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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) -- A Kansas prosecutor on Friday dropped all remaining criminal charges against a Kansas City-area Planned Parenthood clinic accused of performing illegal abortions, ending what was believed to be the first attempt in the U.S. to prosecute a facility affiliated with the group. Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe announced that 32 misdemeanor charges against the clinic had been dismissed.

What damage did Democrats suffer when they attacked Miguel Estrada?Both President Barack Obama and Republicans get something they want from the Supreme Court nomination of Sonia Sotomayor. Mr. Obama said he wanted to replace Justice David Souter with someone who had "empathy" and who'd temper the court's decisions with a concern for the downtrodden, the powerless and the voiceless. "Empathy" is the latest code word for liberal activism, for treating the Constitution as malleable clay to be kneaded and molded in whatever form justices want. It represents an expansive view of the judiciary in which courts create policy that couldn't...

NEW ORLEANS—Louisiana has 15 days to add the names of both fathers to the birth certificate of a boy born in Shreveport and adopted by a gay couple from out-of-state, a federal judge has ruled. The state is asking the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn the ruling by U.S. District Judge Jay Zainey, and to halt the order in the meantime, state Attorney General Buddy Caldwell said Thursday. "The federal district court has significantly misinterpreted Louisiana vital records law, forcing Louisiana to import and adopt New York law," he wrote in a brief e-mailed statement. Oren Adar...

NEW ORLEANS -- A same-sex couple in California has won a federal court ruling that their adopted son's Louisiana birth certificate must bear the names of both adoptive fathers. The facts are so clear that no trial is needed, U.S. District Judge Jay Zainey wrote. "What a great Christmas present for these guys!" said Kenneth D. Upton Jr. who represented Oren Adar and Mickey Ray Smith of San Diego. In his ruling Monday, Zainey said Louisiana's Office of Vital Records must give full faith and credit to the New York State court in which Adar and Smith adopted the boy,...

I just listened to the oral arguments in the Indiana voter Id Case. This is very significant as this case is the only voter ID case to reach a federal court of appeals. The Case is 'Indiana Democratic Party v. Rokita'. The Judges were: , Posner: Reagen appointee Terence T. Evans : Clintoon appointee Diane S. Sykes: 'W' appointee At least in terms of court composition we have an edge. The Judges seemed to not let the counsel for Indiana get in a word edgewise. But, the Judges seemed to question, how Indiana could prevent voter fraud, and the Democrats...

WASHINGTON - Chief Justice William Rehnquist said in a statement to be released today that judges must be protected from political threats, including from conservative Republicans who maintain that "judicial activists" should be impeached and removed from office. The public, the media and politicians certainly are free to criticize judges, Rehnquist said, but politicians cross the line when they try to punish or impeach judges for decisions they do not agree with. "The Constitution protects judicial independence not to benefit judges, but to promote the rule of law: Judges are expected to administer the law fairly, without regard to public...

I FULLY support this legislation.... we need MORE Co-Sponsors.... CALL YOUR congresscritter TODAY !!

<p>Justice O'Connor becomes a full-fledged judicial activist.</p> <p>Thursday, December 11, 2003 12:01 a.m.</p> <p>Justice Sandra Day O'Connor more or less completed her ideological journey toward judicial activism yesterday when she cast the deciding vote upholding the McCain-Feingold restrictions on campaign speech. Proponents of judicial restraint who were leery of her when Ronald Reagn appointed her in 1981 acknowledge that even they didn't expect her to come under the sway of elite opinion as much as she has.</p>