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Civil rights in court spotlight

“WASHINGTON — When the Supreme Court returns to the bench Monday for the second half of its annual term, justices will hear several cases that could make this the most important session for civil rights law in years.”

UPCOMING HIGH COURT CASES

Among the Supreme Court cases to be argued in upcoming weeks:

Flores-Figueroa v. United States: Whether to prove aggravated identity theft the government must show the defendant knew the ID he used belonged to someone else. (Scheduled for argument Feb. 25)

District Attorney’s Office for the Third Judicial District v. Osborne: Whether a convict may invoke federal civil rights law to obtain the government’s biological evidence in his case for new DNA testing, after he has completed his appeals and in a free-standing claim of innocence. (March 2)

Caperton v. A.T. Massey Coal: Whether an elected state judge’s failure to disqualify himself from a case that involves his principal financial backer violates the constitutional guarantee of due process of law. (March 3)

Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission: Whether a documentary movie critical of Hillary Rodham Clinton, who at the time was running for the Democratic presidential nomination, is “electioneering communications” subject to federal campaign law requirements for disclosure of the names of people contributing to an election message. (March 24)

Ricci v. DeStefano: Whether municipalities can reject the results of a civil service test used for promotions if it yields racially disproportionate results. (Unscheduled)

Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District Number One v. Holder: Whether the 2006 renewal of the Voting Rights Act, which allows the U.S. Justice Department to oversee some states’ election practices, was a valid use of Congress’ power to enforce the constitutional guarantee of equality. (Unscheduled)

Horne v. Flores: Regarding federal judges’ authority in disputes over the sufficiency of state spending on English-language programs in public schools. (Unscheduled)

Safford Unified School District v. Redding: Whether the Fourth Amendment prohibits public school officials from searching a student suspected of possessing and distributing a prescription drug on campus. (Unscheduled)

…out of 20 days into President Obama’s first term….Read the rest…

“January 22, “Be Nice To Terrorists Day.”

* Obama issued an Executive Order on “Ensuring Lawful Interrogations,” which defines “outrages upon personal dignity (including humiliating and degrading treatment)” as “torture” or the equivalent of torture, and not allowed by any agency of the US government, at least upon persons in custody. (If you are not in custody, it is still OK for the government to humiliate you.) This order also says all interrogations must be in accordance with the Army Field Manual – unless, of course, “the Attorney General with appropriate consultation provides further guidance.” I believe waterboarding used to require a go-ahead from the President or Vice President; now Eric Holder is good enough.
* Obama issued an Executive Order on “Closure of Guantanamo Detention Facilities,” which says Gitmo “shall be closed as soon as practicable, and no later than 1 year from the date of this order.” It also orders a halt in all military commissions there, while the Gitmo situation gets reviewed.
* Obama issued an Executive Order on “Review of Detention Policy Options,” which establishes a task force to study what to do with “individuals captured or apprehended in connection with armed conflicts and counterterrorism operations.”
* Obama issued a Presidential Memorandum on the “Review of the Detention of Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri,” who is being held as an enemy combatant in the Navy brig in Charleston, South Carolina. He is the only enemy combatant known to be held in the continental US. He is a citizen of Qatar, but was arrested in Peoria, Illinois, because, according to the New York Times , “government officials contended that he was an al-Qaeda sleeper agent, sent to the US to commit mass murder and disrupt the banking system.” This presidential memorandum says his case should be reviewed, just like all the Gitmo cases. Apparently, the problem is not whether enemy combatants are held in Gitmo or somewhere else; the problem, apparently, is holding those who intend to commit mass murder at all.”

That last one with Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri…that will come back to Bite him…

Can Obama’s Online Hotline Deliver?

“Making pretty Web sites appears to be a core competency of the Obama Administration. Just as the president signed the economic stimulus bill, Recovery.gov went online to chronicle the spending of the $787 billion appropriated by the law.”

“On Day 1, the site doesn’t have that much information on it. There is a time line of what will happen with the law’s programs and an interactive map showing how many jobs the government estimates it will create or save in each state. But soon, the site promises, there will be information on where and how the funds are spent including evaluations of each program’s performance.”

“The site promises far more than information.”

“We are counting on your participation,” President Obama says in a YouTube video at the top of the site’s home page. “Instead of politicians doling out money behind closed doors, the important decisions about where taxpayer dollars are invested will be yours to scrutinize.”

“Mr. Obama’s statement seems to imply that the public’s main role will be to monitor spending and flag potential abuse. There is no hint of what mechanism it will use to do this. One person’s abuse, after all, is another’s stimulus.”

Barry?….you make WAY to many promises……people don’t like liars…

I want to see some Righteous Indignation!

The report was conducted for the United States Institute of Peace

Here’s a pretty good review of the report: Getting Granular: USIP Analyzes Specific Weaknesses In Afghan Security Environment

And, you can download the USIP working paper in pdf: Securing Afghanistan – Getting on Track

had issued a written statement saying that 12/7/41 was “a date which will live in infamy”? How inspired would America have been?

He is just doing this for his friends in blue states like Washington and California who have big industry with military procurement contracts!

This is a failure of Obama, and Hilary and her cowgirl diplomacy!