Continue Reading
June 1st, 2014
The U.S. Supreme Court has 25 pending cases to decide before recessing for the summer, including a case on the president's power to appoint officials during Congressional pro forma recesses, The New American's Joe Wolverton II reports. The D.C. Circuit held that recess appointments violate the constitutional requirement that officials be appointed with the advice and consent of the U.S. Senate, but Attorney General Eric Holder argues... Continue Reading
May 31st, 2014
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman sought details on how the Red Cross spent money on Superstorm Sandy relief, ProPublica's Justin Elliott reports. There has been lack of transparency in how the charity spent $300 million raised after the storm, ProPublica reports.
Last fall, the nonprofit and the AG's office struck an agreement on the Red Cross's release of information about future disasters. But that final... Continue Reading
May 31st, 2014
According to a Gallup poll, 63 percent of Americans said same-sex couples should have the right to adopt children. This is the highest level of support Gallup has ever found in 20 years of tracking the issue.
May 28th, 2014
msnbc has a report asking how American courts can avoid another capital punishment calamity after Clayton Lockett's botched execution with a three-drug cocktail. He was seen writhing in pain by witnesses and he died 43 minutes after the execution began. Three separate courts have stepped in to stop executions since Lockett's death, according to msnbc.
msnbc also notes that states have turned to compound pharmacies to get... Continue Reading
May 28th, 2014
The U.S. Supreme Court, 5-4, has ruled that Michigan can't block an off-reservation American Indian casino from opening because of tribal sovereignity, the Associated Press reports: "The ruling was a win for Indian tribes, which have increasingly looked to casinos as a source of revenue and have relied on immunity to shield them from government interference. But it's a disappointment for Michigan and more than a dozen others... Continue Reading
May 27th, 2014
The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Florida's policy of making convicted murders eligible for execution if their IQ tests are 70 or above, USA Today reports. Florida must apply a margin of error to IQ tests administered to Freddie Lee Hall, convicted of killing two people in 1978. Justice Anthony Kenndey, author of the majority opinion, said: "'Florida's law contravenes our nation's commitment to dignity and its duty to... Continue Reading
May 26th, 2014
Philadephia voters approved a measure that gives City Council oversight over large contracts to provide legal representation to defendants and family-court litigants constitutionally entitled to have lawyers, The Legal Intelligencer's P.J. D'Annunzio reports. The ballot question was proposed by Councilman-at-large Dennis O'Brien, the most vociferious opponent of a plan to create a for-profit law firm to handle the work in... Continue Reading
May 26th, 2014
The Associated Press has a profile on the federal and state judges who have been striking down bans on same-sex marriage: "Collectively, these judges are diverse — white and black, male and female, gay and straight, some appointed by Democratic presidents and some by Republicans. However, they seemed to draw common inspiration from a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June 2013 that ordered the federal government to recognize same-sex... Continue Reading
May 25th, 2014
The U.S. Supreme Court may be treating case law like it's Wikipedia, New York Times' Adam Liptak reports: "The Supreme Court has been quietly revising its decisions years after they were issued, altering the law of the land without public notice. The revisions include 'truly substantive changes in factual statements and legal reasoning,' said Richard J. Lazarus, a law professor at Harvard and the author... Continue Reading
May 25th, 2014
North Dakota is the last state to have its ban on same-sex marriage tested in court. A civil rights lawyer, who brought a challenge to South Dakota's ban, is in talks to file a court challenge to North Dakota's ban, the Washington Post reports. Continue Reading
May 24th, 2014
FiveThirtyEight's Harry Enten reports that Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has been proven right in predicting--when the court struck down the federal ban on recognizing same-sex marriage--that "'by formally declaring anyone opposed to same-sex marriage an enemy of human decency, the majority arms well every challenger to a state law restricting marriage to its traditional definition.'" Since the ruling in ... Continue Reading
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