washingtonpost.com - Courts, Judiciary

D.C. Police Agitate For Flood Of E-Mails

Theola Labbé-DeBose and Robert E. Pierre — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST

D.C. police, frustrated that a teenage robbery suspect they have arrested kept getting released, took to cyberspace yesterday in an unusual effort to lobby judges and city officials to keep him off the streets.

Around the Nation

Post — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST

NATIONAL BRIEFING

Post — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST

Kentucky executes first inmate in 9 years

AP — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 22:13:04 EST

EDDYVILLE, Ky. -- A Kentucky inmate who resisted all appeals to stop his execution was put to death Friday for murdering two young children.

Bob Jones Univ. apologizes for racist policies

AP — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 18:12:20 EST

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Bob Jones University has apologized for racist policies including a one-time ban on interracial dating that wasn't lifted until nine years ago and its unwillingness to admit black students until 1971.

FCC appeals Janet Jackson case to Supreme Court

AP — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 18:02:36 EST

PHILADELPHIA -- The Federal Communications Commission has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review the indecency case over Janet Jackson's breast-baring performance at the 2004 Super Bowl.

Homeland Security Pick Napolitano Praised by Left and Right Alike

Spencer S. Hsu — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST

President-elect Barack Obama's pending selection of Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano (D) as secretary of homeland security was greeted yesterday as a sign that the new Democratic administration will fundamentally change the tone of the nation's post-Sept. 11 approach to domestic security.

Conservative Federalist Society Can Expect Its Status to Shrink

Robert Barnes — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST

Last year, there was a candlelight dinner at sold-out, shut-down Union Station to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Federalist Society, with President Bush on stage and three Supreme Court justices in the audience.

DISTRICT BRIEFING

Post — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST

Obituaries in the news

AP — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 22:27:15 EST

-- Matthew J. Cianciulli

Confession in '91 Ariz. temple deaths thrown out

AP — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 20:50:59 EST

TUCSON, Ariz. -- A man who was convicted as a juvenile of killing nine people at a Buddhist temple near Phoenix could go free after a federal appeals court threw out his confession Thursday, ruling that it was coerced.

Obama looks at border governor for homeland spot

AP — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 19:16:39 EST

WASHINGTON -- Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, President-elect Barack Obama's top choice to run the Homeland Security Department, is tough on illegal immigration, child abuse and Republicans.

Military has date for first execution since 1961

AP — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 17:30:58 EST

TOPEKA, Kan. -- A former Army cook convicted of multiple rapes and murders is set to die next month in what would be the U.S. military's first execution in nearly 50 years.

Napolitano is no stranger to Washington scandals

AP — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 16:48:39 EST

WASHINGTON -- President-elect Barack Obama's likely pick for Homeland Security secretary, Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, is no stranger to headline-making Washington scandals and controversies.

Ariz. Governor Said to Be Pick For Homeland Security Post

Spencer S. Hsu — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST

Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano (D), whose handling of immigration issues brought her accolades from fellow governors, is President-elect Barack Obama's choice to serve as secretary of homeland security, Democratic sources said late Wednesday.

Obama Reserves the Right to Change His Mind on Clinton and Holder

Al Kamen — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST

Loop Fans might want to watch for an intriguing pattern emerging in the way President-elect Barack Obama handles some of his potentially controversial nominations. Call it the Best Buy, or contingency, pick. Obama used it to great effect in his handling of the secretary of state's job for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) and the attorney general's post for Eric Holder.

VIRGINIA BRIEFING

Post — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST

Ethics dilemma for lawyers when inmates seek death

AP — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 17:29:11 EST

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- John Delaney faced the toughest moment of his legal career _ his condemned client wanted to drop his appeals and die by injection, an act Delaney opposed and had been trained to try to prevent.

Election 2008: Both Sides With Tucker Carlson and Ana Marie Cox

washingtonpost.com — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 14:00:00 EST

Conservative MSNBC political correspondent and Daily Beast contributor Tucker Carlson and liberal Time Magazine blogger and Daily Beast contributor -- Ana Marie Cox were online Wednesday, Nov. 19 to dissect and debate the latest developments in politics.

Ohio executes man for killing store owner in 1992

AP — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 13:10:28 EST

LUCASVILLE, Ohio -- An inmate who believed he was framed was executed by lethal injection Wednesday for the 1992 fatal stabbing of a collectibles store owner. It was Ohio's second execution in as many months.

Obituaries in the news

AP — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 22:11:36 EST

-- Jan Krugier

Trial begins over California prison crowding

AP — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 22:03:21 EST

SAN FRANCISCO -- Attorneys for the state and inmates' rights groups clashed Tuesday at the opening of a high-stakes trial over whether California's jam-packed prisons have led to unconstitutionally poor medical and mental health care.

Voters' Vantage Point: SCOTUS

washingtonpost.com — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 12:41:05 EST

President-elect Barack Obama is expected to have the opportunity to appoint several justices to the Supreme Court, with much of the speculation centered on Justice John Paul Stevens, the oldest and longest-serving of the nine. While Stevens is giving few signals about when he intends to step down, voters who cast their ballots with the high court in mind made some of their views known on Election Day. The SCOTUS bloc is a slim group. Few, 7 percent, singled out the court as their top voting consideration, though more than half called appointments to the high court an important factor according to network exit polls. Overall, voters who gave the court some weight in deciding how to vote split 52 percent for Obama, 46 percent for McCain. Those who said it was their top issue broke more heavily for the Democrat, 57 percent to 41 percent. About half of those

Chief justice's father dies after long illness

AP — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 11:23:15 EST

WASHINGTON -- The father of Chief Justice John Roberts died Tuesday after a long illness, the Supreme Court said.

Justice Stevens Shows No Signs of Leaving Supreme Court

Robert Barnes — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST

GAINESVILLE, Fla., Nov. 17 -- For all the speculation about how President-elect Barack Obama's nominees may change the Supreme Court, there is one irrefutable fact: He can't make an appointment until there is a vacancy.

Supreme Court Rejects Va. Inmate's Death Row Appeal

AP — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 12:33:00 EST

The U.S. Supreme Court has dismissed Virginia death row inmate Edward Nathaniel Bell's appeal.

The Case of the Seven Aphorisms

Dahlia Lithwick — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST

Let's stipulate: Summum is weird. With its pyramids, mummification, nectars and hairless blue aliens, this religious organization (founded in 1975) offers an existential stew of transcendental Gnosticism and particle physics: Isaac Luria meets "Star Trek Voyager." But, as my husband would be quick to point out, yours truly has been known to fly into a panic when a meat fork touches her milk sink, shrieking and driving the offending utensil deep into the dirt of the kitchen avocado plant and then waiting the ritual interval until its kosherness is mystically restored. All of which merely illuminates the First Aphorism of Religion Cases: Only the religious convictions of other people are weird. Yours are perfectly rational.

REGIONAL BRIEFING

Post — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST

Barack Obama's Brother-in-Law, Basketball Coach Craig Robinson, Already Has a Crucial Victory to Celebrate

Kevin Merida — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST

Craig Robinson was explaining how it feels to be on the verge of becoming the First Brother-in-Law to the first African American president of the United States. He was slumped into a soft-cushioned chair at a downtown Washington hotel, not far from the buffet table where the Oregon State Beavers basketball team he coaches was about to chow down.

Some Former Lobbyists Have Key Roles in Obama Transition

Matthew Mosk — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST

Barack Obama campaigned on a pledge to change Washington, vowing to upend the K Street lobbying culture he encountered when he joined the U.S. Senate.

Smithsonian Regents' Meeting Goes Public

Jacqueline Trescott — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST

For the first time in its 162 years, the Smithsonian Board of Regents is going public.

US-POLITICS Summary

Reuters — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 23:00:59 EST

Obama, Clinton discussed secretary of state job

Court to decide anti-Hillary Clinton movie case

Reuters — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 17:48:35 EST

WASHINGTON, Nov 14 Reuters - The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Friday to rule on a new challenge to the federal campaign finance law by a conservative group that wants to broadcast and promote a movie critical of Democratic Sen. Hillary Clinton.

High court to rule when judges must bow out

AP — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 17:46:10 EST

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court stepped into a sensitive dispute Friday over a state judge's decision to participate in a case that involved a key campaign supporter.

Obama likely to push courts away from right

Reuters — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 09:06:11 EST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President-elect Barack Obama will have a chance to appoint dozens of sympathetic judges to U.S. federal courts over the next four years, reversing the judiciary's shift to the right under President George W. Bush.

Obama likely to push courts away from right

Reuters — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 09:06:11 EST

Obama likely to push courts away from right

Reuters — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 01:12:33 EST

Obama likely to push courts away from right

Reuters — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 01:12:33 EST

Biden Names His Chief of Staff

Ceci Connolly — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST

Vice President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. turned to one of the most experienced Democratic staffers in Washington yesterday in naming as his chief of staff Ronald A. Klain, a longtime trusted adviser with an intimate knowledge of how the White House operates.

Submarines and Whales

Post — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST

DON'T FRET too much about the whales. At least not yet.

Most Charges Voided in Alleged Extortion

Del Quentin Wilber — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST

A federal judge yesterday dismissed 12 of 14 charges against a D.C. government clerk accused of pocketing thousands of dollars in late fees for elevator licenses.

Obituaries

Post — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST

Judge nixes change in Exxon Valdez damage payout

AP — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 15:49:04 EST

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- A federal judge has rejected a seafood company's request to rewrite a plan for dividing punitive damages to be awarded from the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.

RNC Plans Lawsuit to Contest Right to Finance State Races

Matthew Mosk — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 14:01:59 EST

Recognizing the need to be competitive in upcoming governors' contests, the Republican National Committee announced it would go to court for the right to finance state races.

Republican Party challenges 'soft money' laws

AP — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 11:16:56 EST

WASHINGTON -- The national Republican Party sued the Federal Election Commission Thursday, seeking to overturn prohibitions on unregulated corporate and labor contributions and to make it easier to coordinate spending with federal candidates.

Taliban urge world to block Afghan executions

Reuters — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 06:57:22 EST

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan's Taliban, notorious for summary public executions, urged the United Nations on Thursday to press the Afghan government to stop executing prisoners on death row, citing concern about fair trials.

Today in History - Nov. 13

AP — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 00:01:15 EST

-- Today is Thursday, Nov. 13, the 318th day of 2008. There are 48 days left in the year.

Waiting in the Wings

Post — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST

Prospective candidates for attorney general

Justices Revoke Limits On Navy Use of Sonar

Jerry Markon and Juliet Eilperin — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST

In issuing a deliberately narrow ruling yesterday in a controversial case involving whales and the U.S. Navy, the Supreme Court strongly indicated that it intends to defer to the military in future disputes pitting national security against environmental concerns.

Display of Religious Tenets Debated

Jerry Markon — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST

The way Summum tells it, when Moses first came down from Mount Sinai, he didn't have the Ten Commandments in his hands: He was holding the Seven Aphorisms.

Republican Party to challenge campaign money laws

AP — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 20:00:57 EST

WASHINGTON -- The national Republican Party wants to make it easier to raise and spend political money and plans to sue the Federal Election Commission to alter a six-year-old law written by John McCain, the defeated Republican presidential candidate.

U.S. top court considers religious monument dispute

Reuters — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 19:37:35 EST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court appeared divided on Wednesday on whether a city violated a religious group's free-speech rights by refusing to put its monument in a public park near a similar Ten Commandments display.

Former border agent resentenced in shooting

AP — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 18:43:38 EST

EL PASO, Texas -- A former Border Patrol agent convicted of shooting a fleeing drug smuggler was resentenced Wednesday to his original 12-year prison term.

U.S. bishops warn Obama on abortion issues

Reuters — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 18:31:14 EST

CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. Catholic bishops told President-elect Barack Obama on Wednesday his election was not a referendum on abortion, even though a majority of Catholics helped elect him despite an abortion rights stand the bishops oppose.

Court rules for Navy in dispute over sonar, whales

AP — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 18:11:49 EST

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that military training trumps protecting whales in a dispute over the Navy's use of sonar in submarine-hunting exercises off the coast of southern California.

Appeals Court Clears Way for Rep. Jefferson Trial

AP — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 16:53:46 EST

RICHMOND, Va. -- A federal appeals court upheld bribery and other charges against Louisiana Democratic U.S. Rep. William Jefferson on Wednesday, clearing the way for a trial.

Supreme Court referees religious monument dispute

AP — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 16:37:34 EST

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court warily confronted a case Wednesday that mixes limits on free speech with issues of church-state separation.

Jon Stewart, Lily Tomlin honor George Carlin

AP — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 07:40:51 EST

WASHINGTON -- The late comedian George Carlin _ famous for those "Seven Words You Can Never Say on TV" _ was honored Monday with the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, the only award he saw as a legitimate comedy prize.

Jon Stewart, Lily Tomlin honor George Carlin

AP — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 01:03:26 EST

Obama plans US terror trials to replace Guantanamo

AP — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 00:10:28 EST

WASHINGTON -- President-elect Obama's advisers are crafting plans to close the Guantanamo Bay prison and prosecute terrorism suspects in the U.S., a plan the Bush administration said Monday was easier said than done. Under the plan being crafted inside Obama's camp, some detainees would be released and others would be charged in U.S. courts, where they would receive constitutional rights and open trials.

Retired Agents Take Up Cause Of 'Norfolk 4'

Tom Jackman — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST

RICHMOND, Nov. 10 -- A group of 30 retired FBI agents added their voices Monday to the campaign calling for full pardons for four Navy men convicted in the rape and murder of a woman in Norfolk in 1997.

Germany seeking Nazi suspect's extradition

AP — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 21:23:41 EST

BERLIN -- Germany's top Nazi hunter on Monday asked Munich prosecutors to request the extradition of an 88-year-old Ohio man accused of bearing responsibility for the deaths of 29,000 Jews at a concentration camp in Poland.

Court denies appeal over victim impact evidence

AP — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 10:29:48 EST

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court has turned down appeals from death row inmates seeking to limit videos and similar material prepared by murder victims' families for juries.

Philly lawyer's mural of justice draws objection

AP — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 03:15:36 EST

PHILADELPHIA -- In the city where a young nation held some of its earliest Supreme Court sessions, attorney Paul Rosen can't imagine a better place for a mural about justice.

Today in History - Nov. 9

AP — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 00:01:06 EST

-- Today is Sunday, Nov. 9, the 314th day of 2008. There are 52 days left in the year.

Federal judgeship openings await Obama

AP — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 10:38:04 EST

WASHINGTON -- President-elect Obama will enter office with an immediate opportunity to begin shaping the federal courts by filling four dozen openings on trial and appeals courts.

Fears of Democrat crackdown lead to gun sales boom

AP — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 03:59:15 EST

MIDLOTHIAN, Va. -- When 10-year-old Austin Smith heard Barack Obama had been elected president, he had one question: Does this mean I won't get a new gun for Christmas?

Iraq Repeats Insistence on Fixed Withdrawal Date

Ernesto Londoño, Mary Beth Sheridan and Karen DeYoung — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST

BAGHDAD, Nov. 6 -- Two days after the election of Barack Obama, Iraq's chief spokesman said with unusual forcefulness Thursday that his government will continue to insist on a firm withdrawal date for U.S. troops, despite American demands that any pullout be subject to prevailing security conditions.

Lawyer Indicted in Hiding of Drug Money

Henri E. Cauvin — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST

A lawyer with offices in Prince George's County and the District was arrested yesterday after a federal grand jury in Maryland accused him of helping to hide tens of thousands of dollars that had belonged to a slain drug dealer.

Path to Justice for a Dead Toddler Strewn With Legal Roadblocks

Tom Jackman — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST

The case of 21-month-old Myles Simon, who was killed in a Fairfax County day-care provider's home two years ago, has spiraled into a web of accusations of bribery, lies and drug use.

Supreme Court Takes Up Case of Use of Profanity on TV

Jerry Markon — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST

It's not every day that a top lawyer for the Bush administration, standing before the black-robed justices of the Supreme Court, invokes the specter of "Big Bird dropping the F-bomb on Sesame Street."

Opinion Focus

washingtonpost.com — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 13:00:00 EST

Washington Post opinion columnist Eugene Robinson was online Tuesday, Nov. 4 at 1 p.m. ET to discuss his recent columns and the latest news.

You Can't Say That on Television

Post — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST

U2'S BONO and the F-word will play starring roles this morning in a most unlikely venue: the U.S. Supreme Court.

Hockey Mom Scores (Even More) for 'SNL'

Lisa de Moraes — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST

Sarah Palin -- even hotter than we thought.

High Court Case Looms Large for Drugmakers

Jerry Markon — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST

Diana Levine went to a medical clinic with a severe migraine headache. She wound up with gangrene and an amputated forearm, the victim of a rare side effect from a popular anti-nausea drug.

Accountability on Trial

Post — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EST

DIANA LEVINE walked into a Vermont clinic in 2000 seeking relief from a migraine headache and nausea. A few weeks later, her right hand and forearm had to be amputated because a physician's assistant wrongly injected the anti-nausea drug Phenergan into an artery, rather than a vein.

Pass the Cookies and the Ballots

Eugene Scheel — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Forty years ago, I voted in my first presidential election in Waterford. On the lawn of an old brick house was a small stick sign that read "Polling Place." There were no signs touting candidates; no one handed out sample ballots.

Parties Assign Lawyers to Watch Polls, Turnout

Christian Davenport and Josh White — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Thousands of lawyers from both political parties are expected to descend on polling places in Virginia and other battleground states Tuesday in what party officials say will be one of the most intense and comprehensive efforts to guard against Election Day malfeasance and get supporters to the polls.

Mother Sent to St. Elizabeths To Determine Fitness for Trial

Keith L. Alexander — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EDT

A Southeast Washington woman accused of killing her four daughters was ordered transferred from the D.C. jail to St. Elizabeths Hospital yesterday for a psychiatric evaluation to determine whether she is mentally fit for trial.

Auditor, Canal Advocate Kenneth Rollins Sr.

Post — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Kenneth Stewart Rollins Sr., 88, a retired auditor with the General Accounting Office who was an advocate for the C&O Canal, died Oct. 13 of heart disease at the Kensington Park retirement community.

20-Day Term for Attack on Teen Who Lost Teeth

Tom Jackman — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EDT

The first of two Fairfax County teenagers accused of punching out the teeth of another teen last Christmas Eve was sentenced yesterday to 20 days in juvenile detention.

Courting Disaster With Obama? Hardly.

washingtonpost.com — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 08:41:02 EDT

The prospect of a Barack Obama presidency seems to be driving the conservative legal establishment around the bend.???Nothing less than the very idea of liberty and the rule of law are at stake in this election,??? Northwestern University law professor and Federalist Society co-founder Steven Calabresi wrote in the Wall Street Journal this week.The constitutional horrors of an Obama presidency, Calabresi said, could include ???a federal constitutional right to welfare; a federal constitutional mandate of affirmative action wherever there are racial disparities, without regard to proof of discriminatory intent; a right for government-financed abortions through the third trimester of pregnancy; the abolition of capital punishment and the mass freeing of criminal defendants...???Writing in National Review Online, Ed Whelan of the Ethics and Public Policy Center was equally alarmist. ???Simply put, the survival of the historic American experiment in representative government will be in serious jeopardy if Barack Obama is our next president,??? he warned.Wow, and I thought he was just a socialist.The role of the courts and the impact of the next president is one of the most under-covered stories of the campaign. But it???s easy to exaggerate the impact of the next president, even if you aren???t imagining the ghost of Earl Warren lurking under your bed. As Terry Eastland, who has managed not to succumb to the fevered worries of his fellow conservatives, noted recently in the Weekly Standard, a Democratic president would probably simply be doing ???maintenance work??? on the Supreme Court, at least in his first term, replacing one liberal justice with another. ???Obama couldn't create a liberal majority unless at least one conservative, or man-in-the-middle [Anthony M.] Kennedy, were to step down, and that looks doubtful, at least in the next four years.???At the same time, I think Eastland understates the effect of a John McCain presidency when he says that, given a Democratic-controlled Senate, ???actually replacing liberals with conservatives would be far more easily said than done.??? A robust Democratic majority would curtail a President McCain, but that does not mean that McCain appointees would be the same as those of President Obama. A McCain appointee to replace, say, Justice John Paul Stevens, 88, would almost certainly shift the court to the right.So how much do conservatives have to worry about the court in an Obama presidency?Certainly, many liberal legal activists believe that President Bill Clinton squandered his chance to reshape the federal courts and would press Obama to be more ideological. Obama chose not to join the Gang of 14 a few years ago to forestall Senate filibusters. He voted against both of President Bush???s nominees, John Roberts and Samuel Alito --although The Post reported that he had to be talked out of voting for Roberts.Exhibit A in the conservative indictment of Obama is his statement to Planned Parenthood in July 2007 that ???we need somebody who's got the heart, the empathy, to recognize what it's like to be a young teenage mom. The empathy to understand what it's like to be poor, or African-American, or gay, or disabled, or old. And that's the criteria by which I'm going to be selecting my judges."This stance, Calabresi said, is tantamount to requiring ???the appointment of judges committed in advance to violating??? the oath they take to dispense justice impartially. But as University of Wisconsin law professor Ann Althouse, no wild-eyed liberal, pointed out, Obama ???is not saying that judges should distort the meaning of law so that people they empathize with can win cases. He's saying judges need to understand the realities of the world, most significantly, what life is like for people.???Exhibit B is a 2001 radio interview in which Obama made the entirely unremarkable observation that the Warren Court "never ventured into the issues of redistribution of wealth and sort of more basic issues of political and economic justice in this society." This is supposed to be evidence of Obama???s secret radicalism. ???Is his provision of a 'tax cut' to millions of Americans who currently pay no taxes,??? Calabresi asked, ???merely a foreshadowing of constitutional rights to welfare, health care, Social Security, vacation time and the redistribution of wealth????What???s so wonderful about this attack is how delicately Obama???s critics choose to pick the cherries. Obama said he agreed, as the Supreme Court ruled this year, that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to bear arms. He disagreed with its ruling invalidating the death penalty for child rape.Obama???s discussion of the constitution in his book ???The Audacity of Hope??? is distinctly nuanced, expressing qualms about liberal overemphasis on courts. ???I wondered if, in our reliance on the courts to vindicate not only our rights but also our values, progressives had lost too much faith in democracy,??? he wrote.In an interview with the Detroit Free Press this month, Obama described the court as an ???institutionally conservative??? organization reluctant to get out ahead of public opinion. The Warren Court did, appropriately so, Obama said, ???because the political process didn???t give an avenue for minorities and African Americans to exercise their political power to solve their problems. So the court had to step in and break that logjam.??? However, he said, ???I would be troubled if you had that same kind of activism in circumstances today.???I don???t doubt that Obama judicial nominees would not be to conservatives??? liking. Fair enough. I haven???t liked President Bush???s, and I doubt I???d like President McCain???s any better. That???s what elections are about, and it???s why I wish there had been more campaign discussion about the role of the court.But the suggestion that electing Obama threatens the rule of law, representative democracy and liberty itself is so unhinged it is hard to take seriously, except as a measure of how worried some people are about their party losing its grip on power.

Gore to Campaign for Obama in Florida

washingtonpost.com — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 14:40:59 EDT

Tipper and Al Gore at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, Norway, in Dec. 2007. (Sandy Young) By Peter Slevin SARASOTA, Fla. -- Al Gore, who lost his 2000 race for the White House when he fell 537 votes short in Florida, will headline a pair of rallies for Barack Obama on Friday in the land of the butterfly ballot and the hanging chad. Gore will campaign in vote-rich Broward and Palm Beach counties, the site of some of the most extraordinary scenes of the post-election battle for Florida and the presidency -- a battle ended by the U.S. Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision with 1.6 million votes never recounted. "Nobody knows better that every single vote counties -- especially in Florida -- than Vice President Al Gore," Obama state director Steve Schale said in a written statement. Gore will be urging people to vote early "so no

In Ohio, Wary Eyes On Election Process

Mary Pat Flaherty — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT

CLEVELAND -- With Ohio still up for grabs in next week's presidential election, the conversation here has expanded from who will carry the state to how -- the nitty-gritty of registration lists, voting machines, court challenges and whether it all will play out fairly.

Norton's Campaign Adage: 'Run Scared'

Hamil R. Harris — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT

D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton is still running scared.

Prosecutors Drop 1988 Case Against Condemned Man

Tom Jackman — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Faced with prosecuting a man who already has three death sentences, Arlington County prosecutors yesterday dismissed a capital murder indictment against Alfredo R. Prieto, although they reserved the right to re-charge him if he successfully appeals his convictions.

Race for Senate Seat Threatens to Be a Walk

Tim Craig — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT

After hosting some of the nation's most fiercely contested U.S. Senate races over the past two decades, Virginia has what has turned out to be a decidedly one-sided affair this year between Democrat Mark R. Warner and Republican James S. "Jim" Gilmore III.