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Court rules against U.S. on combatants 15 minutes ago A federal appeals court on Monday ruled that the Bush administration cannot legally detain an immigrant as an enemy combatant without charge.

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...

President Bush is moving to nominate a replacement for U.S. Court of Appeals Judge J. Michael Luttig, who announced last week that he is leaving the bench to become senior vice president and general counsel at the Boeing Co. White House officials have discussed a number of possible candidates with Virginia's two Republican senators, said David Snepp, a spokesman for Sen. George Allen. The person chosen will require confirmation by the U.S. Senate. The process of selecting Luttig's replacement to the Richmond-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit is being coordinated by the office of White House counsel...

After Fight in Terrorism Case, Conservative Star Gives Up Court Seat for Boeing Job. On Nov. 22, U.S. Circuit Judge J. Michael Luttig was at work in his chambers here when he received a telephone call telling him to switch on the television. There, he saw Attorney General Alberto Gonzales announce that the government would file charges against Jose Padilla in a federal court -- treating the accused terrorist like a normal criminal suspect. The judge was stunned. Two months earlier, he had written a landmark opinion saying the government could hold Mr. Padilla without charge in a military brig....

Judge J. Michael Luttig resigned Wednesday from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to accept a job as senior vice president and general counsel for Boeing Co. Luttig, a conservative judge, had been named to the federal bench by former President Bush in 1991 and mentioned last year as a possible nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court.

McLEAN, Va. -- On Nov. 22, U.S. Circuit Judge J. Michael Luttig was at work in his chambers here when he received a telephone call telling him to switch on the television. There, he saw Attorney General Alberto Gonzales announce that the government would file charges against Jose Padilla in a federal court -- treating the accused terrorist like a normal criminal suspect.

Federal Judge Resigns to Work for Boeing By LARRY O'DELL, Associated Press Writer 5 minutes ago Judge J. Michael Luttig has resigned from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to accept a job as senior vice president and general counsel for Boeing Co., the company said Wednesday. Luttig, 51, a conservative judge, had been mentioned last year as a possible nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court. He was appointed to the 4th Circuit by former President Bush in 1991

On May 9, 2001, President Bush nominated U.S. District Judge Terrence W. Boyle of Edenton, N.C., to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. It took nearly four years for the Judiciary Committee to send his nomination to the Senate floor. It has languished there for more than a year with no prospect for Senate confirmation and no apparent interest by the Republican leadership. Boyle has been on the federal bench for 22 years, and his only liability is that he is a conservative who spent a year on Sen. Jesse Helms's staff. While he is the Bush appellate court nominee...

Wed Dec 28, 5:35 PM ET WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government on Wednesday asked the Supreme Court to transfer American "enemy combatant" Jose Padilla from U.S. military custody to federal authorities in Florida -- one week after an appeals court refused a similar request. In a filing to the high court, Solicitor General Paul Clement asked for Padilla's release so he can stand trial on charges of being part of a support cell providing money and recruits for militants overseas. Padilla was indicted last month in Florida for conspiracy to murder and aiding terrorists abroad but the charges make...

Padilla Lawyers Link Case to Wiretapping Probe Arguments Part of Supreme Court Filing Dec. 28, 2005 — - Lawyers for "dirty bomb" suspect Jose Padilla have filed a brief with the Supreme Court urging it to take Padilla's case, linking it to the National Security Agency wiretapping controversy. The brief, filed yesterday, uses strong language against the government for its treatment of Padilla, who was arrested as an "enemy combatant" in June 2002 and indicted by a federal grand jury last month. "The government continues to defend this sweeping view of the president's power to substitute military rule for the...

The attorney for the only known target of NSA eavesdropping says his client would be happy to sue the president. By Michael Scherer Dec. 23, 2005 | Iyman Faris, the only named American target of the National Security Agency's secret warrantless wiretap program, will consider a lawsuit against the president of the United States, according to his criminal defense attorney, David Smith. "I am sure he would be delighted to sue President Bush," said Smith, of the law firm English & Smith in Alexandria, Va., who is representing Faris in his criminal appeals. "He may be the only person in...

WASHINGTON - In a sharp rebuke, a federal appeals court denied Wednesday a Bush administration request to transfer terrorism suspect Jose Padilla from military to civilian law enforcement custody. The three-judge panel of the Richmond-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also refused the administration's request to vacate a September ruling that gave President Bush wide authority to detain "enemy combatants" indefinitely without charges on U.S. soil. The decision, written by Judge Michael Luttig, questioned why the administration used one set of facts before the court for 3 1/2 years to justify holding Padilla without charges but used another set...

Court Ducks 'In God We Trust' Case (CBS) WASHINGTON Supreme Court on Monday sidestepped a dispute over the constitutionality of putting "In God We Trust" on government buildings. Earlier this year justices were splintered on the appropriateness of Ten Commandments displays in and near government buildings. The court did not comment in rejecting an appeal over an "In God We Trust" inscription 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. It is more prominent than the name of the building, according to...

A practicing witch who sought to have her prayers heard at government meetings in a Richmond, Va., suburb had no magic before the U.S. Supreme Court. Justices rejected an appeal by Cyndi Simpson, a Wiccan priestess and member of the Broom Riders Association, who wanted to offer a generalized prayer to the "creator of the universe" in Chesterfield County, Va. "I wasn't going to talk about the goddess," Simpson said previous to today's decision. "I was going to call the elements, maybe offer up an invocation to the highest being." Simpson had argued that Christians and members of other faiths...

here’s a few tidbits: 1. Luttig has an autographed photo of Clarence Thomas in his chambers, with the inscription “this wouldn’t have happened without you, buddy). Now if Luttig and Roberts are good friends and worked together and were at each other’s wedding, what does this tell us, if anything? 2. Williams got on the 4th because she was friends with Strom Thurmond through her husband and is apparently “anti-gay”, “anti-women”, “anti-black” and “anti-freedom” Can you imagine if John Roberts had an AUTOGRAPHED PHOTO of Clarence Thomas or Scalia in his chambers? I’d want Luttig picked just to see the...

Bush can detain 'shoe bomber', says appeals court Agencies Richmond, Virginia: In a victory for the Bush administration, a federal appeals court ruled that the government can continue to hold indefinitely an American accused of plotting to detonate a radioactive "dirty bomb." In a unanimous decision, the three-judge panel threw out a US district court's finding that the detention of Jose Padilla, a US citizen, as an enemy combatant on Bush's orders was unconstitutional. Padilla has been in custody for more than three years. "The exceedingly important question before us is whether the President of the United States possesses the...

RICHMOND, Va. - A federal appeals court Friday denied a request by Virginia's attorney general to rehear a case challenging a state law banning a type of late-term abortion. In June, a divided three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Virginia's law banning what anti-abortion activists call "partial-birth abortion" is unconstitutional because the law lacks an exception to protect a woman's health. The Center for Reproductive Rights challenged the law when it was passed by the General Assembly in 2003, and a federal judge blocked its enforcement. Following the appellate panel's ruling, Attorney General Judith...

ANNAPOLIS, MD -- The Naval Academy has no plans to drop the regular saying of grace before its midshipmen's lunch, despite a policy issued this week by the Air Force to discourage most public prayer, a spokesman said. The Naval Academy is the only U.S. military institution that holds formal prayer at lunch, a ritual that might date to its founding in 1845. Its chaplains say grace at the mandatory lunch for its more than 4,100 midshipmen. Academy spokesman Cmdr. Rod Gibbons said there are no plans to change the tradition of what he has called "devotional thoughts." Prayers are...

RICHMOND, Va. -- An appeals court on Wednesday upheld a Virginia law that requires public schools to lead a daily recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance, rejecting a claim that its reference to God was an unconstitutional promotion of religion. A suit filed by Edward Myers of Sterling, Va., a father of three, raised the objection to the phrase "one nation under God." A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 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...

RICHMOND -- Civil liberties lawyers have appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court to allow a Wiccan priestess to offer prayers before a public board's meetings. Cynthia Simpson was turned down in 2002 when she asked the Chesterfield Board of Supervisors to add her name to the list of people who customarily open the board's meetings with a religious invocation. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the suburban Richmond county. In their petition, received by the court yesterday, American Civil Liberties Union lawyers accuse the federal appeals court of trying to "obscure with legal smoke and mirrors" Chesterfield's...