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RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - A federal appeals court on Wednesday upheld a Virginia law requiring public schools to lead a daily recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. Edward Myers of Sterling, Va., a father of three, claimed that the reference to "one nation under God" in the pledge was an unconstitutional promotion of religion. A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed, ruling that the pledge is a patriotic exercise, not an affirmation of religion similar to a prayer. "Undoubtedly, the pledge contains a religious phrase, and it is demeaning to persons of any faith to...

The American Civil Liberties Union has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a decision that allows the Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors to exclude a local witch from leading the prayer at open meetings. The ACLU of Virginia yesterday filed its petition with the court seeking to reverse a Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals decision, said ACLU attorney Rebecca K. Glenberg. "Our position is that the 4th Circuit did something really extreme in its decision," she said. "It held that it was acceptable for a government body to treat people differently because of religion." Cynthia Simpson, a witch who...

A federal appeals court has reinstated a libel suit against the New York Times filed by a former Army scientist who claims one of the paper's columnists unfairly linked him to the deadly anthrax mailings in 2001. Steven Hatfill sued the Times for a series of columns written by Nicholas Kristof that faulted the FBI for failing to thoroughly investigate Hatfill for the anthrax mailings that left five people dead. The initial columns identified Hatfill only as "Mr. Z," but subsequent columns named him after Hatfill stepped forward to deny any role in the killings. Federal authorities labeled Hatfill "a...

RICHMOND, Va. — A federal appeals court yesterday reinstated a lawsuit challenging a Virginia law requiring parental supervision at a summer camp for juvenile nudists. A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the American Association for Nude Recreation-Eastern Region could pursue its claim that the law violates its free-speech rights by crimping its ability to spread its social nudism philosophy. The organization claims it had to cancel a summer camp last summer in southeast Virginia because only 11 of the 35 youths who signed up would have been able to bring a parent as...

WASHINGTON — Three years ago, before today’s white-hot struggle over judicial appointments and the philosophical direction of the federal courts grabbed hold of official Washington, a soft-spoken Virginia conservative and a loquacious New York liberal met at the Library of Congress to bat around some ideas. Brought together by the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III of Charlottesville and Sen. Charles Schumer of New York carried on a friendly debate over the role of political ideology in shaping legal decisions and influencing congressional evaluations of judicial nominees. It’s unlikely many minds were changed during the...

Saying it is the job of elected leaders, not the judiciary, to set military policy, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday upheld the Clinton administration's "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gay service members. It was the first federal appeals court to rule on the policy. The 9-4 decision went against former Lt. Paul Thomasson, who was discharged from the Navy last June after giving a letter to his commander stating, "I am gay. Thomasson, who worked for the admiral administering the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, said the dismissal violated his constitutional right to free speech....

Judge J. Michael Luttig, conservative of the 4th circuit court and one of the most favored candidates cited by conservatives for promotion to the U.S. Supreme Court, played a crucial role in destroying the credibility of Anita Hill during the Thomas confirmation hearings of 1991: ******************************************************* Senate Democrats, after persuading Anita Faye Hill to testify about charges of sexual harassment against Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas, offered the University of Oklahoma law professor little protection from a slashing campaign orchestrated by the White House to impugn her character and portray her as a perjurer after she testified Friday. The Democrats'...

The 51-year-old Luttig is considered a solid conservative choice. The Texas native worked in the Justice Department during the first Bush administration and has served on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va. Luttig helped take down Anita Hill. Luttig a potential pick for Supreme Court. Profile of Michael J. Luttig. Appeals Court Judge Rising Star Among Conservatives. Another Profile of Michael J. Luttig. The self-described legal nerd wrote the 1999 4th Circuit decision that struck down a key provision of 1994 Violence Against Women Act. The Supreme Court agreed on a 5-4 vote that Congress...

The GOP-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday sent North Carolina judge Terrence Boyle's nomination to the U.S. Appeals Court for confirmation on a party-line vote, leaving Boyle vulnerable to a possible Democratic filibuster. Boyle, a U.S. District Court judge who wants a seat on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., advances to the full Senate for confirmation on the 10-8 partisan vote in committee. Democrats have said that a party-line vote in committee leaves judicial nominees open to a filibuster, although they have not said whether they plan to block Boyle, a former aide to retired...

When Carin Constantine flunked constitutional law after suffering a migraine during the final exam, she did what came naturally. She sued the professor. And the dean. And George Mason University. "It's very ironic that I am suing my constitutional law professor for a violation of the Constitution," Constantine said yesterday. "How much crazier in life can you get than that?" Constantine, 36, who has wanted to be a lawyer since junior high school, suffers from intractable migraine syndrome -- headaches so severe, she says, that they nearly blind her. She accused the university of refusing for months to let her...

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court refused Monday to be drawn into a dispute over President Bush's power to detain American terror suspects and deny them traditional legal rights. It would have been unusual for the court to take the case of "dirty bomb" suspect Jose Padilla now, because a federal appeals court has not yet ruled on the issue. Arguments are scheduled for July 19 at the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va. A year ago, the court ruled the Bush administration was out of line by locking up foreign terrorist suspects at the Navy base...

A Virginia law banning a type of late-term abortion is unconstitutional because it lacks an exception to protect a woman's health, a divided federal appeals court ruled Friday. The decision by a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a ruling by U.S. District Judge Richard L. Williams of Richmond. The Center for Reproductive Rights challenged a law passed by the 2003 Virginia General Assembly that bans a procedure generally performed in the second or third trimester in which a fetus is partially delivered before being killed. Anti-abortion activists call the procedure "partial-birth abortion." The Virginia...

Bush And The Judiciary, What Should Be Next? May 26, 2005 - PipeLineNews - As we observes the smoke which continues to rise from the GOP’s latest Senate debacle we feel that it’s time to move on and to test the word and hopefully the mettle of the new Democrat working majority. It is no secret that the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Justice, William Rehnquist is gravely ill, having undergone throat surgery and chemotherapy to treat his thyroid cancer. Over the past few weeks, rumors have been circulating that sometime in early Summer Mr. Rehnquist will resign...

RALEIGH, N.C. -- The fight over ownership of North Carolina's long-lost original copy of the Bill of Rights was back before a federal judge trying first to decide who should have temporary ownership. Opponents in a two-year legal saga returned to federal court in Raleigh on Tuesday to argue over who should get the historic, handwritten parchment issued by President George Washington. U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle awarded the document to North Carolina last year. But in January, the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., told Boyle to reconsider. Before anyone can decide who owns the document,...

RICHMOND, Va. – The inscription "In God We Trust" on the facade of a government building in North Carolina does not violate the U.S. Constitution's guidelines on the separation of church and state, a federal appeals court ruled Friday. A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously upheld a lower judge's dismissal of a lawsuit challenging the slogan written on the Davidson County Government Center in Lexington, N.C. The inscription, in 18-inch block letters, was paid for with donations from individuals and churches in 2002. Lawyers Charles F. Lambeth Jr. and Michael D. Lea, who regularly...

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled a Virginia county can refuse to let a witch give the invocation at its meetings by limiting the privilege to clergy representing Judeo-Christian monotheism. Lawyers for Wiccan practitioner Cynthia Simpson planned to file a motion this week asking the full court, based in Richmond, Va., to review the three-judge panel’s decision. While the U.S. Supreme Court has limited government entanglement with religion in the past, the 4th Circuit’s decision relies heavily on a case in which the high court carved out separate and broader boundaries and guidelines for prayer at legislative...

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear the appeal of terrorism suspect Zacarias Moussaoui, rejecting a challenge to the Bush administration's power to bar potentially key witnesses from the only U.S. defendant charged in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Justices let stand a lower court ruling that allowed the government to pursue the death penalty while restricting Moussaoui's direct access to three al-Qaida terror captives. The lower court, citing national security concerns, said Moussaoui could use government-prepared summaries from the captives but not interview them. The Supreme Court's move Monday now shifts the case back to...

WASHINGTON ---- Lawyers for Zacarias Moussaoui petitioned the Supreme Court on Monday, challenging the government's right to put the terrorism suspect on trial while the defense had no access to potentially favorable al-Qaida witnesses. The written brief questioned whether Moussaoui's constitutional rights would be violated if the defense was forced to rely on government-prepared summaries of interrogation statements from three al-Qaida captives. A federal appeals court has approved use of the summaries after the government argued that more direct access to al-Qaida leaders - or even their classified interrogation statements - would jeopardize national security. The lawyers said it was...

The hearing is just about the start. John Howard's case will be heard by the 4th Circuit to determine if there should be a new election, if Donna Frye's write-in candidacy was invalid and other related issues.

UPI White House Correspondent WASHINGTON, July 7 (UPI) -- President George W. Bush slammed Democratic sidelining of his judicial nominees Wednesday, saying Senate Democrats were ignoring a federal judicial crisis and using issue litmus tests on those selected to sit on a federal bench. "These judges deserve better treatment in the United States Senate," he said. "A minority of senators apparently don't want judges who strictly interpret and apply the law. Evidently, they want activist judges who will rewrite the law from the bench." Bush made the comment in Raleigh, N.C., where he met with three of his picks whose...