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Chicago torture victims face uphill legal battle
Court Watch |
2008/10/27 19:42
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| Melvin Jones says he screamed and begged for mercy as Chicago police touched metal clips to his feet and thighs, churned a hand-cranked device and sent shock waves of electricity through his body more than 25 years ago.pHe says he was told the torture would stop when he confessed to murder./ppJones is among the dozens of alleged torture victims who have little hope of winning compensation, despite the arrest this week of a former police commander who officials say lied about the abuse./ppSome have already completed prison terms for crimes they claim they confessed to only after police beat or electrocuted them. More than 20 remain in prison./ppBut the indictment of former police Lt. Jon Burge — while a moral victory — is unlikely to spring anyone from prison soon or prompt any quick settlement of claims for damages, lawyers for alleged torture victims say./ppThe state attorney general's office hasn't agreed to new trials for those claiming coerced confessions and the city opposes paying damages to alleged victims, they say./p |
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Senate Democrats subpoena Mukasey over detainees
Opinions |
2008/10/21 19:44
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| Senate Democrats on Tuesday subpoenaed Attorney General Michael Mukasey for testimony and documents about the Justice Department's legal advice to the White House on detention and interrogation policies since the 9/11 terrorist attacks.pSenate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., complained to Mukasey that after five years of efforts to glean the information, the committee still has seen only a fraction of the documents it is seeking./ppThere is no legitimate argument for withholding the requested materials from this committee, Leahy wrote in a letter to Mukasey that accompanied the subpoena./ppThe Justice Department blasted the subpoena as a partisan move./ppWe have worked in good faith over the past several months to see that the Judiciary Committee's legitimate oversight requests were being met in a manner consistent with the Justice Department's equally legitimate and long-standing need to provide confidential legal advice within the executive branch, department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said. We will now assess our next steps./p |
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Iraqi Cabinet authorizes reopening of US talks
Politics |
2008/10/20 19:45
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| The Iraqi Cabinet on Tuesday authorized Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to reopen talks with the United States on a security pact that would allow U.S. troops to stay in Iraq for three more years after their U.N. mandate expires on Dec. 31.pWith a week to go before the American presidential elections, the Iraqi decision could delay the key agreement that provides the legal basis for the U.S. to operate in Iraq past the end of the year./ppIraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said members of the Cabinet proposed unspecified essential amendments and gave them to al-Maliki to offer to American negotiators./ppParliament must approve the agreement and al-Maliki is reluctant to submit the draft unless he is confident it will pass by an overwhelming majority./ppWhite House press secretary Dana Perino said the Bush administration hasn't seen the Iraqis amendments yet, so it's not possible to say at this point whether U.S. officials would be willing to re-open talks. But officials have said previously that the agreement represented Washington's last offer, and that its success now rests with the complex Iraqi political system — a signal that the White House would likely be unwilling to engage in additional negotiations./p |
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Ohio top court mulls Planned Parenthood files
Court Watch |
2008/10/08 07:19
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| Ohio Supreme Court justices appeared skeptical Tuesday that an abortion clinic's medical records on other patients are relevant to a lawsuit brought by parents of a 14-year-old girl who had an abortion without their consent.pLawyers for the girl's family argued that the information they seek is necessary to prove that Planned Parenthood of Cincinnati had a pattern of violating Ohio's parental consent law and failing to report abuse. The unusual case pits a single plaintiff against the privacy interests of a decade's worth of patients./ppPlanned Parenthood attorney Daniel Buckley says the clinic has a legal obligation to protect the privacy of its clients' records./ppCharles Miller, an attorney for the parents, told the justices the plaintiffs seek only three facts about other minors treated at the clinic: the girl's age, whether she had a sexually transmitted disease, and whether she entered the clinic pregnant. He said about 200 cases a year would be involved./ppChief Justice Thomas Moyer questioned how any of those three details would advance the family's case for damages./ppWhere's the linkage? he asked./ppThe court did not indicate when it would rule./ppThe case involves a girl who was 14 at the time of her abortion in 2004, when the state's parental consent law had not been completely settled by the courts. She had been impregnated by her 21-year-old youth soccer coach, John Haller./ppThe family's lawsuit accuses the Planned Parenthood clinic of failing to get parental consent, report suspected abuse or to inform the girl of risks and alternatives. It seeks unspecified damages./ppCourt records say the girl gave Haller's cell phone number as her father's, and clinic officials thought they had reached the father when they called inquiring about parental consent. Haller was later convicted on seven counts of sexual battery./ppAn appeals court ruled last year that records on other patients weren't necessary for the family's lawsuit./p |
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High court could block 'light' cigarettes lawsuit
Court Watch |
2008/10/07 07:12
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| div class=articleThe Supreme Court picked up Monday where it left off last term, signaling support for efforts to block lawsuits against tobacco companies over deceptive marketing of light cigarettes. pThe first day of the court's new term, which is set in law as the first Monday in October, included denials of hundreds of appeals. Chief Justice John Roberts opened the new session in a crowded courtroom that included retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor./ppLast term, the justices handed down several opinions that limited state regulation of business in favor of federal power. Several justices posed skeptical questions in this term's first case, whether federal law prevents smokers from using consumer protection laws to go after tobacco companies for their marketing of light and low tar cigarettes./ppThe companies are facing dozens of such lawsuits across the country./ppThe federal cigarette labeling law bars states from regulating any aspect of cigarette advertising that involves smoking and health./ppHow do you tell it's deceptive or not if you don't look at what the relationship is between smoking and health?, Chief Justice John Roberts said during oral arguments on the case./ppThree Maine residents sued Altria Group Inc. and its Philip Morris USA Inc. subsidiary under the state's law against unfair marketing practices. The class-action claim represents all smokers of Marlboro Lights or Cambridge Lights cigarettes, both made by Philip Morris./ppThe lawsuit argues that the company knew for decades that smokers of light cigarettes compensate for the lower levels of tar and nicotine by taking longer puffs and compensating in other ways./ppA federal district court threw out the lawsuit, but the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said it could go forward./ppThe role of the Federal Trade Commission could be important in the outcome. The FTC is only now proposing to change rules that for years condoned the use of light and low tar in advertising the cigarettes, despite evidence that smokers were getting a product as dangerous as regular cigarettes./p/div |
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Bailout bill gains momentum on House floor
Headline News |
2008/10/03 07:15
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After a week of tumult, an unprecedented government bailout of the financial industry gained ground in the House on Friday and leaders in both political parties expressed optimism the $700 billion measure would clear Congress by day's end for President Bush's signature.
With the economy showing fresh signs of weakness, the measure advanced past a key hurdle on a 223-205 vote. pAn Associated Press tally showed 16 lawmakers who sent an earlier bailout bill to unexpected defeat on Monday had changed their minds and would vote in favor of the revised legislation, more than the dozen needed. Officials said changes made to the measure had sparked a far smaller number of defections among previous supporters. pI'm optimistic about today. We're not going to take anything for granted but it's time to act, said House Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio. pI think it will pass, agreed Rep. Jim Clyburn, the chief Democratic vote-counter, as debate unfolded in the House chamber. pThe Senate passed the measure earlier in the week on a bipartisan vote of 74-25. pNo matter what we do or what we pass, there are still tough times out there. People are mad -- I'm mad, said Republican Rep. J. Gresham Barrett of South Carolina, who opposed the measure the first time it came to a vote. Now, he said, We have to act. We have to act now. pRep. John Lewis, D-Ga., another convert, said, I have decided that the cost of doing nothing is greater than the cost of doing something./p |
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