Free Republic

A sharply divided 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel has ruled that a Texas judge may start the day with prayer, overturning a decision from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.

Dec. 11 (UPI) -- The U.S. government on Friday plans to execute a man convicted of killing his 2-year-old daughter nearly two decades ago. Alfred Bourgeois, 55, is set to receive lethal injection at the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Ind. He's awaiting a Supreme Court decision on his request for a stay. His attorneys said Bourgeois' execution would be unconstitutional because he is intellectually disabled and can't understand his punishment. They submitted evidence of IQ test scores of 70 and 75, as well as assessments by experts. The Eighth Amendment bans executing people with such impairments as cruel and...

If you raise money for a nonprofit, but don’t finish all of the projects you were raising it for, you could go to prison for 10 years. This is no exaggeration. This is what happened to former Rep. Steve Stockman of Texas. Earlier this month, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a conviction against him for that very reason. Two of the three judges on the panel were Obama appointees. The third judge, who wrote the opinion, is 82 and was so ill he never showed up for oral arguments. Shockingly, he wrote a politically charged opinion, evidenced right...