judiciary - BlogDC

Category Archives: judiciary

Someone Finally Decides To Stop The Torture?

Friday, October 26, 2007 – 10:05 am

I’m in shock. The Senate Judiciary Committee is talking like it actually wants to stop Michael Mukasey’s nomination to Bush’s Cabinet unless the judge explicitly labels waterboarding as illegal torture.
Senators Leahy and Durbin, the Committee Chair and Senate majority whip, respectively, are two fairly important members of the SJC openly declaring their intention to […]

By andrew | Also posted in Senate Judiciary Committee, Michael Mukasey, Department of Justice, torture | Comments (0)

I’m Just A Simple Country Hyperchicken From A Backwoods Asteroid

Wednesday, September 26, 2007 – 11:10 am

OMG!!! The prosecutor from Jena actually played the Jimmy Stewart/Matlock/Unfrozen Caveman/Infinitely Parodied “just a small town lawyer” card!
I am a small-town lawyer and prosecutor. For 16 years, it has been my job as the district attorney to review each criminal case brought to me by the police department or the sheriff, match the […]

By andrew | Also posted in Jena Six | Comments (0)

Take a Long Lunch Tomorrow For A Much Deserving Cause

Monday, July 16, 2007 – 9:59 am

Spencer Ackerman (and probably others, but he is the first I saw) links to a protest that really does deserve your presence if you have any means whatsoever of getting to the Supreme Court building (or to your local courthouse if you are not in DC) tomorrow afternoon.
This Tuesday, July 17 at noon, dozens […]

By andrew | Also posted in Nebraska "rape" trial, rape, Protests | Comments (0)

Another Thought On Libby

Tuesday, July 3, 2007 – 12:33 pm

This is one of those ideas I throw out there with the understanding that I don’t actually know anything about the law, but the idea nonetheless captured my interest, and so I’d love some comments from any readers with a grasp of the relevant case law.
In the president’s statement on his decision to commute […]

By andrew | Also posted in law, Scooter Libby, Constitution | Comments (1)

Another Look At The Supposedly Unconstitutional Gun Ban

Wednesday, March 14, 2007 – 3:17 pm

Not to be fellating Duke’s law department today or anything, but another of their professors has an op/ed in the Post. Erwin Chemerinsky makes an interesting constitutional argument about the legitimacy of DC’s gun ban and the Court of Appeals’s decision to strike it down. Here is the crux of the column:
[W]here […]

By andrew | Also posted in gun control, Constitution, Washington, DC | Comments (5)

Trouble For The DC Gun Ban

Friday, March 9, 2007 – 3:59 pm

No full story yet, but here’s a headline that just popped up on WTOP’s site.

I can only assume the city’s handgun ban was ruled unconstitutional on Second Amendment grounds, but I honestly can’t find any further details at the moment. Updates to come as soon as possible (and commentary from anyone with access […]

By andrew | Also posted in gun control, Washington, DC | Comments (0)

I Have A Reasonable Doubt About Whether This Entire Jury Is Mentally Competent

Friday, March 2, 2007 – 7:11 pm

Well, we finally know what the Libby jury has spent so long discussing:
Jurors asked for the definition of “reasonable doubt” Friday after completing a shortened, eighth day of deliberations Friday in the perjury trial of ex-White House aide I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby.
“We would like clarification of the term ‘reasonable doubt,’” jurors wrote. “Specifically, is […]

By andrew | Also posted in Scooter Libby trial, Scooter Libby | Comments (0)

Goodbye, Habeas

Tuesday, February 20, 2007 – 4:24 pm

I think I just heard a rousing cheer from two blocks up Pennsylvania Ave: The government won another victory in its fight against human rights and civil liberties.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled 2-1 that civilian courts no longer have the authority to consider whether the military is […]

By andrew | Also posted in Military Commissions Act, habeas corpus, Bush administration, Supreme Court | Comments (0)

At Least Someone Is Trying To Stop The Torture

Tuesday, January 9, 2007 – 11:26 am

The Italian courts are attempting to do something about our extraordinary renditions policy. Several American and Italian intelligence agents are being tried in connection with kidnapping an Egyptian from Italy and sending him back to Egypt to be tortured:
Prosecutors believe American CIA agents, with help from Italian military intelligence agency SISMI, snatched Nasr, […]

By andrew | Also posted in extraordinary renditions, Italy, intelligence, torture, United States, international relations | Comments (0)

Saddam Escapes His Crimes

Monday, January 8, 2007 – 1:18 pm

One of the best arguments against the execution of Saddam Hussein (not against the disgusting snuff film that we got in this best of all possible worlds, but against the idea of an execution itself) was that the dictator had not yet been called to answer for so many of his crimes against humanity. […]