All Law & Courts
Haley Barbour's mass pardons under scrutiny at Mississippi Supreme CourtThe Mississippi Supreme Court is expected to rule quickly on whether 193 of the 200+ pardons by outgoing Gov. Haley Barbour are constitutional. A key issue is whether the public was properly notified.
Will $26 billion settlement from big banks repair US housing market?In the short term, the deal between 49 states and five big banks may actually boost foreclosures, some say. In the longer term, it should clear the inventory of homes that depresses prices and help the middle class.
In voter ID case, South Carolina fights back against Obama administrationThe Justice Department has blocked a South Carolina law requiring all voters to have government-issued photo IDs, saying it would be discriminatory. The state asked a three-judge panel to intervene Wednesday, saying that the Obama administration is out of line.
Prop. 8 ruling: why it might not go to the Supreme CourtA federal court overturned Prop. 8 Tuesday, apparently setting the stage for the case to move to the Supreme Court. But the judge's ruling has made some legal analysts think twice about what might happen next.
- Home-grown terror threat receding, but post-9/11 America remains on edge
The number of domestic terror cases fell to 20 in 2011, down from 26 in 2010 and 49 in 2009, according to a study released Wednesday. Yet for much of the public, anxieties remain high.
Prop. 8 struck down: Will California's gay couples flock to the altar?Prop. 8, California's gay marriage ban, took a hit Tuesday, but the legal battle might not be over yet. Until it is, California couples will likely be barred from marrying.
Why momentous Prop. 8 ruling might not satisfy gay-rights groupsA federal court overturned Prop. 8, California's ban on gay marriage, but the ruling did not affirm a federal constitutional right to same-sex marriage, as gay-rights groups had hoped.
Judges bar viewing of gay marriage trial videos: what they’re protectingA federal appeals court rejected the release of video recordings of a landmark gay marriage trial, saying the trial judge's order to keep them under wraps must be honored to preserve judicial integrity.
Drive-by jihadi pleads guilty to shooting at PentagonThe Virginia resident, who videotaped one of his drive-by attacks on the Pentagon, fired at other buildings and planned to desecrate graves of Iraq and Afghanistan war dead at Arlington National Cemetery.
- Baltimore man tricked by FBI pleads guilty to trying to bomb recruiting site
Antonio Martinez, who attempted to detonate a car bomb at a Maryland recruiting station as an act of holy war against the United States, did not know the bomb was inert.
The bumbling jihadi? Alleged terror backer guessed FBI was listening.An Uzbekistan man living in Denver has been charged with supporting an overseas terror group. At one point, court documents show, he openly cursed the FBI agents he assumed were listening to his phone call with an apparent terrorist contact.
US charges 'Reluctant Spy' author with leaking secrets to journalistsFormer CIA officer John Kiriakou, author of 'The Reluctant Spy: My Secret Life in the CIA’s War on Terror,' faces up to 30 years in prison for allegedly disclosing classified information to reporters.
Unanimous Supreme Court: Get a warrant before installing GPS tracking deviceThe ruling upholds a broad right to be free from unreasonable searches. But it also highlights a struggle within the Supreme Court to balance law enforcement objectives with privacy concerns.
- Supreme Court tells Texas judges to do a better job on election maps
Saying federal judges in Texas exceeded their authority in rejecting election districts drawn by the Republican-controlled Legislature, the Supreme Court instructed the judges to find remedies closer to the state's maps.
USS Cole bombing: Judge allows prosecution to use 'sanitized' evidenceA ruling Wednesday puts Abdal Rahim Al-Nashiri at a significant disadvantage because prosecutors will be able to rely on declassified summaries of classified evidence.
USS Cole bombing: Judge denies lawyers' bid to meet with unchained clientLawyers for the alleged USS Cole bombing mastermind say the security restrictions at the Guantanamo Bay terror detention camp are hindering their ability to prepare his defense.
- Does First Amendment protect students' online speech off-campus?
The Supreme Court declined to take up Tuesday three potentially important test cases of the First Amendment of students engaged in controversial speech on the Internet.
As debate roars over Haley Barbour pardons, five released convicts vanishMississippi's attorney general says he may call for a national manhunt to find five pardoned prisoners, including four convicted killers, who were released by outgoing Gov. Haley Barbour.
Bradley Manning: How alleged intelligence leaker will defend himselfThe defense strategy for Bradley Manning is that the classified information he allegedly gave to WikiLeaks wasn't harmful to US interests. Another defense focus: failings up the military chain of command.
- Smugglers' air force? Drug war sees rise in use of ultralight planes.
Ultralight planes have become an increasingly popular vehicle for smugglers in the US-Mexico border drug war. The aircraft are hard to spot and can haul hundreds of pounds of illicit cargo.
