US Appeals court

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Court Declares Terrorist's 17-Year Sentence Too Short

Alleged 'dirty bomb' maker's sentence 'a clear error'

(Newser) - A federal appeals court voted 2-1 today to throw out the 17-year sentence handed to alleged “dirty bomber” Jose Padilla, saying that it was too low given his criminal history and the threat he poses. “Padilla’s sentence of 12 years below the low end of the Guidelines...

Appeals Court Upholds Health Care Reform

Federal panel says Obama legislation is constitutional

(Newser) - President Obama's health care reform scored a legal win today: A federal appeals court in Cincinnati ruled that requiring people to obtain insurance or pay a penalty does not violate the Constitution, reports CNN . "We find that the minimum coverage provision is a valid exercise of legislative power...

Appeals Court Temporarily Allows Stem Cell Funding

It will continue as case proceeds

(Newser) - A federal appeals court today permitted US government funding of stem cell research to proceed for now, while it considers a judge's ruling that had temporarily shut off the funds. The government is asking the appeals court in Washington to strike down a preliminary order by US District Judge Royce...

Obama Blasted for Letting GOP Hold Up Judges

Nominees locked in committee as vacancies build up

(Newser) - At this point in their first terms, Bill Clinton had had nine federal judges confirmed and George W Bush eight—but Barack Obama has got only three judges through, despite sending 23 names to the Democratic-controlled Senate. Part of the problem is Republican obstructionists who've threatened filibusters and used parliamentary...

Animal Cruelty Case Hits Supreme Court

Landmark case to decide 1st Amendment as it applies to cruelty

(Newser) - Animal cruelty takes the floor of the Supreme Court tomorrow, as the justices consider whether to overturn an appeals court judgment that allows the depiction of animal cruelty under the auspices of the First Amendment. The lower court wasn’t keen on animal cruelty, but found that our furry friends—...

Failed Execution Cited in Stay for Another Man

Judge: halted lethal injection raises issues about Ohio protocol

(Newser) - A federal appeals court today halted the execution of an Ohio inmate three weeks after problems with a lethal injection foiled another man's execution. The 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 to grant a stay to 43-year-old Lawrence Reynolds Jr., who had been sentenced to die for strangling...

Court Rescinds Cap on Political Spending by Nonprofits

Emily's List wins ruling on 'soft money'

(Newser) - A federal appeals court today rescinded FEC limits on “soft money,” the Washington Post reports. The federal regulations had required that funds used by a nonprofit to influence a federal election be drawn from “hard money” accounts—individual contributions of “hard money” are capped at $5,...

Court Ruling Scuttles Del. Sports Gambling Plans

Grandfather clause doesn't apply to single-game expansion: judges

(Newser) - A federal court quashed Delaware’s bid to legalize single-game sports betting today, ruling that the gambling expansion violated a 1992 federal law, the News Journal of Wilmington reports. State lawyers had argued Delaware was exempt from the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act under a grandfather clause, but a...

Court OKs Chrysler Sale to Fiat, Starting Monday

(Newser) - A federal appeals court today approved the sale of Chrysler to Italian automaker Fiat over objections from debt holders in Indiana, the Wall Street Journal reports. The court put the sale on hold until Monday afternoon, or until the Supreme Court issues a stay—which Indiana investors say they will...

Demjanjuk Can Be Deported: Appeals Court

(Newser) - A federal appeals court today ruled that alleged Nazi guard John Demjanjuk can be deported to Germany to stand trial, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports. Demjanjuk’s family had argued that the 89-year-old’s poor health would make the flight tantamount to torture, resulting in a stay last month. An...

Madoff Lawyer, DA Lock Horns on Bail

(Newser) - Bernard Madoff’s lawyer argued today that the financier, who has pleaded guilty to a $65 billion Ponzi scheme, should be free on bail until June sentencing, the New York Times reports. Ira Sorkin cited past precedent in similar cases, but the prosecution said Madoff has incentive to flee—and...

Supreme Court May Have Too Many Judges
Supreme Court May Have
Too Many Judges
ANALYSIS
Feb 16, 2009 4:30 PM CST

Supreme Court May Have Too Many Judges

Is the High Court Too 'Judgey'?

(Newser) - Chief Justice John Roberts recently praised the present makeup of the Supreme Court, which, for the first time in history, consists only of former federal appeals judges. The move towards a Court dominated by those with judicial experience has been afoot since the 1950s, writes Adam Liptak in the New ...

Obama Influence Will Be Felt in Lower Courts

Supreme Court is likely set, but underlings decide more cases

(Newser) - Barack Obama isn’t likely to name a Supreme Court justice anytime soon, but he will be shifting the federal judicial balance almost immediately, the Washington Post reports. Democrats currently hold just 36% of appeals court judgeships, but that should jump to 58% by the end of Obama’s first...

In 8 Years, Bush Revolutionized Appeals Courts

Below the high court, conservative judges for decades to come

(Newser) - George W. Bush's two appointments tilted the Supreme Court to the right—but it's at the appellate level where his judicial legacy is greatest. The president has appointed fully a third of all appeals court judges, and Republican appointees now control 10 of the 13 circuits. The result, writes the...

Appeals Court Halts Release of 17 at Gitmo

Goverment seeks to reverse decision to free Chinese Muslims

(Newser) - An appeals court has blocked the release of 17 Chinese Muslim detainees at Guantanamo Bay after the Bush administration filed an emergency motion. A lower court had ruled that the men, members of the Uighur minority who have been imprisoned for 7 years, must be released. That decision also said...

Court Voids 2 Terrorism Convictions

Blow to administration as Yemeni defendants get a new trial

(Newser) - An appeals court yesterday overturned the verdicts of two men convicted of terrorist offenses in a case once hailed by the Bush administrations as a major triumph, the New York Times reports. The court ruled that inflammatory and irrelevant testimony prejudiced the trial of a Yemeni cleric and his assistant....

Court Likens Gitmo Case to Absurd Poem

Lewis Carroll cited in mocking decision to void detention

(Newser) - In ruling that a Gitmo detainee has been improperly held for 6 years, a federal appeals court deemed the government's standard of evidence on par with an absurdist poem of the 19th century. The DC Court of Appeals voided the detention of Huzaifa Parhat last week, but yesterday it released...

Polygamy Kids Could Be Back Home in 10 Days

Texas must appeal surprise ruling or send children back

(Newser) - Yesterday's surprise court ruling in favor of a polygamous sect has Texas authorities scrambling, Time reports. An appeals judge ruled that the state had no right to seize children suspected of being sexually abused from the Yearning for Zion ranch. Officials now must appeal the ruling or return the children...

Texas Court: Return Kids to Polygamy Sect
 Texas Court: Return Kids
to Polygamy Sect 
UPDATED
May 22, 2008 3:27 PM CDT

Texas Court: Return Kids to Polygamy Sect

Appellate body finds no evidence more than 460 children were in danger

(Newser) - A Texas appeals court found today that authorities, acting on "no evidence," and supported only by a "general allegation" of impropriety, should not have removed more than 460 children from a polygamist compound, the Dallas Morning News reports. The panel also said a local court "abused...

Appeals Court Nixes Sonar Exemption Claim by Navy

But court sets aside protections for marine life for another 30 days

(Newser) - The US Navy is not exempt from laws that ban whale-harming sonar, a federal appeals court has ruled. The Bush administration had contested an earlier ruling, arguing that halting sonar use when whales are nearby poses "significant restrictions on our ability to train realistically." Whales and dolphins have...

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