Free Republic

In a 5-2 decision, the state's highest court Tuesday ruled to permane tly remove controversial Queens Supreme Court Justice Laura Blackburne from Blackburne, a Jamaica resident, allowed Derek Sterling, a drug treatment court defendant, to use a back stairwell only accessed by judges, jurors and court staff to evade arrest from a detective about an unrelated robbery back in 2004. In the New York State Court of Appeals' 20-page decision, the concurring opinion said Blackburne "placed herself above the law she was sworn to administer, thereby bringing the judiciary into disrepute and undermining public confidence in the integrity and impartiality...

John E. Jones III is using the intelligent-design debate to answer his critics and talk about judicial independence. U.S. District Judge John E. Jones III could have taken the safe route and retreated to the privacy of the courthouse after issuing his landmark ruling in December against intelligent design. Most judges are loath to go public about their cases at all, let alone respond to their critics. But Jones - angered by accusations that he had betrayed the conservative cause with his ruling, and disturbed by the growing number of politically motivated attacks on judges in general - came out...