If at First You Don’t Convict, Try, Try Again

Staff / Truthdig May 17, 2007 A federal appeals court is looking into the legitimacy of "do-overs" for detainee tribunals at Guantanamo Bay. Critics say the practice is unfair because it effectively allows the government to retry cases until it gets the results it wants, but there may not be much the high court can do under current legislation. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Judge Rules for Web Freedom

Staff / Truthdig Mar 23, 2007 Yet another court has ruled against the 1994 Child Online Protection Act, a major victory for civil rights advocates. The law has been a mess from the start. With the stated goal of protecting kids from pornography, it would punish offending websites with $50,000 fines and jail time for exposing children to "harmful" material, whether intentionally or not. Innocent sites like Salon and BoingBoing could've been targeted under the legislation. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Padilla Trial to Go Forward

Staff / Truthdig Mar 1, 2007 Jose Padilla has been ruled competent to stand trial, a rebuke to his lawyers. The defense had sought to have him treated for PTSD before the trial began. Padilla has been held in isolation for three and a half years, during which time he was subjected to varying kinds of interrogation and, very likely, torture. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Journalists and Civilians Now Vulnerable to Military Justice

Staff / Truthdig Jan 16, 2007 A provision slipped into a spending bill by the last Congress and approved by the president makes civilian contractors in Iraq subject to military court-martial. But legal scholars believe the rule could also be extended to include civilian government employees and even embedded journalists. (h/t: Largest Minority) Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

New Jersey Backs Same-Sex Unions

Staff / Truthdig Oct 26, 2006 Hurrah for the Garden State, whose state Supreme Court ruled today that same-sex couples are entitled to "the same rights and benefits enjoyed by opposite-sex couples under the civil marriage statutes." Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Officer Recommends Death Penalty for Accused Soldiers

Staff / Truthdig Sep 4, 2006 An Army officer has recommended the execution of four soldiers, should they be found guilty of murder. The soldiers are accused of improperly shooting three Iraqi detainees during a raid. No U.S. soldier has been executed since 1961. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Want to Fly? Your Papers, Please

Staff / Truthdig Aug 10, 2006 Did you know that airline officials can't force you to show your ID before a flight? Every sign you see at U.S. airports that says otherwise is false. Also, the regulations governing this area are being kept secret from the public. Read about the man petitioning the Supreme Court to shed light on the situation. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Officer Faces Court-Martial for Refusing to Deploy to Iraq

Staff / Truthdig Jul 23, 2006 First Lt Ehren K Watada is one of only a handful of officers who have taken such a stand, and is apparently the first to face a court-martial for doing so He wrote: "I am wholeheartedly opposed to the continued war in Iraq, the deception used to wage this war, and the lawlessness that has pervaded every aspect of our civilian leadership" . Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

N.Y. Court: Gays Too Good as Parents to Marry

Staff / Truthdig Jul 14, 2006 The New York Court of Appeals stated last week that it upheld a gay marriage ban because gay couples make more stable parental units than heterosexual couples--and thus the latter need the benefits of marriage to assist them. The reasoning behind this is wild, but it's also insidious. Check it out. Update: Nebraska just reinstated its gay marriage ban. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Err … About that Specter-Bush Eavesdropping Deal…

Staff / Truthdig Jul 14, 2006 Looks like we were a little too hasty on this one. We had blogged that Sen. Arlen Specter had introduced a bill that would require Bush to get court approval for his NSA wiretapping programs. Turns out that's not the case. Specter's bill would merely give Bush the option of bringing his program before a court -- which Bush should have done in the first place. Think Progress and AMERICAblog have the details. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Bush, Infallible to His Sycophants

Staff / Truthdig Jul 12, 2006 Testifying before Congress yesterday, the Justice Department's top lawyer had a succinct answer to a question posed by a senator about whether Bush was wrong or right in his interpretation of the Supreme Court's Hamdan case: "The President is always right." Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Bush Is Flouting Court After Gitmo Ruling

Staff / Truthdig Jul 10, 2006 Constitutional expert and best-selling author Glenn Greenwald reminds us that the Supreme Court's Hamdan decision not only outlawed Bush's military tribunals, but also removed any conceivable argument to support Bush's illegal wiretapping programs. Greenwald: "Journalists should begin asking the Justice Department every day what their legal justification for warrantless eavesdropping is now that Hamdan has rendered frivolous their prior legal arguments in defense of the President." Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )