Free Republic

Judge Orders 17-Year-Old Girl Not To Have Sex POSTED: 10:16 am EDT September 30, 2005 SHERMAN, Texas -- No sex. That's part of a sentence imposed on a 17-old-girl by Texas state district judge Lauri Blake. She's ordered the young drug offender not have sex as long as she is living with her parents and attending school, as a condition of her probation. It is one of several unorthodox rulings Judge Lauri Blake has imposed since she was elected 10 months ago in the district court that covers Fannin and Grayson counties. She has also prohibited tattoos, body piercings, earrings...

ORANJESTAD, Aruba (AP) - A lesbian couple has the right to register their marriage in Aruba, a court ruled Tuesday, rejecting a government appeal in a case that has exposed a cultural rift between Holland and its former colony. Aruba's Superior Court confirmed a lower court's December ruling that the Caribbean island should register the marriage of Charlene and Esther Oduber-Lamers, who were wed in Holland in 2001. ``The Dutch marriage can be inscribed in the register,'' read the decision. ``Since Aruba is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, it must comply with demands of the Kingdom.'' The Aruban...

HAVANA (AP) - Cuba applauded a U.S. federal appeals court decision to throw out the convictions and sentences of five Cuban intelligence agents, saying Wednesday that it was a "happy day" on the island. A statement on the front page of the Communist Party daily Granma called Tuesday's ruling "ethical" and urged Cubans to be patient as the men, known locally as the "Five Heroes," prepare for a new trial. "The wait has been long ... and there's no doubt that it will continue to be so," the newspaper said. "It is not easy to overcome a wall of prejudice...

<p>Three of California's top Democratic officeholders are poised this week to ask the Supreme Court to set aside the constitutional provisions requiring a two-thirds majority for the Legislature to pass a budget and raise taxes. The Democrats seem to see the maneuver as a simple, common-sense legal request that will rise or fall on its merits. I see it as undermining the rule of law.</p>

After the copyright smackdown: What next?Don't despair at the Supreme Court's gift to Disney, says one expert. The fight has really only just begun. When the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that Congress was within its constitutional bounds to extend the duration of all copyrights by 20 years -- up to 70 years beyond the life of the author and potentially infinitely -- many saw the ruling as a knockout blow to the movement to reform copyright. Some on the public interest side are tempted to lament what could be called the "Dred Scott case for culture," unjustifiably locking up...