Arizona badly wants to execute cop killer John Montenegro Cruz (photo, left), and has defied Supreme Court rulings standing in the way. In 1994, the Supreme Court ruled that if prosecutors seek a death sentence by telling jurors a defendant is a threat to society, the judge must allow his attorneys [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Supreme Court’
February 22nd, 2023 - 1:06 pm § in Law and Courts
What if a state refuses to obey the Supreme Court?
How much are Republicans and the Supreme Court to blame for gun violence?
Well, for starters, America’s gun violence problem is unique. No other country experiences the mass shootings we do. So we’re doing something different from others that encourages it or at least makes it possible. How about lax gun laws? In May 2022, a CNN columnist wrote (here), “[...]
Prosecutors and judges go too easy on gun violations
There have been 67 mass shootings in the U.S. in the first 45 days of 2023. It’s obvious we’re not doing a good enough job of keeping guns away from people who shouldn’t have them. That’s because Republicans and the Supreme Court are blocking nearly all gun control efforts, l[...]
February 8th, 2023 - 5:53 pm § in Law and Courts
It’s ridiculous the Supreme Court has no code of conduct
“Every time allegations are made about ethical lapses on the Supreme Court, the same question is asked: Why, unlike federal judges in lower courts, do the nine justices not have a binding code of conduct?” NBC News asked on Wednesday, February 8, 2023. Because, “Until now, the just[...]
GOP judges rule wife-beaters are entitled to guns
“A federal law that prohibits people subject to domestic violence restraining orders from possessing firearms is unconstitutional,” a three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Thursday, February 2, 2023 (read story here). The Fifth Circuit, which is based in the De[...]
January 19th, 2023 - 12:50 pm § in Law and Courts
Supreme Court can’t ID leaker
The Supreme Court marshal and her investigators couldn’t find out who leaked Alito’s draft abortion decision. Her report (here) says they don’t believe the IT system was hacked from outside; and besides the justices, 80 court employees had access to an electronic copy and 2 more ha[...]
Trump’s Supreme Court is a hanging court
The Supreme Court is no longer a place you can go to stop the execution of an innocent person, or of someone whose sentencing was influenced by racial bias. Since 2019, when Trump put his first two appointees on the court, the new conservative court majority hasn’t accepted a single death pena[...]
December 7th, 2022 - 12:43 am § in Law and Courts
Lawyers go rogue; will the Supreme Court follow?
Moore v. Harper is a case before the Supreme Court that legal experts agree could upend American democracy. In this case, conservative lawyers are asking the court to give state legislatures absolute power over state and federal elections. (See story here.) This is a prescription for minority rule. [...]
December 5th, 2022 - 4:47 pm § in Law and Courts, Racism
Justices Alito puts KKK robes on black kids and laughs
A bizarre scene unfolded in the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday, December 5, 2022. Lawyers were arguing over whether a Colorado graphic designer has a religious right to refuse service to gay couples (spoiler alert: she’ll win). Justice Jackson, who’s black, asked the designer’s attor[...]
November 9th, 2022 - 9:50 pm § in Law and Courts, Republicans
Supreme Court case threatens Medicaid patients’ rights
The Supreme Court allows Texas to empower complete strangers — legal vigilantes — to sue anyone, even a taxi driver, who helps a woman get an abortion. Now conservative justices obsessively hung up on states’ rights, and eager to overturn precedents, are considering a case pushed b[...]