“A 2-year-old girl, 13-year-old boy, 15-year-old boy and two 16-year-old boys were shot in the schoolyard of the James G. Blaine School at about 5:52 p.m. Thursday, according to Philadelphia police.” (Read story here.) “A male juvenile suspect has been arrested at a high school bas[...]
Posts Tagged ‘Supreme Court’
February 22nd, 2023 - 1:37 pm § in Law and Courts
The Supreme Court doesn’t care about gun violence
Last year’s Supreme Court decision in the Bruen case is “upending gun laws across the country,” Huffington Post says (see story here). That’s because the court changed the rules about how gun laws are reviewed for constitutionality, in a way that’s very bad for public s[...]
February 22nd, 2023 - 1:06 pm § in Law and Courts
What if a state refuses to obey the Supreme Court?
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 [...]
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. [...]