AltWeeklies Wire
Taking a Shot at the Supreme Courtnew
This past week's Supreme Court ruling, invalidating Washington, DC's handgun ban, demonstrates just how far afield "movement conservatism" has taken our country.
Boston Phoenix |
Editorial |
07-03-2008 |
Civil Liberties
The Constitution, à la Carte
Liberals like the First Amendment. Conservatives prefer the Second. Can't we all agree on what America is about?
Maui Time |
Ted Rall |
06-30-2008 |
Commentary
Paul House is Being Retried for a Murder that DNA Says He Didn't Commitnew
Rather than acknowledge defeat -- never mind admitting error -- the very same prosecutor who tried House for capital murder 23 years ago announced he was going to take one more shot at convicting the ailing man for murder. But this time, he'd have to come up with a different motive, given that the theory he argued the first time -- that House killed to cover up rape -- had been shredded by the emergence of scientific evidence.
Nashville Scene |
Sarah Kelley |
06-27-2008 |
Crime & Justice
The 2008 Phoenix Muzzle Awardsnew
Freedom of expression may be guaranteed by the Constitution, but it's an idea we have to fight for every day. We round up the past year's most conspicuous enemies.
Boston Phoenix |
Dan Kennedy |
06-26-2008 |
Civil Liberties
Americans Aren't the Only People Who are Due Due Processnew
I really hadn't planned on writing about this decision. It seems so utterly obvious why Guantanamo Bay detainees deserve due process; I just figured it would be argued, re-argued and over-argued a million times in the opinionsphere before I could ever publish a single word about it. Instead, I watched and listened as the right-wing blubbermongers blubbered on about how the court's decision puts the rights of foreign terrorists above the safety of Americans.
San Diego CityBeat |
Edwin Decker |
06-26-2008 |
Commentary
The Supreme Court is One Justice Away from Tyrannynew
You can look at the court's decision on Guantanamo this way: We are only one Supreme Court justice away from real tyranny. Sen. John McCain says as president he would appoint justices exactly like Bush's two. Based on his past opposition to torture and Guantanamo, he's probably lying about that, although he joined Bush in denouncing the habeas decision. It is nevertheless a risk worth avoiding.
Arkansas Times |
Ernest Dumas |
06-19-2008 |
Commentary
Lethal Rejection: Karl Chamberlain's Execution is Overnew
On Feb. 21, Karl Chamberlain received a rare greeting card from his half-sister, Liberty Chamberlain: "Happy Death Day," it read. "Glad you're still with us." Chamberlain, the first to receive an execution date once Texas reopened the execution chamber after a Supreme Court ruling, was executed by lethal injection on June 11.
Santa Fe Reporter |
Dave Maass |
06-19-2008 |
Crime & Justice
Score: Constitution 5, Gulags 4new
The supreme court's recent decision not only restored habeas-corpus rights to enemy combatants, but gave all of us one our most important civil-liberty victories to date.
Boston Phoenix |
Harvey Silverglate |
06-19-2008 |
Civil Liberties
America: The 'Oops' Nation
Prisoners at Guantánamo and possibly other American gulags, will now be allowed to demand their day in court. Since the government doesn't have evidence against them, legal experts say, most if not all of "the worst of the worst" will ultimately walk free. "Liberty and security can be reconciled," Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote for the majority.
In short: Oops.
Maui Time |
Ted Rall |
06-16-2008 |
Commentary
The U.S. Supreme Court Gives New Life to the Texas GOP's Effort to Pass Voter ID Billnew
Both sides of the debate have reason to tread carefully in the upcoming legislative battles. Although the Court gave Indiana -- and any state wishing to follow its lead -- the go-ahead to enact stringent voter identification laws, the Court left open the possibility of legal challenges to such measures once their actual effect on the voting public can be assessed.
The Texas Observer |
Anthony Zurcher |
05-21-2008 |
Politics
McCain Promises to Appoint Ultraconservative Supreme Court Justicesnew
"Elections have consequences," McCain said last week. "One of the consequences is the president of the United States gets to name his or her nominees to the bench." That statement sent a shiver down the spines of many voters, not only because Bush has tipped the U.S. Supreme Court decidedly to the right, but because Justice John Paul Stevens just turned 88 years old.
Shepherd Express |
Lisa Kaiser |
05-16-2008 |
Politics
D.C.'s Repealed Firearms Ban Presents a Chance for Some to Cash Innew
Firearms dealers, instructors set their sights on D.C.
Washington City Paper |
Ruth Samuelson |
05-09-2008 |
Crime & Justice
McCain's Judicial Pledge Would Further Compromise America's Futurenew
John McCain's recent pledge to extend the legacy of President George W. Bush by continuing to appoint radical, right-wing judges should come as no surprise to even casual political observers, particularly as he continues to pander to the hard-core conservatives of his party whose contributions and votes he must garner to have any chance of winning in November.
Boston Phoenix |
Editorial |
05-07-2008 |
Commentary
Indiana's Voter ID Law Creates Hasslenew
For many in Indianapolis, obtaining the right identification will be very difficult. Those who have never had a driver's license and don't have their original birth certificate still won't be able to get an ID to vote. And the catch-22 is that to get a birth certificate or a driver's license or a passport, you have to have valid ID -- the very thing you're trying to obtain.
A Former Death-House Chaplain Talks About Capital Punishmentnew
From 1982-95, Reverend Carroll Pickett presided over the executions of 95 inmates. After his retirement, Pickett became an anti-death-penalty advocate and began working with the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. At the Death House Door, the documentary following his emotional career, premiered at the SXSW film festival in March.
San Antonio Current |
Kiko Martinez |
04-30-2008 |
Crime & Justice
