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Judicial Vacancies Slow the Wheels of Justice
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2010/07/12 09:58
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| pAs the Senate prepares to vote on whether Elena Kagan should fill the vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court, there remain a substantial number of other vacancies in the nation’s lower federal courts that urgently need filling. /ppCurrently, there are about 100 vacancies in the lower federal courts. The American Bar Association says the lack of judges is affecting the efficiency and fairness of the justice system. /ppABA President Carolyn B. Lamm said, “Our courts are already terribly strained at the federal level because of the caseload and the workload, and when you’re a hundred justices down…that’s a big gap.nbsp; We have speedy trial rules that require them to put criminal cases first.nbsp; As a result, all of the civil proceedings are put off and there is a real gap in terms of a significant delay as a result of the vacancies. It is edging toward a crisis not to have a full bench.” /ppEven if all the vacancies were filled, said Lamm, a significant number of new judgeships would still be necessary to handle caseload growth.nbsp; In fact, the Judicial Conference of the United States is recommending 67 new permanent and temporary judgeships.nbsp; /ppBeyond the existing 100 vacancies, more than 20 additional judges have announced that they will retire in the next several months. Since the start of the 111th Congress, President Obama has made 78 nominations to fill the empty seats, and the Senate has confirmed 36 of the nominees. nbsp; /ppLamm noted that most nominees have moved through the Senate with little dissent and little delay. /ppWhen they finally are scheduled for a vote by the Senate, Lamm commented, “None of them have in fact engendered huge debate on the floor of the Senate….nbsp; No one has seen a pattern of inappropriate people being nominated; it is simply very slow and it really needs a full bipartisan effort to move these nominations. And quite frankly, it is becoming urgent,” said Lamm. /p |
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Chinese court sentences US geologist to 8 years
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2010/07/05 06:53
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pAn American geologist detained and tortured by China's state security agents over an oil industry database was jailed for eight years Monday in a troubling example of China's rough justice system and the way the U.S. government handles cases against its citizens./ppBeijing's No. 1 Intermediate People's Court convicted Xue Feng of collecting intelligence and illegally providing state secrets and immediately sentenced him./ppXue's lawyer Tong Wei described the sentence as very heavy, just short of the maximum 10 years, and said he would confer with Xue over whether to appeal. Xue was also fined 200,000 yuan ($30,000)./ppThe U.S. Ambassador to China, Jon Huntsman, witnessed the sentencing in a show of high-level U.S. government concern about the case. Afterward, the U.S. Embassy released a statement saying it was dismayed and urged China to grant Xue humanitarian release and immediately deport him./ppFor Xue, the verdict comes more than six months since the last court hearing and two and a half years after he was detained — a protracted prosecution and pretrial detention that Chinese officials never explained./ppBorn in China and trained at the University of Chicago, Xue ran afoul of the authorities for arranging the sale of a detailed commercial database on China's oil industry to IHS Energy, the energy consulting firm he worked for that is now known as IHS Inc. and based in Colorado.
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Calif man accused of extortion through hacking
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2010/06/24 09:00
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| Federal agents have arrested a man accused of hacking into computers to obtain personal data to extort sexually explicit videos from women and teenage girls in exchange for keeping their information private.pThe Los Angeles U.S. attorney's office says 31-year-old Luis Mijangos was arrested Tuesday in Santa Ana./ppFBI experts say he infected more than 100 computers used by about 230 people, including at least 44 juveniles./ppThe alleged scheme involved using peer-to-peer networks to infect computers, induce victims to download malware disguised as songs, and control those computers to spread malware through contact lists./ppMijangos allegedly searched computers for sexual or intimate images to blackmail victims into making videos for him. Prosecutors say he also was able to control some webcams to capture intimate scenes./p |
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High court upholds anti-terror law
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2010/06/21 09:01
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| pThe Supreme Court has upheld a federal law that bars material support to foreign terrorist organizations, rejecting a free speech challenge from humanitarian aid groups./ppThe court ruled 6-3 Monday that the government may prohibit all forms of aid to designated terrorist groups, even if the support consists of training and advice about entirely peaceful and legal activities./ppMaterial support intended even for benign purposes can help a terrorist group in other ways, Chief Justice John Roberts said in his majority opinion./ppSuch support frees up other resources within the organization that may be put to violent ends, Roberts said./ppJustice Stephen Breyer took the unusual step of reading his dissent aloud in the courtroom. Breyer said he rejects the majority's conclusion that the Constitution permits the government to prosecute the plaintiffs criminally for providing instruction and advice about the terror groups' lawful political objectives. Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor joined the dissent./p |
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High court to review mental health advocacy suit
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2010/06/21 09:01
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pThe Supreme Court says it will decide whether Virginia's advocate for the mentally ill can force state officials to provide records relating to deaths and injuries at state mental health facilities./ppThe justices agreed Monday to review a federal appeals court ruling dismissing the state advocate's lawsuit against Virginia's mental health commissioner and two other officials./ppBacking the appeal, the Obama administration said the ruling by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond threatens to undermine the enforcement of federal laws that Congress designed to protect especially vulnerable individuals from the abusive and neglectful practices that can result in injury and death./ppThe Virginia advocate's office, like those in the other 49 states, was created under two federal laws that give states federal money for monitoring the treatment of the mentally ill in state facilities. The first law grew out of public reports in the 1970s of crowded, filthy conditions and abusive treatment of mentally retarded children at the Willowbrook State School in New York./ppThe issue for the court is whether the Eleventh Amendment prohibits a state agency from going to federal court to sue officials of the same state. The state itself could not be sued in the same circumstances.
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Texas asks court to intervene in fight with EPA
Headline Topics |
2010/06/16 03:01
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| Texas asked a federal court on Monday to intervene in its fight with the Environmental Protection Agency over how the state regulates emissions from oil refineries and other petrochemicals plants. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott asked the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans to review the EPA's rejection in March of a 1995 state law that allows refineries to be modified without being subject to additional regulation, provided the changes don't increase a facility's overall emissions.pThe issue is part of an ongoing disagreement Texas and the EPA have over how pollution is regulated in the state, said Terry Clawson, a spokesman for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. In recent weeks, debate has focused on the state's use of so-called flexible permits, which sets a general limit on how much pollutants an entire facility can release./ppIn a news release, Abbott's office criticized the EPA for taking more than a decade before deciding to reject the law and said it filed the legal challenge in an effort to defend the state's legal rights and challenge improper overreach by the federal government./p |
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Kagan confirmation would affect major tobacco case
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2010/06/14 08:58
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| pIt's a simple matter of math: Elena Kagan's nomination to the Supreme Court has complicated the government's effort to force the tobacco industry to cough up nearly $300 billion./ppIf confirmed by the Senate as a justice, Kagan would have to sit out high court review of the government's decade-old racketeering lawsuit against cigarette makers. That's because she already has taken sides as solicitor general, signing the Obama administration's Supreme Court brief in the case — an automatic disqualifier./ppKagan is expected to step aside from 11 of the 24 cases the court has so far agreed to hear beginning in October./ppWithout her, the government and anti-tobacco advocates could find it difficult, if not impossible, to find a fifth vote to allow the government to seek $280 billion of past tobacco profits and $14 billion for a national campaign to curb smoking./p |
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