Just in time for the renewed talk of a protracted GOP primary fight, the Supreme Court of the United States has crushed a revised redistricting map in Texas and unanimously ordered a lower court in San Antonio to come up with a …
Courts
Texas Trifecta: Control of Presidency, Congress and Courts May Be at Stake in Redistricting Fight
For Republicans concerned that a lengthy primary could hurt their chances against President Barack Obama in 2012, the biggest worry right now may not be Iowa or New Hampshire. In Texas, a fight between Democrats and Republicans …
Occupy the Southern District of New York: Judge Strikes Down SEC-Citibank Settlement
Federal District judge Jed Rakoff followed through with a smackdown of the Securities Exchange Commission on Monday, rejecting a settlement between the agency and Citibank that would have imposed a $285 million penalty on the bank without forcing it to admit wrongdoing for betting against mortgage securities that eventually cost …
The Supreme Court Weighs the Implications of Big Data
Last week the Supreme Court heard arguments over whether police violated the Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable search and seizure by tracking suspected drug dealer Antoine Jones 24 hours a day for four weeks in 2004, collecting data even after their search warrant expired. Jones’ lawyer argued the government should have …
SCOTUS To Hear Obamacare Before Election
The U.S. Supreme Court granted cert (PDF) this morning in three cases challenging several key elements of President Barack Obama’s health-care reform law: whether Congress can force Americans to purchase health care; whether all or part of the rest of the law is constitutional if that one provision is not; whether the penalty for not …
In D.C. Circuit Health Reform Ruling, a Big Get for the White House
While the highly politicized issue of legal challenges to Democrats’ Affordable Care Act broke along party lines at the District level, Appellate courts have offered a more unpredictable and telling series of rulings on the measure. Tuesday’s 2-1 split decision from the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals upholding the constitutionality of the …
A Call to Arms Every Liberal Can Love
Are you a Democrat who’s uneasy with the radical sloganeering of Occupy Wall Street protesters? Do you think Elizabeth Warren’s critiques on big business are a little, well, pushy? If you’re a liberal (as Phil Ochs said, “Get it?”) looking for safe, non-socialist ground from which to argue that America’s system for overseeing …
In Perry’s Texas, a Well-Connected DA with a Knack for Blocking New Evidence
Michael Morton faced a throng of reporters last Tuesday just after a Texas judge freed him following 25 years in prison for a murder he did not commit. Now gray-haired and 57, Morton looked on the bright side. “I thank God that this was not a capital case,” he said.
Why Obama Wants a Supreme Court Fight on Health Reform in 2012
The Obama administration’s decision late Monday not to ask for a full court review of the August decision by two appeals court judges to strike down ObamaCare is a risky but potentially high-value play by the White House in the …
Fourth Circuit Dismisses Health Reform Challenges as Premature
The legal battle over President Obama’s 2010 health care overhaul has been a messy affair. With two prior rulings at the appellate level, one upholding the Affordable Care Act and another ruling against it on Commerce Clause grounds, Thursday’s opinions delivered by the Fourth Circuit in Richmond, Virginia, dismissed challenges from …
11th Circuit Rules Health Care Individual Mandate Unconstitutional
A three-judge appellate panel in Atlanta on Friday ruled a key pillar of the Affordable Care Act, Obama’s 2010 health care reform law, unconstitutional. In a lengthy opinion, two judges, one appointed by President Bill Clinton …