US Supreme Court

Stories 1281 - 1300 | << Prev   Next >>

Fight Brewing Over 'Anchor Baby' Citizenship

States plan to introduce different birth certificates for children of illegals

(Newser) - The biggest immigration battle of 2011 is likely to focus on how exactly an American is defined. A coalition of lawmakers from Arizona and about a dozen other states is fighting to deny citizenship to children born to illegal immigrants . They want to take the "anchor babies" issue all...

Scalia: Constitution Doesn't Prohibit Sex Discrimination

Supreme Court justice raises ire with 14th Amendment interpretation

(Newser) - The 14th Amendment's equal protection clause doesn't prohibit discrimination against women and gays, according to Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. "Nobody ever thought that's what it meant. Nobody ever voted for that" when the amendment was proposed in 1868, the Reagan appointee tells California Lawyer. "If the current...

Kagan, Sotomayor Breathe New Wind Into Liberals' Sails

'Passionate' Sotomayor, bridge-building Kagan aren't shy during oral arguments

(Newser) - It's a bit like Mean Girls: Supreme Court Edition: After decades of the conservative tongue-lashings of Antonin Scalia dominating oral arguments as liberal justices sat on their hands, new kids Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan are unabashedly adding their voices to the melee. "Slow down from the rhetoric,"...

Gay-Marriage Ban Returns to Court in California

Prop. 8 case could set stage for Supreme Court battle

(Newser) - California’s ban on gay marriage gets another day in court: The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will hear arguments related to August's ruling that Prop 8 is unconstitutional today, likely moving the issue closer to the Supreme Court, the Wall Street Journal reports. There won’t be new evidence...

Supreme Court Takes New Campaign-Finance Brouhaha

Arizona law seeks to level playing field

(Newser) - In a potential revisit to Citizens United, the Supreme Court will take on an Arizona law that tries to level the playing field in campaign spending, the Christian Science Monitor reports. Arizona's Citizens Clean Elections Act provides state funding for candidates who agree to a certain spending limit—and more...

Justice Stevens Explains Shift on Death Penalty

Former supporter cites racism, politics, judicial activism

(Newser) - Former Supreme Court justice John Paul Stevens is making clear for the first time why he switched course on the death penalty in 2008, calling it unconstitutional, the New York Times reports. Writing in the New York Review of Books, Stevens, who supported capital punishment in 1976, reveals his revised...

Supreme Court Turns Down First ObamaCare Challenge

Kagan may not recuse herself from cases involving health reform

(Newser) - The Supreme Court has turned down the first preliminary challenge to President Barack Obama's health care overhaul. The decision to reject an appeal from a former Republican state lawmaker in California was no surprise because a federal appeals court has yet to consider the case. The high court almost never...

Supreme Court Refuses to Hear 'Citizens United' for Nonprofits

Won't consider looser donation rules on PACs

(Newser) - The Supreme Court today declined without comment a case that sought to extend Citizens United's lax spending rules to nonprofits, the Christian Science Monitor reports. SpeechNow.org, a conservative advocacy group, had sued the Federal Election Commission in an attempt to loosen restrictions on political action committees, which it likens...

Dems Slam 'Front Groups'—Then Use Them

Nonprofits' secret donors help fund negative ads

(Newser) - Democrats have hammered Republican “front groups” for paying for negative ads with secret cash—but they themselves are employing a similar maneuver, using money from nonprofits who don’t release their donors’ names to fund their own advertising, reports MSNBC . Dems are thus following Republicans’ lead in using a...

Clarence Thomas Is Guilty, and Anita Hill Is Owed an Apology: Steve Kornacki
Thomas Is Guilty; Anita Hill
Is Owed an Apology
opinion
Oct 27, 2010 12:54 PM CDT

Thomas Is Guilty; Anita Hill Is Owed an Apology

Kornacki: If he's still playing the victim, the case is still relevant

(Newser) - If you're tired of reliving the Clarence Thomas saga in the wake of his wife's request for an apology and his old girlfriend's support of Anita Hill, well tough. The case still matters, writes Steve Kornacki at Salon . He presents a thorough look at the evidence presented at the hearing...

Thomases Are Epic in Their Bad Judgment
 Thomases Are Epic 
 in Their Bad Judgment 
MAUREEN DOWD
Oct 24, 2010 8:05 AM CDT

Thomases Are Epic in Their Bad Judgment

Ginni's wacky phone call nothing next to political endeavors

(Newser) - Ginni Thomas, intending to very belatedly salvage her man's reputation, instead made a mockery of it, opines Maureen Dowd in the New York Times. And while "it's too late to relitigate the shameful Thomas-Hill hearings," Ginni Thomas' errant phone call is just the latest instance of "supremely...

Clarence Thomas's Wife Calls Anita Hill, Seeks Apology

But Hill thinks it's a prank, calls cops

(Newser) - Bygones? Not so much. The wife of Clarence Thomas left a voicemail for Anita Hill requesting that she apologize for the testimony against her husband at his 1991 confirmation hearings, reports ABC News . “Good morning, Anita Hill, it's Ginny Thomas,” said the message. “I just wanted to...

High Court to Decide if Ashcroft Can Be Sued

Post-9/11 policy left Muslim American jailed without charge

(Newser) - The Supreme Court will step in to decide whether a Muslim American can sue John Ashcroft for a policy that led to his arrest in the wake of 9/11. The FBI arrested Kansas native Abdullah al-Kidd at Dulles International Airport in 2003, while he was preparing to board a flight...

Nonprofits' Political Ads May Bend Rules

Watchdogs question content backed by secret donors

(Newser) - Since the Supreme Court’s January ruling on campaign finance, nonprofit groups have been allowed to run ads openly attacking specific candidates, so long as less than 50% of all spending is dedicated to these political activities. But several organizations have lately pushed that limit, the New York Times reports,...

Midterms Set to Be History's Most Expensive Elections

Spending on course to top $5B, totally dwarfing the 2008 presidential election

(Newser) - This year's midterm elections are on course to become the most expensive in American history. Experts predict that campaign spending will top $5 billion by the time voters go to the polls, dwarfing the $1 billion spent on the 2008 presidential campaign and the $2.8 billion spent on 2006's...

Kagan to Miss Half of Supreme Court's Caseload

Solicitor general post presents conflicts of interest

(Newser) - Elena Kagan began her new gig as a Supreme Court justice today, but thanks to her old gig, she'll miss the action in about half the 51 cases the court has agreed to take on this term. As solicitor general, Kagan drafted briefs for the court for 14 months—exposure...

Court Becomes More Diverse—and Partisan

Flurry of recent appointments make court's political split apparent

(Newser) - The Supreme Court that begins its new term tomorrow will be very different than its predecessor. The most striking change may be the presence of three women on the bench, which Ruth Bader Ginsburg thinks will cause a "major" shift in public perception of the court. “When...

Supreme Court Refuses to Block Woman's Execution

Two of court's three women vote to intervene

(Newser) - A woman convicted of two hired killings is scheduled to die by injection tomorrow and become the first woman put to death in the commonwealth of Virginia in nearly a century, after the US Supreme Court refused to block her execution. Two of the three women on the court, Ruth...

What Recession? Candidates Spend Like Mad

Supreme Court ruling allows record-setting money bonanza

(Newser) - Politics looks like a recession-proof industry. With campaign finance rules gutted by the Supreme Court, money is flooding into this year’s election. House and Senate candidates have raised $1.2 billion so far, putting them on a record-setting pace. Gubernatorial races are just as pricey; Meg Whitman alone has...

Judge: Westboro Protesters Free to Desecrate Flag

Federal court strikes down Nebraska law

(Newser) - A federal judge struck down Nebraska’s law against desecrating the flag yesterday, ruling that Westboro Baptist Church members were free to trample the flag as they protest at military funerals. Members of the infamous church often stomp on the flag, wear it, or wave it upside down at their...

Stories 1281 - 1300 | << Prev   Next >>
Most Read on Newser