howappealing.law.com/030907.html#023153
an article that begins, "Texas Supreme Court Justice Nathan Hecht wants the state to pay $340,000 he spent in legal fees defending his right to speak out for his friend, US Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers."
Howard Bashman "The 2-1 decision of the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit in Parker v District of Columbia striking down the District of Columbia's handgun law is judicial activism at its worst."
a report that begins, "A US appeals court struck down a three-decade-old District of Columbia law that bans residents from keeping a handgun in their homes, saying the Constitution's Second Amendment protects an individual right to bear arms."
he phrase 'the right of the people,' when read intratextually and in light of Supreme Court precedent, leads us to conclude that the right in question is individual." The majority opinion sums up its holding on this point as follows: To summarize, we conclude that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms. That right existed prior to the formation of the new government under the Constitution and was premised on the private use of arms for activities such as hunting and self-defense, the latter being understood as resistance to either private lawlessness or the depredations of a tyrannical government (or a threat from abroad). In addition, the right to keep and bear arms had the important and salutary civic purpose of helping to preserve the citizen militia. The civic purpose was also a political expedient for the Federalists in the First Congress as it served, in part, to placate their Antifederalist opponents. The individual right facilitated militia service by ensuring that citizens would not be barred from keeping the arms they would need when called forth for militia duty. Despite the importance of the Second Amendment's civic purpose, however, the activities it protects are not limited to militia service, nor is an individual's enjoyment of the right contingent upon his or her continued or intermittent enrollment in the militia. The majority opinion also rejects the argument that the Second Amendment does not apply to the District of Columbia because it is not a State.
But her other main point is that the majority's assertion to the contrary constitutes nothing more than dicta because the Second Amendment's protections, whatever they entail, do not extend to the District of Columbia, because it is not a State. This is a fascinating and groundbreaking ruling that would appear to be a likely candidate for US Supreme Court review if not overturned first by the en banc DC Circuit.
an article that begins, "The Justice Departments inspector general has prepared a scathing report criticizing how the FBI uses a form of administrative subpoena to obtain thousands of telephone, business and financial records without prior judicial approval."
an article that begins, "The Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday quickly, quietly and unanimously approved the once-controversial nomination of Vanessa L Bryant as a federal district court judge. No new hearing was held, even though serious concerns about Bryant were raised at a hearing five months ago."
an article that begins, "Survivor's most infamous star and champion -- who has often basked in the limelight and who comfortably took the witness stand in his own defense -- was missing yesterday as his Texas attorney argued at the US Circuit of Appeals for his tax evasion conviction to be overturned. Richard Hatch had to remain at his federal prison in West Virginia rather than journey here to watch lawyer Michael Minns assert that Hatch was prevented from telling the whole story about why he didn't pay taxes on the $1 million he won on Survivor."
Debbie Riddle, R-Tomball, declared last week there's just a 'one in a million' chance that her bill expanding the death penalty to include repeat child sex offenders is unconstitutional."
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