International Protest Targets Guantanamo

Staff / Truthdig Jan 12, 2008 Activists around the world took to the streets Friday wearing orange jumpsuits in protest of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, which Amnesty International calls an "unlawful black hole." Eighty demonstrators were arrested in or near the Supreme Court building, where justices are reviewing the legality of the government's detention program. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Justice Is Blind, but Can She Vote?

Marie Cocco / Truthdig Jan 8, 2008 The most revealing indicator of the state of our democracy is not to be found in the snowdrifts of New Hampshire but in the marbled chamber of the U.S. Supreme Court. Soon enough, we will discover whether the court under Chief Justice John Roberts will become a partisan tool in the national Republican drive to place constraints on voting that are targeted at those who tend to support Democrats. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Supreme Court Rules Against Mandatory Minimums

Staff / Truthdig Dec 11, 2007 The Supreme Court decided on Monday that federal sentencing guidelines, a kind of back seat judging considered by many to be racist, should be treated as "advisory" and not at all mandatory. Justices Alito and Thomas, to no one's great surprise, were the only dissenters. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

America’s Gulag Goes Before the Court

Marie Cocco / Truthdig Nov 29, 2007 The Supreme Court will soon revisit the constitutionality of Guantanamo Bay, where hundreds of men languish without any real legal recourse. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Supreme Court to Rule on Gun Rights

Staff / Truthdig Nov 21, 2007 The Supreme Court will rule on the Second Amendment for the first time since 1939, when it examines whether a handgun ban in Washington, D.C., is constitutional. A decision is expected next summer, so expect to see a lot of tap dancing from the candidates, particularly those who've changed their minds about gun violence or suddenly discovered a love of hunting. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Musharraf Frees Thousands of Pakistani Prisoners

Staff / Truthdig Nov 20, 2007 Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf is showing signs that he's feeling the heat from the West, loosening his regime's steel-trap grip by lifting some of the most severe measures he enforced since imposing a state of emergency rule in his country. As of Tuesday morning, in fact, 3,416 people who were jailed during the initial crackdown had been released, according to a government spokesman. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Musharraf Declares State of Emergency in Pakistan

Staff / Truthdig Nov 4, 2007 If any further proof was needed that Pakistan represents a major global concern at present, President Pervez Musharraf just provided it by declaring a state of emergency and storming the Pakistani Supreme Court. Meanwhile, the U.S. is "deeply disturbed" by these developments. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Supreme Court Puts Executions on Hold

Staff / Truthdig Nov 1, 2007 The Supreme Court has placed a temporary moratorium on the death penalty while it considers the legality of lethal injection, which should take months. Justices Scalia and Alito dissented from the opinion, which spared prisoner Earl Wesley Berry only minutes before he was to be killed. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Court Voids 10-Year Sentence in Teen Sex Case

Staff / Truthdig Oct 27, 2007 In a 4-3 decision, Georgia's Supreme Court ordered the release of 21-year-old Genarlow Wilson, whose case drew national attention after he was sentenced to 10 years for engaging in oral sex with a consenting 15-year-old girl when he was a 17-year-old high school student. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Sweeping Our Inhumanity Under the Rug

Marie Cocco / Truthdig Oct 16, 2007 By simply deciding that something is a "state secret," the Bush government has avoided answering for its brutal treatment of innocent victims in the war on terror. This is a perversion of the principle of American justice. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Top Court Refuses to Hear Torture Case

Staff / Truthdig Oct 9, 2007 German citizen Khaled el-Masri's quest for justice, following his "extraordinary rendition," has come to an end. Masri claims he was kidnapped by CIA operatives in late 2003 and tortured for months in an Afghan prison, but his case was closed on Tuesday when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to consider his appeal. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Politicians Free to Lie In Washington State

Staff / Truthdig Oct 6, 2007 Get ready for the inevitable barrage of jokes on late-night television: The Washington state Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that a law holding politicians legally accountable for lying about their opponents is unconstitutional. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )