With Chief Justice John G. More here:  Challenge to military trial fails

In a first step toward a historic Supreme Court test, a federal judge on Wednesday struck down California’s ban on marriage for same-sex couples.  U.S. District Judge Vaughn R. Walker ruled that so-called “Proposition 8″ — approved by the state’s voters in November 2008 — violated two clauses of the federal Constitution.  Those who persuaded ...

U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn R. Walker will release later Wednesday his ruling in Perry v Original post: Gay marriage ruling due

The D.C. Circuit Court’s deeply-set refusal to let  federal judges oversee government decisions on which detainees may or may not leave Guantanamo Bay has now reached the longest-running effort to keep a detainee from being sent to another country over his protest.   In a one-page order released late Thursday, the Circuit Court dismissed outright the case ...

Setting the stage for a new  challenge to the U.S. government’s use of a prison in Afghanistan to hold detainees who had been captured outside that country, the D.C Go here to see the original: New chance for Bagram test

UPDATE Friday p.m.  A federal judge on July 22 ordered Jason Pepper’s release from prison while the Supreme Court considers his appeal.  (Thanks to Doug Berman of Sentencing Law and Policy blog for the alert and the link to the release order.) ——————– The Supreme Court on Thursday named a New York City lawyer and ...

Without waiting until it writes new rules to carry out the Supreme Court’s controversial January ruling lifting campaign finance curbs,  the Federla Election Commission on Thursday approved formation of two new groups that will raise and spend unlimited amounts of money to try to directly influence congressional elections this year. One of the new groups ...

Former Canadian and U.S. media magnate Conrad M. Go here to read the rest: Conrad Black wins release

The D.C. Circuit Court order (now under challenge before Chief Justice John G Here is the original post:  Mohammed issue clarified

Reacting to a Supreme Court order to take a new look at “indecency” on radio and TV, the Second Circuit Court suggested on Tuesday that constitutional law on free speech may need to be updated for the Digital Age, especially now that  “new offensive and indecent words are invented every day.”  Even so, applying First Amendment doctrine ...