Judiciary

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Supreme court

Maine senators playing major role in Sotomayor confirmation
Next month, Congress will begin confirmation hearings to decide the fate of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, the 55-year-old Bronx native whom President Barack Obama nominated last month to fill retiring Justice David Souter's spot on the nine-member bench.
By DEIRDRE FULTON | June 17, 2009

Bozzio appeals jail sentence, goes on tour

Reappearing Person
The bizarre animal-cruelty case of Missing Persons frontwoman Dale Bozzio is far from over.
By ASHLEY RIGAZIO | June 17, 2009

Federal judge: more rights for the unborn

Fetal Obligations
A federal judge in Bangor, Maine, has recognized a new right of fetuses that could become a key element in the nation's ongoing abortion debate.
By JEFF INGLIS | June 11, 2009

Robojudge

Stephen Breyer may be the right man at the wrong time
Judge Stephen Breyer, Bill Clinton's latest pick for the Supreme Court, has attracted support so broad that it spans ideological and political differences.
By HARVEY SILVERGLATE | June 11, 2009

Gay deceivers

Outrage isn't outrageous enough
The California State Supreme Court just upheld Proposition 8, denying gay people the right to marriage. This should disabuse the complacent of the illusion that the religious right has relinquished its death grip on America. So, too, should Kirby Dick's documentary about the homophobic power of closeted right-wing politicians in America.
By PETER KEOUGH | June 04, 2009

Sotomayor's mixed message on free speech

Freedom Watch
Minutes after President Barack Obama announced that he was nominating appellate judge Sonia Sotomayor for the vacant seat on the Supreme Court, battle lines were drawn on the pre-scripted questions of "post-racial" America.
By HARVEY SILVERGLATE | June 03, 2009

Judging the judge

Facing the facts of the Sotomayor nomination
Women may not yet have full equality, but Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the US Supreme Court proves we can compete with the big guys now. It also means that women accepting patronage (and every political appointment is patronage) have an equal shot at getting pounded in the process.
By Mary Ann Sorrentino | June 03, 2009

Battle over open space in North Providence

Real estate
Will the last large piece of open space in North Providence turn into the site of 47 single family homes? That decision currently rests with the Rhode Island General Assembly and the Rhode Island Supreme Court. The outcome could jeopardize open space preservation statewide.
By STEVEN STYCOS | May 27, 2009

On Sotomayor

A noble pick that highlights a political flash point. Plus, California's shame.
There is a pleasing symmetry to President Obama's nomination of federal appeals court judge Sonia Sotomayor to the United States Supreme Court.
By EDITORIAL | May 27, 2009

Regarding President Obama's Supreme Court pick

Idiot Box
Women in the court
By MATT BORS | May 13, 2009

ACLU and Irons: Strange political bedfellows

LegalWatch
Politics has seldom made stranger bedfellows than those exposed when the RI ACLU hopped into the sack with former state senator William Irons.
By MARY ANN SORRENTINO | May 06, 2009

Equal rites?

Why has Rhode Island lagged behind the rest of New England on same-sex marriage legislation?
New England has made a pretty good case, in recent years, for America's capital of queer.
By DAVID SCHARFENBERG | April 08, 2009

A great little performer

Obama administration stubs its toe with the tax-challenged
If this doesn't convince you that no one with lotsa bucks plays by the rules, and that insider trading is rife on Wall Street, along with obscene bonuses collected by what are essentially crooks, with no morals, at most big lending institutions, how would you like to buy that bridge to Brooklyn at the lower end of Manhattan?
By PHILLIPPE AND JORGE | February 04, 2009

Providence lawyer plays pioneering role in suing terrorists

National Security
The use of Predator drones and covert Special Forces teams is bound to be satisfying for many victims of terrorism.
By BILL RODRIGUEZ | January 21, 2009

The Impeachinator

Watchdog Fein
From Caligula to Bush...er Obama: Bruce Fein watches them all.
By HARVEY SILVERGLATE | November 24, 2008

Dictator McCain?

Don’t laugh: if the Arizona ‘maverick’ is elected, he’ll complete the job Bush started
The only thing standing in the way of Republican John McCain assuming the powers and prerogatives of a dictator should he be elected president is the vote of a single Supreme Court justice.
By EDITORIAL | October 27, 2008

A step forward

Why the Connecticut Supreme Court got it right. Plus, ominous noises from the right wing.
The nation’s understandable preoccupation with the unfolding economic crisis has overshadowed a significant victory in the battle for same-sex marriage: the Connecticut Supreme Court, on October 10, ruled that gay and lesbian couples have a constitutional right to marry.
By EDITORIAL | October 22, 2008

Since Harvard came out

Freedom watch
It was a typical Harvard alumni event, but not a typical, self-congratulatory Crimson “glory days” fest.
By HARVEY SILVERGLATE | October 02, 2008

No rules

Politics and other mistakes
The state of Maine doesn’t give away money. Except for the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Economic Development, and the state treasurer.
By AL DIAMON | September 25, 2008

Palin: The plain truth

Don’t be fooled by the Tina Fey styling, McCain’s vice-presidential pick is a menace
In selecting Alaska governor Sarah Palin as his vice-presidential candidate, Republican nominee John McCain pulled a Clarence Thomas.
By EDITORIAL | September 03, 2008

Lynch sides with Bush in opposing shield law

Talking Politics
As he gears up for a gubernatorial run in 2010, Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch has assembled an eclectic and sometimes contrary portfolio of issue-related stances.
By IAN DONNIS | July 09, 2008

Crackpot court

Taking a shot at the Supreme Court’s recent gunplay
This past week’s Supreme Court ruling, invalidating Washington, DC’s handgun ban, demonstrates just how far afield “movement conservatism” has taken our country.
By EDITORIAL | July 02, 2008

Naked in the public square

Freedom Watch
In the finest Puritan tradition, Middlesex District Attorney Gerald Leone is crusading to save Harvard Square from the shock and awe of the nude human form.
By HARVEY SILVERGLATE AND JAMES TIERNEY | June 25, 2008

The 11th Annual Muzzle Awards

Silencing free speech
Freedom of expression may be guaranteed by the Constitution. But it’s an idea we have to fight for every day.
By DAN KENNEDY | July 05, 2008

Habeas-corpus rights restored to enemy combatants

One of our most important civil-liberty victories to date
This past week, the Supreme Court rejected the Bush administration’s astonishing claim that it had the power to detain suspected “enemy combatants” at Guantánamo Bay — potentially for life — without fair proceedings or meaningful access to the federal courts.
By HARVEY SILVERGLATE | June 18, 2008

Straight talk

It’s time to cover John M c Cain again — and here are ten good places for the media to start.
It’s been a very quiet spring for John McCain.
By ADAM REILLY | May 14, 2008

Courting disaster

Why McCain’s right-wing judicial pledge would further compromise America’s future
With the price of food and gasoline running at punishing levels, it is no surprise that the economy has replaced the disastrous war in Iraq as the issue with which voters are most concerned.
By EDITORIAL | May 07, 2008

Judge orders injections for Maine prisoner

Maryland exile
A Maryland court has ordered Maine prisoner Deane Brown to be forcibly injected with insulin, if necessary.
By LANCE TAPLEY | April 23, 2008

State sued over inmate’s death

Silencing alarms
As severely mentally ill Maine State Prison inmate Ryan Rideout prepared to hang himself from a sprinkler in his cell on the night of October 5, 2006, other inmates frantically pressed panic buttons in their cells.
By LANCE TAPLEY | March 05, 2008

The Station’s long shadow

Five years on, getting by remains a day-to-day challenge for some of those touched by the fire
For most Rhode Islanders, the Station nightclub conflagration — the worst disaster in the state since the hurricane of 1938 — is like a receding object in a rearview mirror.
By IAN DONNIS | February 20, 2008

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