Weekend News Round-up: 10/29/07
- Trends in the Supreme Court
- Real-world application of laws requiring photo identification
- More questions for Mukasey
- Telecom Immunity and NSA Oversight
- Challenge to mandatory school prayer law
- Money and state Supreme Court elections
- New book documenting torture
- A speech on the Roberts' Court
- Testimony on "voter caging"
Supreme Court
The most lasting legacy of the Bush administration may be the addition of two conservative judges to the U.S. Supreme Court, a BBC analysis concludes. Meanwhile, the Associated Press reports that it has been more than a year since a black lawyer in private practice argued before the Supreme Court, the culmination of two trends: fewer lawyers arguing more cases before the Court and problems in recruiting and retaining blacks and other minorities at the top law firms.
Identification Law
The California wildfires are exposing undocumented immigrants to government arrest and deportation, with government officials separating families as they seek refuge. New York's governor announced a plan to give undocumented immigrants a special type of driver's license.
Mukasey Nomination
More Senators are raising questions about Michael Mukasey's position on torture, possibly imperiling his confirmation. It is unclear whether questions regarding the whereabouts of so-called "ghost prisoners" who spent time in CIA overseas prisons will also play a role in the vote on Mukasey.
Telecom Immunity and NSA Oversight
Wired reports the "White House is plainly admitting again that it is using security classifications for political ends in the debate over whether Congress should intervene in the court cases against the nation's largest telecoms and whether the Administration should be able to unilaterally order the nation's email, phone, internet and instant messaging companies to work with the nation's spies," when it permits Senators willing to provide immunity access to legal memos justifying and approving the government's secret, warrantless spying program, but does not grant access to members of the House who are not willing to grant immunity. On Wednesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee will examine proposed changes to FISA that would provide immunity to telecom companies that engaged in warrantless wiretapping.
Mandatory Prayer Law Challenged
A lawsuit on Friday challenged a new Illinois law that requires a moment of prayer or reflective silence at the beginning of the school day.
State Supreme Court Elections
The heightened spending and increasingly aggressive tone of state Supreme Court judicial races have alarmed nonpartisan groups and judges from around the country, according to the Washington Post.
Jameel Jaffer, Director of the ACLU National Security Project and Amrit Singh, staff attorney for the ACLU Immigrant’s Rights Project, have released a new book, Administration of Torture: A Documentary Record from Washington to Abu Ghraib and Beyond, published by Columbia University Press. NPR interviewed the authors earlier this month.
The Roberts' Court
Video of a speech on the Roberts' Court by University of Chicago Law Professor Geof Stone.
"Voter Caging" Testimony
Spencer Overton, professor of law at George Washington University Law School, testifies and provides background material on "voter caging," before the House Elections Subcommittee.