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The California Supreme Court, in a 4-3 majority, attempted a new form of alchemy today. They tried to change homosexual partnerships into something they simply are not capable of being, marriage. They did so through a raw exercise of renegade judicial authority which clearly rejected the expressed will of the people of California. They did so without even making any pretense of relying on past precedent. They simply declared, in the words of the majority, that protecting marriage as a lifelong relationship of love between a man and a woman which forms the foundation of the first society of the...

Glass shattered in a driveway in a quiet Albuquerque subdivision a few nights after Christmas. Minutes later, at the end of a chaotic quarter-mile trek over fences, through vacant lots and across a six-lane highway, police sirens began to wail. One man lay dead against a chain-link fence, dirt on his teeth and a bullet hole in his heart. The other stood in his stocking feet in the middle of the street with his revolver tucked into the waistband of his jeans. "Why did he do it, sir?" he asked the officer who took his gun and put him in...

A river is a beautiful thing. However, a river outside its banks is called a flood and turns from being a beautiful amenity to being a destructive force. This role change describes what may be happening to our judicial branch of government. There are many very fine judges, but all too often we hear about bad decisions in which the judge applied his personal philosophy to arrive at a decision far beyond simply interpreting the law. We are seeing a nationwide trend of judges starting to tax and spend without legislative authority. It is bad enough to see a poor...

Scientists have developed a computerised mind-reading technique which lets them accurately predict the images that people are looking at by using scanners to study brain activity. The breakthrough by American scientists took MRI scanning equipment normally used in hospital diagnosis to observe patterns of brain activity when a subject examined a range of black and white photographs. Then a computer was able to correctly predict in nine out of 10 cases which image people were focused on. Guesswork would have been accurate only eight times in every 1,000 attempts. The study raises the possibility in the future of the technology...

Governors Highway Safety Program Attempts to Bias NC Judges Against Motorcyclists Raleigh, NC December 23, 2008 Editorial opinion of a Concerned Citizen Documented proof has been published by the NC Governors Highway Safety Program, that the NC GHSP is using taxpayer funded lobbying to influence North Carolina judges in advance of "technical changes" to the General Statute 20-140.4 which contains the NC helmet law statute, effective date of January 1, 2008. In an article published in the Fall 2007 issue of Centerline, which is published by the Governors Highway Safety Program, NC Department of Transportation, is the following quote: "GHSP...

San Francisco imprisons African Americans for drug offenses at a much higher rate than whites, according to a report to be released today... *** San Francisco locks up a higher percentage of members of the African American community in drug cases than any other county in the study. In the county, 123 people out of every 100,000 are sent to state prison each year for drug offenses. Of those, whites are incarcerated at a rate of 35 per 100,000 white people, while blacks are incarcerated at a rate of 1,013 per 100,000 black people. "It is not that San Francisco...

(Washington, DC) -- Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that it recently uncovered through the Freedom of Information Act a videotape (and transcript) of an August 15, 2007 town hall meeting on illegal immigration held in Laredo, Texas. During the meeting, held at Texas A&M International University’s campus, US Border Patrol (USBP) Laredo Sector Chief Carlos X. Carrillo disclaimed the illegal immigration and narcotics enforcement missions of the USBP.

Judge Michael Mukasey's acceptance of George Bush's offer to become his third attorney general brought to mind the title of a relatively obscure 19th century French novel called "La Bas," which means, "down there." "La bas," of course, would be modern Washington. "Down there" the denizens push a great grinding wheel that circles endlessly. George Bush proposes. Harry Reid repudiates. Into this spun-down place comes a nominee for attorney general who is said to have "little Washington experience." Let us not dwell on the latter-day meaning of that phrase. We shall posit, however, that Washington needs Judge Mukasey more than...

DETROIT (AP) - A Wayne County Circuit Court judge accused of working too slowly no longer is allowed to handle pretrial motions. The state's Judicial Tenure Commission also is reviewing 27 cases in which Thomas was reversed by appeals courts in the past five years.

SACRAMENTO Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Friday signaled his intention to appeal a federal court decision that orders a special judicial panel to examine severe overcrowding in California's prison system. The governor's action comes a day after the chief judge of the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals created the three-judge panel, following the recommendation of two federal judges. The panel will be charged with examining how overcrowding is affecting inmate health care, mental health, services for the disabled and other prison operations. Among the possible remedies are a cap of California's inmate population and early release of some prisoners. The...

New York Sen. Charles E. Schumer, a powerful member of the Democratic leadership, said Friday the Senate should not confirm another U.S. Supreme Court nominee under President Bush “except in extraordinary circumstances.” “We should reverse the presumption of confirmation,” Schumer told the American Constitution Society convention in Washington. “The Supreme Court is dangerously out of balance. We cannot afford to see Justice Stevens replaced by another Roberts, or Justice Ginsburg by another Alito.” Schumer’s assertion comes as Democrats and liberal advocacy groups are increasingly complaining that the Supreme Court with Bush’s nominees – Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice...

In the USA, back when Sandra D. was still on the court, the US Constitution was suddenly deemed to be subservient to politically correct multi-cultural standards and practices. Since the whims of political appointees become the law of the land when, according to precedent, personal opinions written by judges supersede the legislation of elected branches in what used to be government of, by and for the people, it's fair to assume that we should look to foreign courts to see what's in store for us, as well as legalists, when they push their own particular envelope. FOX News had yet...

GRAND JUNCTION - A Park County prosecutor tried last month to keep in jail a driver who is now suspected in a high-speed crash that killed two college students. "I thought he was a clear and present danger to the motoring public," Deputy District Attorney Martin Kenney, of Fairplay, said Friday. On Thursday night, police say, Patrick Strawmatt killed two 19-year-old Mesa State College freshmen as he drove 120 mph from a pursuing Colorado State Patrol trooper. He made an obscene hand gesture and raced away, slamming into a compact car carrying two students, Jennifer Kois, of Brighton, and Jacob...

Ben Franklin didn’t need the lyrics of ABBA’s “The Winner Takes It All” to know that regarding a vote, only one group gets what it wants: for example, in the vote taken by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, deciding whether America would become a free, democratic nation or remain a colony ruled by a monarch or in the one taken by the Constitutional Convention on September 17, 1787 (and later by individual states), deciding whether the nation ought to adopt the Constitution or continue under the Articles of Confederation. To prove the point about what Franklin knew,...

WASHINGTON - Milberg Weiss is particularly active in New York. Melvyn Weiss was a guest at a glittering 2003 Manhattan fundraiser for then-New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer that raised more than $2 million for his gubernatorial bid. Following the Milberg Weiss indictment in May, Spitzer returned $124,000 in donations from the firm and related individuals. The donations flap was barely noticed and did nothing to dent gubernatorial candidate Spitzer’s image of unsullied rectitude. A Spitzer Web site notes that he was named “Crusader of the Year” by Time magazine and the “Sheriff of Wall Street” by 60 Minutes....

WASHINGTON - The incoming Democratic chairman of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee promised on Wednesday to combat what he denounced as President George W. Bush's war-time trampling of American rights. "We have a duty to repair real damage done to our system of government over the last few years," Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont said in outlining his panel's agenda for the 110th, Democratic-led Congress, which is set to convene on January 4. [Snip] "We are way overdue in catching up to the erosion of privacy," Leahy said. "This will be one of our highest priorities." Leahy said he also...

Andrew Thomas, County Attorney On December 5, 2006, 7he decision of a Maricopa County jury to find an illegal immigrant guilty of Conspiracy to Commit Human Smuggling under Arizona's new law was set by Judge Thomas O'Toole. This extraordinary decision contradicts two of the judge's own prior rulings and overturns a unanimous jury verdict from a cross-section of citizens reached after less than an hour of deliberations. This latest ruling, while disappointing, is not entirely surprising. Judge O'Toole has changed his mind about these issues a number of times. In the course of handling several of this office's smuggling...

From April 1775 to Yorktown in 1781, Americans fought and died to end that rule of kings – only to have their meek and timid heirs submit to a rule of judges. A tiny minority of judges in America now dictates to the Great Silent Majority. Of all these outrages and idiocies, one thing may be said: No legislature, no executive at the state or federal level would have survived imposing such measures upon us. For 50 years, this nation permitted the Warren Court, and its successors and imitators in the state courts, to create a body of judge-made law...

New Jersey's highest court gave a resounding, unanimous endorsement this week to the principle that same-sex couples must be accorded the "same financial and social benefits and privileges" as heterosexual partners. But the court choked on calling gay unions "marriage." The ruling clearly advanced the long legal and political battle by gays and lesbians to achieve the equal status guaranteed to them as a fundamental human right. A 4-to-3 majority of the New Jersey court maintained, though, that it is the job of the legislature to confer such social acceptance, "which must come from the evolving ethos of a maturing...

Over the past decade and a half, U.S. District Court Judge Thelton Henderson has become the one of the most important figures in the state in setting prison policy, or at least trying to change it. Henderson's rulings have placed the judge firmly in control over issues ranging from use of force at Pelican Bay State Prison to internal discipline to improving medical care. They've also put him in position to direct billions in state spending into the correctional system -- with no legislative oversight. The 72-year-old judge's career has just been chronicled in Abby Ginzberg's documentary, "Soul of Justice:...

There is terrorism in Baghdad but a criminal gang problem has also been plaguing our nation's capital. In an officially declared "crime emergency," black criminals had been robbing, assaulting, and even raping tourists in the National Mall area, where the Washington Monument and the World War II and Lincoln Memorials stand. This is an area that had been considered safe and "tourist-friendly." Three young black men were arrested for these crimes, but you could search in vain in the local media for any reference to their skin color. Instead, they were described as "D.C. youths" or just "five people." Stories...

Cross Posted at Iowans for Romney: Disclaimer: THis is a Pro-Romney Piece and I run a pro-Romney blogsite. I am not paid for my efforts. What I've created below is in response to a commonly recurring attack on Romney: that he can't be trusted to appoint good conservative/constructionist judges because of his record of judicial appointees as Massachusetts Governor, specifically regarding gay-activist judges. The issue came up in a discussion thread to an article I posted on Free Republic (Over 135 comments so far, and some heated debate). One comment (#123), by JohnnyZ summed up the most common attack: Romney's...

Friend Campaign Unveils Its New Website (PIKEVILLE, KY) Pike District Judge Kelsey E. Friend, Jr. officially launched his campaign's website today. "This website gives me an opportunity to communicate directly with voters," Friend said. "Ultimately, I believe that informed citizens will be able to make the best decision when they head to the polls on November 7th." The website can be found online at: Friend for Judge

Just six months after quitting the all-male social club to which he belonged for 50 years, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy is questioning one of President Bush's nominees to the federal bench about his membership in an all-male dining club. "What is your reason for failing to resign from the club any earlier than February 2, 2006?" Mr. Kennedy demanded in writing of Oklahoma lawyer Jerome A. Holmes, nominated to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Documents provided to the Senate Judiciary Committee and obtained by The Washington Times show that Mr. Holmes belonged to the Men's Dinner Club of...

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush on Wednesday sent four nominations to the Senate to fill vacancies on federal appeals courts. Nominated were Kent Jordan of Delaware, for the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals; Debra Ann Livingston of New York, for the 2nd Circuit; and Raymond Kethledge and Stephen Joseph Murphy III, both of Michigan, for the 6th Circuit. Jordan has been a U.S. district judge in Delaware since 2002. Before that, Jordan, who attended Brigham Young University and earned a law degree from Georgetown University, was an adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania, Vanderbilt University and Widener University....

The Senate Judiciary Committee is quietly maneuvering to act on two of President Bush's appellate court nominees this summer, while a third nominee awaiting action on the Senate floor is slowly moving closer to a vote, Republican aides told HUMAN EVENTS today. A GOP aide said the Judiciary Committee is moving toward a vote on William Haynes' confirmation to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in July. But before the committee brings Haynes up for a vote, Chairman Arlen Specter (R.-Pa.) is likely hold a second hearing, at which time Haynes would be given the opportunity to defend himself...

Remember Elian Gonzalez? By surrounding his home supporters kept the media tuned to his story and made all Americans aware of his plight. In the same spirit Freestar hopes that you will form a "Human Constitution" around the homes and businesses of victims of eminent domain abuse on eviction day. Soon Freestar will send out an invite to tabulate how many people will show up at the below-listed evictions. Only people who receive our free Newsletter will receive this invite. We need volunteers to help with the planning. We intend to invite campers and RV owners to the Halper farm....

Book Review - From Schoolhouse to Courthouse:Exposing America's New Terror From Within,by Dr. Carl Parnell by Wayne Boettcher Posted: 06/02/2006 What's wrong with our kids today? It seems like they are always getting into trouble! Rebellion, disobedience, falling grades, vandalism, drugs, crime and running away to the party life seem a familiar pattern in today's teenagers. Even young people that avoid the worst of it have to struggle to maintain a somewhat normal life and battle pressure on a daily basis from misbehaving friends who are determined to take them down the wrong path. Yes, those children just won't...

The charges they wish to dismiss against Pinkerton(without prejudice) from three arrests in six months are 9 counts: 1 count impersonating a police officer 1 count terroristic threatening a police officer 1st degree 1 count intimidating a witness (police officer) 2 counts assault in the 1st degree against police officers 1 count resisting arrest 1 count criminal property damage 1 count open container 1 count DUI Pinkerton has presented the evidence exposing the conspiracy against him, which can be found at http://www.kpinkerton.com . This website is now exculpatory evidence. The conditions of the plea agreement are very peculiar. The nature...

SCARY MOVIE 5, JUST IN TIME FOR FALL! When I was a kid I loved watching those cheesy horror movies like Friday the 13th or Halloween. My friends and I would sit around and invent ludicrous story lines for the mother of all horror films. Well, I have an idea for a film that could roll out in the fall of 2006. Here's the plot--Imagine a Congress that: (1) seriously considers impeaching the President; (2) launches countless investigations into the "bungled" war on terror; (3) votes against any judicial nominee who believes in originalism; (4) raises the estate tax; (5)...

White House Counsel Harriet Miers, the Supreme Court nominee who withdrew after a conservative revolt last fall, has allegedly vetoed several recommendations offered by conservatives to fill vacancies on federal courts. The White House would not directly respond to the charge, which was made this morning during a conference call with more than 40 conservative leaders. Two people on the call—whose identities I promised to keep confidential—said they had inside knowledge of the recommended nominees whom Miers nixed.

"Trust the president." That was the Bush administration's main defense of the president's bizarre choice of corporate lawyer Harriet Miers for a seat on the Supreme Court. But the administration also had a backup rationale: as D.C.'s Hill newspaper reported, in an October 3, 2005, conference call with conservative leaders, Republican National Committee chair Ken Mehlman stressed "the need to confirm a justice who will not interfere with the administration's management of the war on terrorism." It was a bit unsettling to hear that proposition stated so baldly, but no one who has followed the administration's drive to expand executive...

Kansas Judicial Watch 105 E. Rhondda Andover, KS 67002 PRESS RELEASE For Publication Wichita Federal District Court Judge Monti Belot recently irritated some Kansas state lawmakers with his personal statement critical of the legislature’s priorities. However, under Republican Party of Minnesota vs. White, 536 U.S. 765 (2002, 7-2 Opinion), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that all judges, state and federal, have first amendment rights to state their opinions, both as judicial candidates and while serving on the bench. The high court made it clear that a judge’s partiality is sacrificed only when he favors one party over another, and that...

"Is it asking too much that the President’s nominees for lifetime appointments to the federal courts at least get the support of 60 of 100 senators?" - Sen. Joe Lieberman on ABC’s This Week, on Sunday, May 22, 2005 "These last-minute efforts using procedural maneuvers ... has been the wrong way of going about it." - Sen. Barack Obama on ABC’s This Week, on Sunday, Jan 29, 2006 Senate Democrats just can’t understand why Republicans object to judicial filibusters requiring 60 votes to approve President Bush’s nominees. They have controlled the Senate for so many decades they find it impossible...

Is Kate Michelman Telling the Truth About Her Own Abortion Story? by Jan LaRue, Esq. Posted Jan 24, 2006 Why would four doctors increase their risk of felony prosecution for performing an abortion by requiring Michelman to obtain written consent from her husband who had abandoned her? If their concern was a civil lawsuit, wouldn’t that have been outweighed by avoiding prison time? On January 12, 2006, Kate Michelman testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) in opposition to the confirmation of Judge Samuel Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court. On January 9, 2006, the Web site "Democracy Now" posted...

The N.C. State Bar has challenged the dismissal of disciplinary charges against two former Union County prosecutors, saying they committed felonies to win a death penalty conviction. Kenneth Honeycutt and Scott Brewer were charged with lying, cheating and withholding evidence in the 1996 murder trial. Honeycutt, the former district attorney in Union County, has since returned to private practice; Brewer is now a District Court judge in Richmond County. Last week, the bar's Disciplinary Hearing Commission cited a missed deadline in dismissing the case against them. But the bar's lawyers say there is no deadline to bring charges because the...

Many issues that affect our lives and shape our nation turn on judges' decisions on constitutional questions. Can students say "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance? Can states take away private property for private uses? Can Congress restrict campaign contributions and expenditures? Answers to these and other constitutional questions depend critically on how one approaches the interpretive task. Any sensible approach to constitutional interpretation must look to the core sources of law - the text, structure, and history of the constitution. For many questions, these will provide enough guidance to answer the constitutional question presented. Yet in many other...

CALIFORNIAS courts have every reason to be worried about their funding being squeezed out by other priorities in the states deficit-ridden budget. But that does not justify curbing public control over public-spending decisions. The California Judicial Council, which oversees the states courts, last week approved a proposal for amending the state constitution. Among other provisions, it would create a Prop. 98-like spending protection and hand judicial salary decisions to an outside commission. In 2004, the Legislature agreed to tie court funding to the states appropriations limit, a complex formula based on growth in population, per capita income and other factors....

Supreme Court nominee Samuel A. Alito Jr.'s views on abortion caused a stir this week, but another memo that surfaced from his years as a Reagan administration lawyer was notable for its strong support of the police. Alito wrote that he saw no constitutional problem with a police officer shooting and killing an unarmed teenager who was fleeing after a $10 home burglary. "I think the shooting [in this case] can be justified as reasonable," Alito wrote in a 1984 memo to Justice Department officials. Because the officer could not know for sure why a suspect was fleeing, the courts...

Judicial society announces Greensboro location Michelle Cater Rash The Business Journal of the Greater Triad Area - 3:09 PM EST Monday The American Judicature Society formally announced Monday that its new Institute of Forensic Science and Public Policy will be coming to downtown Greensboro. Close to 100 city leaders, attorneys and judges gathered in the former City Club on the top floor of the Jefferson Pilot building for the announcement. The institute will be a think tank to look at forensic science standards for use by law enforcement agencies, attorneys and courts. The institute will be advised by the society's...

SACRAMENTO - About 42 percent of California's 15.8 million registered voters are expected to turn out for Tuesday's special election, a relatively high turnout that political experts said could hurt the chances for the governor's reform measures. Secretary of State Bruce McPherson on Friday said his prediction was based on absentee ballots, experience with similar elections, voter registration, record campaign spending, interest in local measures and "even the anticipated weather." Experts said the relatively high turnout in Democrat-leaning California makes it more likely at the polls that Democrats and independents will outnumber Republicans, who are traditionally dependable voters but are...

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"George Bush's judicial appointments as governor -- before he made his pact with the far right -- were generally pro-business conservatives who tended to be moderate on some of the social issues," said Ralph G. Neas, president of People for the American Way, which is leading the opposition to a strongly conservative appointment. "The problem as we see it today is that he later made irrevocable promises to the right to get elected that he would give them the courts." It has been clear in recent days that the religious right evaluated Bush's Texas appointments as a way to gauge...

Critics of SCOTUS nominee Harriet Miers make much of the fact that she hasn't argued a case in the United States Supreme Court. And in fact, they've been pretty harsh, some of them, in characterizing her record as a practicing lawyer. What's up with that? Anything to it? Well, heck, let's find out — shall we? Ever since Al Gore invented the internet, we've been living in the Information Age, so let's get some information! A search on Ms. Miers' name, run in a Westlaw database containing both state and federal court reported decisions from Texas, pulls up 19 separate...

"Who's In the Doghouse? Miers, Miers." Who Put Her In The Doghouse? Innerbelt Conservatives! I have the highest esteem for these conservative pundits, but they have shot a week of broadcast time condescending a woman who is an "unknown" to them. There is probably a lot they don't know. I just don't like hearing 7/24 what they don't know. Has Air America offered them better contracts?

Why Filibusters Should Be Allowed By George F. Will Sunday, March 20, 2005; Page B07 With Republicans inclined to change Senate rules to make filibusters of judicial nominees impossible, Democrats have recklessly given Republicans an additional incentive to do so. It is a redundant incentive, because Republicans think -- mistakenly -- that they have sufficient constitutional reasons for doing so.

Bush recoils from greatness By Pat Buchanan Oct 3, 2005 Syndicated columnist Handed a once-in-a-generation opportunity to return the Supreme Court to constitutionalism, George W. Bush passed over a dozen of the finest jurists of his day -- to name his personal lawyer. In a decision deeply disheartening to those who invested such hopes in him, Bush may have tossed away his and our last chance to roll back the social revolution imposed upon us by our judicial dictatorship since the days of Earl Warren. This is not to disparage Harriet Miers. From all accounts, she is a gracious lady...

More than half of Americans are angry and disappointed with the nation’s judiciary, a new survey done for the ABA Journal eReport shows. A majority of the survey respondents agreed with statements that "judicial activism" has reached the crisis stage, and that judges who ignore voters’ values should be impeached. Nearly half agreed with a congressman who said judges are "arrogant, out-of-control and unaccountable." The survey results surprised some legal experts with the extent of dissatisfaction shown toward the judiciary. "These are surprisingly large numbers," says Mark V. Tushnet, a constitutional law professor at Georgetown University Law Center in Washington,...