A hearing by the US 1st Circuit Court of Appeals Monday on disputed ballots in the Puerto Rico gubernatorial race drew protestors calling for no federal intervention in the election. The 1st Circuit will decide whether Puerto Rico's Supreme Court (in Spanish) or a US district court in San Juan has jurisdiction over the case, [...]
President Bush nominated Environmental Protection Agency chief Mike Leavitt Monday to serve as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. Leavitt, a former three-term governor of Utah, stepped into the EPA role in 2003, and much of his work has focused on crafting new air pollution regulations. HHS oversees the Medicare and Medicaid [...]
Two more Afghan detainees have died while in US custody, and the US failed to properly investigate a third death this fall, Human Rights Watch charged Monday in an open letter to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. According to HRW's report, detainee deaths in 2002 and 2003 went unreported, and the agency claimed the US [...]
Douglas Berman, Moritz College of Law, Ohio State University: "I am genuinely amazed that the Supreme Court has now issued 11 opinions this term, and yet we still have not seen a ruling in Booker and Fanfan. Perhaps it really is all my fault. I have previously highlighted here and here and here how many [...]
Activist groups Monday made a last-minute request for the Ohio Supreme Court to review the state's presidential election results as members of the Electoral College were scheduled to cast their votes in meetings in Ohio and across the country. The challengers, including the Rev. Jesse Jackson and the Alliance for Democracy, claimed the results certified [...]
Cooper Industries v. Aviall Services, United States Supreme Court, December 13, 2004 . Read the opinion here. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.
Florida v. Nixon, United States Supreme Court, December 13, 2004 . Read the opinion here. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.
Six Army reservists have been court-martialed for salvaging parts and vehicles abandoned in Kuwait for a fuel delivery mission in Iraq, AP reported Monday. News of the court-martials comes shortly after Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was questioned by a soldier last week about why some units in Iraq were not adequately equipped. According to [...]
Jack Balkin, Yale Law School: "There are more hints (this from the Washington Post) that the Republicans in the Senate will try the "nuclear option" to end filibusters on judicial nominations. The Republicans hold all the levers of power and now would like to leverage that power to kick away the last major support of [...]
Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin has joined opposition leaders in rejecting a call for a national referendum on same-sex marriage in the wake of Thursday's Supreme Court of Canada ruling (reported in JURIST's Paper Chase) that opened the way for federal legislation legalizing the unions. Maverick Alberta Premier Ralph Klein, known for his conservative views [...]