Litigious atheist Michael Newdow made his case in federal court yesterday to try to halt any sort of prayers at the Jan. 20 inauguration. If you simply looked at the state of the law -- Newdow would win. Yes, that's the logical conclusion of the Supreme Court's church-state separation rulings. The judge read aloud an […]
I watched the webcast version of the discussion between Supreme Court justices Antonin Scalia and Stephen Breyer on the role of international law as it relates to the American judiciary. I was repeatedly shocked by Breyer's comments. [You can watch the entire event here. It's about 90 minutes long. RealPlayer required.] Hindrocket over at Powerline […]
Worth your time and perusal: The Wall Street Journal's John Fund has an excellent article on the goings on in Washington State. Highlight: Not all of the voters at the county building are homeless or hard to find. A noted local judge and her husband have been registered at the county building for years. When […]
Several months ago I predicted that a sympathetic judge would let Kerri Francis Dunn, the college professor that vandalized her own car with racist slurs, off with a slap on the wrist. I suspect that a sympathetic judge will probably let Dunn off with a slap on the wrist -- probation and a sizable fine. […]
I finished reading Kevin Ring's compilation of the writings of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and I came away more impressed by Scalia's judicial philosophy than I was before. Though it is entitled "Scalia Dissents," not all of the opinions contained in the book are dissents. Ring outlines Scalia's judicial philosophy by using his written […]
I support the death penalty not because it necessarily has a deterrent effect, but because it says something about how much we as a society value innocent life. For that reason, I don't believe that a free pass should be given to juveniles who commit violent murders. While I'm concerned that the Supreme Court may, […]
It comes as no surprise that the federal courts would not reconsider Roe v. Wade, but Shannen W. Coffin over at National Review reports that something positive came out of the exercise. What was surprising, though, was Judge Edith Jones powerful five-page separate opinion. While Judge Jones agreed that the court had no power to […]
National Review's Rich Lowry makes a good point on the partial birth abortion debate. The San Francisco judge struck down the ban partly because she thinks it is sometimes safer to kill a fetus while it is being delivered intact rather than chopping it up inside the womb. By this standard, why shouldn't it be […]
The U.S. Supreme Court today took the coward's way out and decided that litigious atheist Michael Newdow didn't have the standing to challenge the Pledge of Allegiance because he does not have custody of his daughter. Frankly, it's mystifying why the court would make this ruling. Though ruling that Newdow doesn't have legal standing is […]
Let's get this straight. A federal judge in San Francisco rules that a restriction on abortion (in this case a ban on partial birth abortions) is unconstitutional. Talk about a dog-bites-man story. This ruling was as predictable as the sun risiing in the east. This, of course, is not the final word on the subject. […]