ACSBlog: The Blog of the American Constitution Society

Stories:

• Devon Chaffee, an attorney with Human Rights First, discussed the troubling track record of military commissions and described concerns about impartiality and access to evidence at Guantanamo Bay hearings.
• Geoffrey R. Stone, a professor of law at the University of Chicago Law School and member of ACS' Board of Directors, discussed the shortcomings of judicial passivism and originalism and conservative activism in the latest installments in his series on "constitutional vision."
• Professors Margo Schlanger and Giovanna Shay examine the Prison Reform Litigation Act, an amendment to which is being debated in Congress.
• U.S. legal groups expressed support for lawyers in Pakistan protesting the imposition of martial law.
• A federal judge allowed suit against CACI International, a military contractor accused of participating in abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison.
• An analysis of recent National Labor Relations Board decisions concluded worker's protections are being revoked.
• An Illinois court overturned caps on medical malpractice awards on the grounds that damages should be decided by juries, not legislatures.

Resources:

• Coverage of President Bush's recent nominations to the judiciary and the Department of Justice.
• William P. Marshall, professor of law at the University of North Carolina School of Law, addresses conservative claims about “activist judges.”
• A new report on voter fraud from the Brennan Center for Justice stated that “claims of voter fraud are frequently used to justify policies that do not solve the alleged wrongs, but that could well disenfranchise legitimate voters.”