The Supreme Court ruled 5-3 today that al Qaeda is a signatory to the Geneva Conventions -- seriously. Terrorists who wear no uniform and purposefully target civilians are covered by the Geneva Conventions. What's troubling is that the Court did this in the face of the Detainee Treatment Act passed by the Congress in December. […]
The Supreme Court yesterday let stand the vast majority of the Tom DeLay-engineered gerrymander of Texas. The GOP gerrymander had undone a Democrat gerrymander that resulted in Texas sending a Democrat majority to the House of Representatives in a state where nearly 60 percent of voters voted Republican and every statewide office was held by […]
Matthew J. Franck has a brief note over on National Review's "Bench Memos" blog on another case that pitted civil rights law against freedom of religion. The good news: freedom of religion won. In that light, here’s a good-news story: last week a panel of the Third Circuit held that Ursuline Academy, a girls’ Catholic […]
A sane district court judge in San Francisco of all places has tossed out Michael Newdow's latest lawsuit claiming that "In God We Trust" on legal tender is, well, illegal. Newdow claimed that by using coins and currency bearing the phrase, he is forced to carry religious dogma, proselytise and evangelise for monotheism. You know, […]
You'll have to forgive me for not being really enthusiastic about the marriage protection amendment that's not going to make it out of the House or Senate. Yes, it's blatant politics and an effort to get the GOP based riled up. And for those of you with short memories, the Democrats did the same thing […]
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals earlier this week turned back an appeal by parents of some seventh graders against a public school's curriculum that they said indoctrinated students into Christianity. Among the more objectional parts of the program: Students would practice saying prayers and conclude them "in Jesus' name, Amen." Memorization of the Lord's […]
The Senate Judiciary Committee next week will return to the job of getting President Bush's judicial nominees confirmed. First up will be Brett Kavanaugh, a well-qualified candidate who has become a Democrat target because A) he works for Bush and B) worked for independent counsel Kenneth Starr during the Whitewater investigation that led to President […]
National Review's Ramesh Ponnuru has a short post on The Corner pointing out the decision by the D.C. Circuit which allows terminally ill patients to use non-FDA approved drugs. I can't improve on Ponnuru's succinct take: "Right policy, wrong branch of government."
Let's give three cheers to Milwaukee County (Wisconsin) Circuit Judge Michael Brennan who today sentenced four Democrats to jail for slashing the tires of vehicles Wisconsin Republicans had rented to help get voters to the polls. "This case had to be a public example of what can happen when you interfere with voters' rights," said […]
There's another thoughtful article on the local case I mentioned earlier this week about a student who wore an "Homosexuality is Shameful" T-Shirt to school the day after a Gay/Lesbian sponsored "Day of Silence." The piece by Dale Carpenter makes the argument that current law, the Tinker case dealing with Vietnam-era anti-war protests, is bad […]