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House Democrats push legislation to overturn Citizens United ruling

Fri, 23 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0700

The Hill - By Mike Lillis - Sep. 23 (News) - The proposal would amend the Constitution to reverse the Supreme Court ruling that sanctioned unlimited corporate spending on elections. Read more...

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Supreme Court gives police leeway in home searches

Tue, 17 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Los Angeles Times - By David G. Savage - May. 17 (News Report) - The Supreme Court gave police more leeway to break into homes or apartments in search of illegal drugs when they suspect the evidence otherwise might be destroyed.

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Obama administration fights to save healthcare law

Wed, 11 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Reuters - By Jeremy Pelofsky, Lisa Lambert - May. 11 (Special Report) - An appeals court on Tuesday sharply questioned whether the state of Virginia could challenge President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law, which requires Americans to buy insurance in a bid to slow healthcare costs. The Obama administration is trying to save the individual mandate after a Virginia federal judge agreed with the state it was unconstitutional and struck down that part of the law. The Obama administration has vigorously defended the measure, set to go into effect in 2014

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Appeals court blasts VA mental health care system

Tue, 10 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Associated Press - By Paul Elias - May. 10 (Special Report) - Noting that an average of 18 veterans a day commit suicide, a federal appeals court on Tuesday ordered the Department of Veterans Affairs to dramatically overhaul its mental health care system. In the strongly worded ruling, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said it takes the department an average of four years to fully provide the mental health benefits owed veterans. The court also said it often takes weeks for a suicidal vet to get a first appointment. The "unchecked incompetence" in handling the flood of post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health claims is unconstitutional, the court said.

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High court rejects quick review of health care law

Mon, 25 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Associated Press - By Mark Sherman - Apr. 25 (News) - The Supreme Court rejected a call Monday from Virginia's attorney general to depart from its usual practice and put review of the health care law on a fast track. Instead, judicial review of President Barack Obama's signature legislation will continue in federal appeals courts.

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"Birther" bill passes in Arizona legislature

Fri, 15 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

CBS News - By Stephanie Condon - Apr. 15 (News) - Republican Gov. Jan Brewer has five days to decide whether to make Arizona the first state in the nation to require proof of natural-born citizenship from presidential candidates

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Just ordinary people all smiles, but no gods - Kansas City Star

Wed, 06 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Kansas City Star - By Yonat Shimron - Apr. 06 (News Report) - Taking a cue from the gay rights movement, some atheists are coming out of their own closets with a new billboard campaign that attempts to project a friendly, wholesome image of a group long stigmatized for its unconventional beliefs. Plastered on billboards in Raleigh, Durham, Pittsboro and Smithfield, N.C., are the smiling faces of real atheists and agnostics, accompanied by pithy statements such as "I'm saved from religion" and "Another happy, humanist family."

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DeMint throws new wrench into legislative process

Sat, 05 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0800

McClatchy - By James Rosen - Mar. 05 (News) - A bloc of Senate conservatives, led by South Carolina's Jim DeMint, flexed their muscles Thursday, pledging to block any bill they alone deem wasteful or unconstitutional.

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Govt drops defense of anti-gay marriage law

Wed, 23 Feb 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Washington Post - By Pete Yost - Feb. 23 (Breaking News) - The Obama administration says it will no longer defend the constitutionality of a federal law that bans recognition of same-sex marriage. In a statement Wednesday, Attorney General Eric Holder says President Barack Obama has concluded that the administration can no longer defend the federal law that defines marriage as only between a man and a woman. The Justice Department had defended the Defense of Marriage Act in court until now.

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What the Vinson ruling means

Tue, 01 Feb 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Washington Post - By Ezra Klein - Feb. 01 (News Analysis) - Wonkbook today has plenty of analysis -- both political and legal -- of Judge Vinson's ruling against the Affordable Care Act. The bottom line of much of it is that the fate of the legislation is now, as it was last week, in the hands of Anthony Kennedy.

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'Speech or debate' clause invoked in investigations of House members

Mon, 17 Jan 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Washington Post - By Jerry Markon, R. Jeffrey Smith - Jan. 17 (News Report) - A constitutional clash over whether House members are immune from many forms of Justice Department scrutiny has helped derail or slow several recent corruption investigations of lawmakers, according to court documents and sources.

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Parts of the Constitution inadvertently skipped in 'historic reading' on floor

Thu, 06 Jan 2011 00:00:00 -0800

The Hill - By Josiah Ryan - Jan. 06 (News) - During Thursday morning’s “historic reading,” one member apparently skipped Article 4 Section 4 and part of Article 5 Section 1 when he or she inadvertently turned two pages at once, Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), who was in charge of the reading, said on the House floor this afternoon.

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Key provision of health-care overhaul ruled unconstitutional

Mon, 13 Dec 2010 10:46:23 -0800

Washington Post - By Rosalind S. Helderman - Dec. 13 (Breaking News) - A federal judge in Virginia ruled Monday that a key provision of the nation's sweeping health-care overhaul is unconstitutional, the most significant legal setback so far for President Obama's signature domestic initiative.

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Virginia judge rules parts of health care reform unconstitutional

Mon, 13 Dec 2010 00:00:00 -0800

CNN - By Bill Mears - Dec. 13 (Breaking News) - A federal judge in Virginia has ruled parts of the sweeping health care reform effort led by President Obama to be unconstitutional.

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Judge Rejects Health Law Challenge

Wed, 01 Dec 2010 00:00:00 -0800

New York Times - By Kevin Sack - Dec. 01 (News) - For the second time in two months, a federal judge has upheld the constitutionality of the new health care law, ruling on Tuesday that the requirement that most Americans obtain medical coverage falls within Congress’s authority to regulate interstate commerce.

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Federal judge upholds health care law

Thu, 07 Oct 2010 00:00:00 -0700

The Politico - By Josh Gerstein - Oct. 07 (News) - U.S. District Court Judge George Steeh ruled Thursday that the so-called individual mandate — a requirement President Barack Obama opposed during the presidential campaign but later embraced as part of sweeping changes — falls squarely within Congress’s ability under the Constitution to regulate interstate commerce.

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Locked and Loaded: The Secret World of Extreme Militias

Thu, 30 Sep 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Time - By Barton Gellman - Sep. 30 (Special Report) - Within a complex web of ideologies, most of today's armed radicals are linked by self-described Patriot beliefs, which emphasize resistance to tyranny by force of arms and reject the idea that elections can fix what ails the country. Among the most common convictions is that the Second Amendment — the right to keep and bear arms — is the Constitution's cornerstone, because only a well-armed populace can enforce its rights. Any form of gun regulation, therefore, is a sure sign of intent to crush other freedoms.

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Pastors to Defy IRS on 'Pulpit Freedom Sunday'

Sun, 26 Sep 2010 00:00:00 -0700

ABC News - By Kevin Dolak - Sep. 26 (News) - Nearly 100 pastors across the country planned to take part in Pulpit Freedom Sunday, an in-your-face challenge on Sunday to what the government says can and cannot be said in church. The pastors, along with the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based nonprofit Alliance Defense Fund, are reacting to a law stating that churches are not allowed to support politicians from the pulpit, according to the ADF.

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Judge orders reinstatement of gay officer fired under 'don't ask, don't tell'

Sat, 25 Sep 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Los Angeles Times - By Carol J. Williams - Sep. 25 (News Report) - The U.S. military violated the constitutional rights of a decorated Air Force Reserve flight nurse when it discharged her under the "don't ask, don't tell" ban on gays in the armed forces, a federal judge said Friday in ordering her reinstatement. U.S. District Judge Ronald B. Leighton's order applied only to Maj. Margaret Witt, but the judge in Tacoma, Wash., made it clear that a blanket policy of dismissing openly gay military personnel from the armed forces violated an appeals court holding that such action was justified only if it advanced important military objectives.

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DA won't appeal sex offender case

Sat, 18 Sep 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Raleigh News Observer - By Jesse James Deconto - Sep. 18 (News) - The Orange-Chatham District Attorney's Office has decided not to appeal a judge's ruling last year throwing out charges against two registered sex offenders for going to church. In December, Superior Court Judge Allen Baddour ruled a new state law unconstitutional because it prevents certain registered sex offenders from being within 300 feet of a place where children might gather. Baddour acknowledged the state's compelling interest in protecting children, but he said, "there are less drastic means for achieving the same purpose." Read more: http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/09/18/687947/da-wont-appeal-sex-offender-case.html#ixzz107n354XR

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Group Seeks 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Injunction

Thu, 16 Sep 2010 00:00:00 -0700

NPR - By Tom Bowman - Sep. 16 (News) - A gay rights group will ask a federal judge Thursday to order the Pentagon to stop enforcing "don't ask, don't tell," the law barring gays from serving openly in the military.

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NC teen: Nose ring more than fashion, it's faith

Thu, 16 Sep 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Associated Press - By Tom Breen - Sep. 16 (News) - A soft-spoken 14-year-old's nose piercing has landed her a suspension from school and forced her into the middle of a fight over her First Amendment right to exercise her religion.

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Repeal the 17th amendment?

Fri, 03 Sep 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Washington Post - By Ezra Klein - Sep. 03 (News Analysis) - During our discussion of the filibuster today -- which you can stream over at C-SPAN's Web site -- Heritage's Brian Darling talked a bit about the Senate's important role as a voice for the states. Responding to a questioner, he went so far as to say he'd consider repeal of the 17th amendment, which would mean that senators would again be elected by state legislatures rather than voters.

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How the Government Can Use GPS to Track Your Every Move

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Time - By Adam Cohen - Aug. 26 (News Analysis) - Government agents can sneak onto your property in the middle of the night, put a GPS device on the bottom of your car and keep track of everywhere you go. This doesn't violate your Fourth Amendment rights, because you do not have any reasonable expectation of privacy in your own driveway — and no reasonable expectation that the government isn't tracking your movements.

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Far from Ground Zero, other plans for mosques run into vehement opposition

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Washington Post - By Annie Gowen - Aug. 23 (News) - The Murfreesboro mosque is hundreds of miles from New York City and the national furor about whether an Islamic community center should be built near Ground Zero. But the intense feelings driving that debate have surfaced in communities from California to Florida in recent months, raising questions about whether public attitudes toward Muslims have shifted.

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