Legal Commentary

Take Your Seat, Sonia Sotomayor

Posted on September 08, 2009
The ceremony lasted only five minutes, but there was enough pomp and tradition to fill a day, as Sonia Sotomayor took her seat on the Supreme Court bench this afternoon for the first time. The courtroom was packed with some...

Justice Stevens Slows Hiring: Is Retirement Near?

Posted on September 02, 2009
Talk about ending the summer with a bang! The AP?s Mark Sherman confirms today that Justice Stevens has only hired one of his four law clerks for next year, which of course is setting off widespread speculation that the 89-year-old...

Kyl to Vote Against Sotomayor

Posted on July 22, 2009
Calling her Judiciary Committee testimony ?evasive, lacking in substance and, in several instances, incredibly misleading,? Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl said he will vote against Sonia Sotomayor?s nomination to the Supreme Court.

Liberals Lash Out Against Sotomayor Testimony

Posted on July 15, 2009
As Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearings get underway for a second day of questioning, it appears Republicans aren?t the only ones who think Sotomayor has been less than candid in her testimony.

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Sotomayor on the Hot Seat

Posted on July 14, 2009
Starting what's going to be a grueling day, Sotomayor faced some tough questions from Sen. Jeff Sessions, who wasn't buying her explanation of her "wise Latina" comments as inspirational or that her insistence that "no racial or gender group would have an advantage in judging...

The Fight Over Miguel Estrada Continues

Posted on July 13, 2009
Both Republicans and Democrats continue to fight over Miguel Estrada, at the confirmation hearing for Sonia Sotomayor.

Sotomayor Confirmation Hearing is Underway

Posted on July 13, 2009
Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearing is underway, and the Republicans are coming out swinging -- Sessions and Hatch hare raised questions about whether she will a fair and impartial justice, based on some of her comments and speeches.

LIVESTREAMING THE SOTOMAYOR HEARINGS

Posted on July 10, 2009
With Judge Sonia Sotomayor?s confirmation hearing starting Monday morning, ABCNews.com will be livestreaming the proceedings from the Senate Judiciary Committee, with a partnership with Facebook aiming to bring more people into the conversation. From the press release going out this...

Supreme Court Puts Chrysler?s Sale to Fiat on Hold

Posted on June 08, 2009
Justice Ginsburg?s ruling today, putting on hold the sale of Chrysler to Italian automaker Fiat, does not mean that the deal is off. While the ruling may put the sale in temporary turmoil, Ginsburg's action is really the safe, prudent...

White House Contacted Sotomayor Before Souter Announced His Retirement

Posted on June 04, 2009
The Senate Judiciary Committee has released a completed questionnaire submitted by Supreme Court nomine Sonia Sotomayor. There's a lot to sift through, but here's one interesting bit: She reveals the White House contacted her about the "possibility of a future Supreme Court vacancy" four days before Justice David Souter announced he would resign.

Becoming Nominee Sotomayor

Posted on May 26, 2009
From the moment David Souter announced his retirement, his seat on the Supreme Court was Sonia Sotomayor's to lose. President Obama had been ?very interested? in her from the start, said one top adviser, and almost immediately, his political advisers--led...

Ruth Madoff: "I Have No Response to You"

Posted on May 20, 2009
Ruth Madoff isn?t talking ?- not even to apologize. When asked by ABC News if she had anything to say to the victims of her husband?s ponzi scheme, she replied, ?I have no response to you.? Victims of the scam...

Question of the Day: Does Michael Vick Deserve Another NFL Shot?

Posted on May 20, 2009
Former NFL super star Michael Vick is on his way home today. He was released from prison at dawn after serving 19 months for dogfighting. He'll now serve a couple months of home confinement. The case against Vick exploded back...

Not So Special Election

Posted on May 20, 2009
As expected, an angry electorate soundly defeated a slate of special election budget measures in California yesterday, a decision that left Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state lawmakers nearly defenseless in dealing with California's $21.3 billion shortfall...

What Does Iran Want?

Posted on May 20, 2009
Now that the US has confirmed that Iran successfully launched a missile with a range of 1,200-1,900 miles, and a configuration that appears consistent with its Ashura model, the question on the minds of many Americans, and western policy makers,...

What America is Projecting on its American Idols

Posted on May 20, 2009
There was a telling moment last night at the end of American Idol's final showdown. As Ryan Seacrest announced the lines were open for all of us eager voters, Adam Lambert smiled and pointed at Kris Lambert who in return...

Ducklings Rescue - An Update

Posted on May 20, 2009
We received a large response from our viewers about the duckling story Neal Karlinsky reported on Monday's World News. To respond, we revisited the story on last night's broadcast and answered some of your questions that you left for us...

Guns Rule Congress

Posted on May 20, 2009
ABC's Tom Shine reports from Washington: Everyone loves credit cards. But Everyone hates the banks that issue them with all those fees and penalties. So when Senator Chris Dodd unveiled his tough credit card bill, which placed sweeping restrictions on...

'The Situation is Getting Severe'

Posted on May 20, 2009
Your quotes of today: "The situation is getting severe." -- Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso, responding to news of a 15.2 percent plunge in his country's first-quarter GDP, the worst figure since Japan began keeping such records more than five...

Judge Wood Goes to Washington

Posted on May 20, 2009
Just two days after Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm?s sudden appearance in Washington set off a flurry of speculation about Supreme Court interviews, here?s something that actually could be significant: Federal Appears Court Judge Diane Wood, one of the leading contenders to replace David Souter, is in Washington today.

The World Newser is Changing!

Posted on May 19, 2009
A quick note to say the World Newser is changing a little. If you are a loyal reader of some of the other blogs on the site such as "Political Radar", "Money Beat", "World View", "Health Insider" and "Legalities", we...

New Credit Card Rules!!! Good, Right???

Posted on May 19, 2009
Well, it appears this could be good and bad (don't you hate that?) depending on what kind of customer you are. In the parlance of the card industry some customers are "revolvers" and others "deadbeats". The revolvers are the ones...

Hundreds of Soldiers Honor Two of their Own

Posted on May 19, 2009
Mike Boettcher reports from Afghanistan: 2:30 am Friday morning and our ride to the Bagram passenger terminal didn?t show up. With all of our equipment it was too far to walk and there wasn?t another soul out at that ungodly...

Summer Fighting Season Begins

Posted on May 19, 2009
Mike Boettcher reports from the frontlines of Afghanistan: Along the border between Nuristan and Konar provinces in eastern Afghanistan sits Camp Bostick. Just two miles from the Pakistan border, Bostick controls several smaller Combat Outposts that come under frequent attack...

Clem's Chronicles: Credit Card Reform/Fuel Standards

Posted on May 19, 2009
Clem Lane here. Tonight's editorial note follows- CREDIT CARDS-If you?re like most Americans, you?ve either had issues with your credit card provider or have a family member/friend who?s told you of their issues. The Senate feels your pain and today....

What Happens When Telemarketers Barrage A Reporter's Home

Posted on May 19, 2009
ABC's Lisa Stark reports: Like millions of Americans, my family has signed up for the Do-Not-Call list. Although that has certainly greatly reduced the number of unwanted phone calls, it didn?t stop the folks who so insistently wanted to sell...

Obama: Fortifying Bush's Policies on Terror

Posted on May 19, 2009
There's a must-read piece in The New Republic this week by Jack Goldsmith, the former head of the Office of Legal Counsel, outlining specific differences in the Bush and Obama approaches to the war on terror. In the article, Goldsmith...

The Pitfalls of Politics

Posted on May 18, 2009
President Obama, like Bill Clinton before him, has indicated he would like to tap a politician for the Supreme Court?someone like the iconic and influential Chief Justice Earl Warren, the former governor of California. But there are two big problems....

Clem's Chronicles: Fuel Standards/Netanyahu at the WH/Hubble

Posted on May 18, 2009
Howdy folks-here's tonight's editorial note: CLEAN AIR/NEW FUEL STANDARDS-The White House is going to announce new fuel standards tomorrow which will increase gas mileage numbers and reduce the pollution they emit. Thanks to Jon Karl, you don?t have to wait...

Swine Flu: The Latest Facts and Figures

Posted on May 18, 2009
With so much information swirling about swine flu, we've compiled all of our reporting in one place. Click here for all of the latest news about swine flu including the latest school closings, CDC resources, World Health Organization guidelines, etc.

Watch: Banker Rescues Darling Ducklings

Posted on May 18, 2009
Joel Armstrong is no duck connoisseur. The 43-year-old banker and father of two learned everything he knows about ducks through Google. But this Saturday, none of that mattered as he helped rescue a new family of ducklings. For the past...

GM Dealer Hit by Tornado, But Spared the Corporate Knife

Posted on May 18, 2009
Last week was difficult for every GM dealer across the country, but maybe no dealership had a more stressful week than Jim Robertson Motors in Kirksville, Missouri. As Barbara Pinto reported on last Thursday?s World News, the Robertson dealership was...

Ousting a CEO & Paying Him $20 Million?

Posted on May 18, 2009
The Washington Post reported today that Rick Wagoner, the CEO of General Motors who was ousted by the Obama Administration, is still on the payroll while his promised $20 million severance package is being considered. Wagoner was asked to step...

Complete Text of Obama's Notre Dame Address

Posted on May 18, 2009
President Obama gave the commencement speech yesterday at the University of Notre Dame. The speech made headlines because there was upset over the President's pro-choice stance on abortion. Some in the Catholic university's audience as well as some who traveled...

Who's on the Way to the Court: Chart the Course

Posted on May 12, 2009
When selecting a Supreme Court nominee, White House officials essentially plot the prospects out on a graph. On the x-axis, you measure how closely the nominee fits with what you want in a justice; on the y-axis, you measure how...

A Stealth Nominee?

Posted on May 12, 2009
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs revealed a little more than usual today when asked about the process for selecting a Supreme Court nominee. He was asked a relatively innocuous question about whether the White House will be able to...

A Justice Who Has Juggled

Posted on May 08, 2009
I found myself praying for sun today making the kids? breakfast--a dozen second- grade boys are descending at 3:30 for my son?s birthday party, which by all accounts should be outside in a moonbounce and not, under any circumstances, indoors....

White House Formalizes Supreme Court Short List

Posted on May 07, 2009
The White House has formalized its short list of Supreme Court contenders and asked six prospects to provide personal background information, with an intensive vetting process now underway, according to sources close to the process.

Tortured Timing

Posted on May 06, 2009
News reports yesterday made much out of the fact that a draft report about the so-called ?torture memos? doesn?t recommend criminal prosecution for DOJ officials John Yoo and Jay Bybee, but instead would only refer them to their state bars...

The Harsh Interrogation Investigation

Posted on May 05, 2009
Bush Administration lawyers under investigation for memos that approved harsh interrogation techniques have mounted an aggressive defense to persuade the Justice Department to drop plans to refer them to state bar associations for possible disciplinary proceedings, sources tell ABC News.

Souter's Plans

Posted on May 01, 2009
David Souter has told friends for years he wanted nothing more than to leave the Supreme Court and return to his native New Hampshire, where he could sit by the fire in his drafty cabin and read his beloved books....

Are Southerners More Racist than Northerners?

Posted on April 29, 2009
For all the complex legal arguments over today?s blockbuster Voting Rights Act case, the core issue is a pretty simple one: How long does the South have to pay for the sins of its shameful past? The landmark 1965 legislation...

FCC Decision, Round One

Posted on April 28, 2009
The FCC won round one in the Supreme Court this morning in its effort to ban four-letter words on radio and network television, but the Court gave a strong hint that it the broadcasters will ultimately win the war.

Philip Morris Case Dismissed

Posted on March 31, 2009
The Supreme Court announced this morning it would not decide whether a $79.5 million punitive damages award against tobacco giant Philip Morris was excessive -- preserving a massive victory for the widow of a former smoker. In a one-sentence order,...

Justices Review 'Hillary: The Movie'

Posted on March 24, 2009
Ted Olson sang a different tune today in the Supreme Court than the one he carried just six years ago. Back then, as the solicitor general in the Bush Administration, he was defending the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law against a...

Marbury v. Madison: Nail-Biting Drama?

Posted on February 25, 2009
Whoever thought that Marbury v. Madison could be a page turner? Landmark constitutional law, yes, but a nail-biting drama crafted in dimly lit hotel rooms in Washington? Filled with memorable players such as "Old Bacon Face" Justice Samuel Chase and....

Court Rules on Religious Displays

Posted on February 25, 2009
The Supreme Court this morning unanimously ruled that local governments are not required to install any and all religious markers in public parks merely because they have other religious monuments displayed there. The case involved an obscure religious group, Summum,...

Court Upholds Conviction of Domestic Abuser Who Had Guns

Posted on February 24, 2009
The Supreme Court this morning rejected arguments by a man who assaulted his wife and later was convicted of illegally possessing firearms, saying a federal gun ban clearly was designed to keep weapons out of the hands of domestic abusers....

Justice Ginsburg Treated for Pancreatic Cancer

Posted on February 05, 2009
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg?s announcement today that she is being treated for early-stage pancreatic cancer came as a terrible blow to her friends, colleagues and former clerks, who have witnessed the 75-year-old diminutive intellectual powerhouse battle back from colon cancer...

Former Gitmo Prisoner, Turned al Qaeda Leader

Posted on January 23, 2009
Bush Administration critics have scoffed at claims by the Defense Department that as many as 61 former Guantanamo detainees have returned to the battlefield. They may want rethink their skepticism. It's now up to the Obama Administration to evaluate which...

Chief Justice Fumbles

Posted on January 20, 2009
Chief Justice John Roberts is a man who has made very few public missteps in his life -- but he appears to have made one when swearing in Barack Obama. After Obama stepped on the first line of the oath,...

A Woman Who Made a Difference

Posted on January 17, 2009
Riding aboard President-elect Barack Obama's whistlestop train tour from Philadelphia to Washington today were 40 "everyday" Americans, people who've made a difference in their towns or communities, or, in Lilly Ledbetter's case, perhaps the country as a whole...

Shock, Relief for 9/11 Families at Gitmo

Posted on December 09, 2008
For seven years, Maureen Santora has waited to hear the words. But she hadn't expected them now, just moments after she took her seat in a special courtroom on the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base. "We want to enter our plea,"...

Facing Evil

Posted on December 08, 2008
Seven years ago on the morning of September 11th, the phone rang for Alice Hoagland. "Mom, this is Mark Bingham," said the young man, giving his mother his full name. "I'm on a flight from Newark to San Francisco. There...

Heart

Posted on December 06, 2008
It's a real distraction when your daughters are crying over a football game. It means you have to be a responsible adult -- no tears, limited profanity ? and try to keep their focus on all that is good. And...

Obama's Citizenship and Alabama Football

Posted on December 05, 2008
Sharp readers of my last blog post will note what the court did NOT announce today. It granted two cases---in addition to the al-Marri "enemy combatant" case, it agreed to hear a case involving jury instructions. Conspicuously absent from the...

Court to hear Major Terrorism Case

Posted on December 05, 2008
The Washington Post's Bob Barnes and I have found more common ground: The Supreme Court has managed to distract us, momentarily, from our debate on whether Alabama can contain Tim Tebow or whether Florida will instead fold like Miami did...

From the Sublime to the Ridiculous

Posted on December 05, 2008
It pains me to have to do this, since I have vowed to write almost exclusively this week about Alabama football, but the legal challenge over Obama?s citizenship is now being so wildly misreported--and my bosses are asking about it?that...

Brawn, Tradition over Nouveau Glitz: A response to Barnes

Posted on December 05, 2008
Bob, First, thanks for saying I have my priorities straight. I hope you?ll vouch for me if my bosses here at ABC ask why I am writing almost exclusively these days about Alabama football. (I?ll do the same for you...

Dissing the Bear's Legend, too?

Posted on December 04, 2008
If you thought I was joking about the heated debate I was having with the Washington Post?s Bob Barnes yesterday, well, I wasn?t. (I also wasn't joking that everything I write this week will have some connection to the Crimson...

Free Plaxico Burress

Posted on December 04, 2008
Cato?s David Koppel has an interesting piece in today?s WSJ suggesting New York Giants star Plaxico Burress?s arrest for carrying a handgun into a New York nightclub violates his 2nd Amendment right to keep and bear arms. For those of...

Third and Long for Philip Morris?

Posted on December 03, 2008
With great effort, I turned my focus off Alabama football and went up to the Supreme Court this morning for what turned out to be some pretty incredible arguments in a long-fought case involving a $79.5 million punitive damages award...

Believe

Posted on December 02, 2008
When I interviewed Dan Quayle over the summer, he started reflecting on his nomination as Vice President and how the media never gave him a break. He had been in Washington 12 years, having served in both the House and...

Ridiculous to Sublime in 60 Minutes

Posted on December 02, 2008
I know Nick Saban only gives his players 24 hours to celebrate before moving on to the next challenge, but before we start looking ahead to this Saturday?s slugfest with Florida, I have to revel just one more time in...

Gitmo Detainees: Waiting for Obama?

Posted on November 24, 2008
It's been five months since the Supreme Court threw open the courthouse doors to hundreds of terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay, ruling they have a constitutional right to challenge their detention in federal court. This morning, a federal appeals court...

Mukasey "embarrassed"

Posted on November 21, 2008
Below is Attorney General Mukasey's heartfelt letter this afternoon to members of the Federalist Society. He says he is embarrassed by his collapse at the group's annual dinner, saying it detracted from the message he wanted to convey. Dear Friends,....

A Somber Mukasey, Taking on Critics

Posted on November 21, 2008
Attorney General Michael Mukasey, consistently described as a ?no-nonsense? man of integrity who brought a much-needed steady hand to a troubled Justice Department, last night delivered his most forceful statement yet on the administration?s legal policies in the War on...

Judge Orders Release of Five Terror Suspects

Posted on November 20, 2008
A federal judge has ordered the government to release five terror suspects detained at Guantanamo, saying it failed to prove the men planned to take up arms against the United States. Judge Richard Leon directed the government to "take all...

Clement Decides

Posted on November 20, 2008
It?s been the most buzzed about question in Washington legal circles all summer and fall: What law firm will land former Solicitor General Paul Clement, widely seen as one of the nation?s top Supreme Court advocates? Today, we get the...

The Greatest Rivalry of All

Posted on November 19, 2008
I was going to write about this really interesting case Orin Kerr came across the other day on whether X-Ray body scans violate the 4th Amendment. Apparently, a woman visiting her husband in a detention facility was subject to the...

Cheney, Gonzales Indicted in Texas

Posted on November 18, 2008
In the department of the Truly Bizarre, a Texas grand jury has indicted Vice President Cheney, former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, a few state court judges, a former U.S. attorney and some other folks. According to the Brownsville Herald, the...

Coffee, Skits and Complaints about the NYT

Posted on November 18, 2008
Journalists and researchers got their first look at some of the papers of William Rehnquist yesterday, when the Hoover Institution opened a small portion of the collection. The New York Times' Adam Liptak and Jonathan Glater have a nice summary...

Football, Deerhunting and Some Law

Posted on November 17, 2008
Justice Scalia is in Lubbock tonight for a talk at Texas Tech, after spending the weekend deer hunting on a nearby ranch with prominent plaintiffs lawyer Mark Lanier. Tony Mauro has the details here. Scalia, of course, is a dynamic...

Cuban: Jail, Cubs Unlikely

Posted on November 17, 2008
Mark Cuban, the maverick Dallas Mavericks owner, was hit today by the Securities and Exchange Commission with insider trading charges that could cost him millions in fines and legal fees. This could mean the final nail in his bid to...

Sonar Over Whales

Posted on November 12, 2008
In its first opinion of the term, the Supreme Court has rejected an environmental group's efforts to sharply limit Naval submarine training off the coast of California, saying national security issues strongly outweigh any alleged harm to marine mammals...

Rumors of Retirements

Posted on November 11, 2008
The conventional wisdom around Washington for the past year or so is that Barack Obama, if elected president, would nominate at least one or two justices to the Supreme Court. After all, John Paul Stevens is 88; Ruth Bader Ginsburg...

A Shortened Life, on Tape

Posted on November 10, 2008
The video of Sara Weir is deeply moving, with photographs and videos of her throughout her life, from infancy to 19. With her mother narrating and soft music playing in the background, Sara -- reserved, modest and shy -- is...

A President's Legacy: The Supreme Court

Posted on October 29, 2008
A Supreme Court nomination, as George Bush has made clear, can be a president's greatest and most lasting legacy. It took bruising battles, but Bush brought real change to the court, which he turned to the right with his successful...

More Delay for Uighurs

Posted on October 21, 2008
Seventeen former terror suspects who were recently ordered released from Guantanamo Bay and freed into the United States will instead stay imprisoned at the naval base while a federal appeals court panel considers their case. In a brief order filed...

Blame John Lewis

Posted on October 20, 2008
When John McCain was on the verge of announcing his VP pick, a couple Republican operatives suggested he would do it the day Barack Obama accepted the Democratic Party?s nomination for President. That would steal Obama?s thunder from the historic...

Just the Other Day

Posted on October 14, 2008
In the South, when you talk about something happening "the other day," you might mean it happened, oh, a decade or two ago. Time is fluid. Past is present. And no time in the region's past is as present as...

Rabies

Posted on October 10, 2008
Our friend David Brooks, writing in today's New York Times, expands on his remarks earlier this week that Sarah Palin is a "fatal cancer" for the GOP. In a typically thoughtful piece, Brooks traces the history of conservatism, which began...

Pandora's Box

Posted on October 09, 2008
For years now, the Supreme Court has been issuing a series of lofty opinions sternly reprimanding the Bush Administration for its handling of terror suspects in the wake of 9/11. These decisions, in response to sweeping assertions of executive power,...

Palin: "A Fatal Cancer" for GOP

Posted on October 08, 2008
Despite the beating conservative columnist Kathleen Parker took from the Right for her recent column skewering Sarah Palin and urging her to withdraw, another prominent conservative is donning a flak jacket and joining the anti-Palin brigade. David Brooks, the New...

"Terrorists" Among Us?

Posted on October 08, 2008
Expect a flurry of legal moves today over a federal judge?s unprecedented decision yesterday to order 17 former ?enemy combatants? at Guantanamo Bay released unsupervised into the Washington, D.C. area by Friday. Late last night, the Bush Administration asked the...

Coming to America

Posted on October 07, 2008
Delivering a sharp rebuke to the Bush Administration, federal Judge Ricardo Urbina today ordered the government to immediately release into the United States 17 former suspected ?enemy combatants? who have been imprisoned seven years at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba...

They're Back

Posted on October 06, 2008
The justices returned from their summer break today, and, as always, it felt a whole lot like being back in school after a few carefree months off. You take your assigned seats, whisper hellos to your old pals (Like the...

Palin: Withdraw "for your country"

Posted on September 26, 2008
Syndicated conservative columnist Kathleen Parker, who once described Sarah Palin's candidacy as a "bright light," now is calling on her to withdraw. She is the first prominent conservative to stake out that position--bringing to mind Bill Kristol's early pronouncement in...

Girltalk

Posted on September 09, 2008
After I got out of law school and was back in my old newspaper job, the Supreme Court beat opened up. It was a dream job, and I made a pitch for it to one of the paper?s top editors,...

A Voice for America?

Posted on September 04, 2008
John McCain?s campaign manager, Rick Davis, told the Washington Post this week that a ?very masculine? draft of the VP nominee?s speech had been written before McCain announced his bombshell of a pick in Sarah Palin. They obviously tossed that...

Timing...Is Everything

Posted on September 03, 2008
Following up here on what I posted last night, Dan Balz has a fascinating piece in today?s Washington Post with more details about how Sarah Palin skyrocketed to the top of McCain?s short list over Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and...

Surprise, Surprise

Posted on September 02, 2008
I think it's a good idea, as we call it, to float names--in other words, put the name out publicly, leak it some way maybe, so it is known around the country that 'Joe Blow' is being considered. Because sometimes...

Waiting Word

Posted on August 28, 2008
Having decided on his running mate, John McCain will soon begin making calls to the people who were on his short list for vice president to inform them of his choice. McCain will introduce his running mate to the nation...

A Brawl in St. Paul

Posted on August 28, 2008
With John McCain weighing a running mate who supports abortion rights, a revolt is brewing among his conservative base that includes a walkout at the Republican National Convention next week and a huge battle on the floor---especially if he selects...

The Quadrennial Quest

Posted on August 15, 2008
With less than two weeks to go before the conventions, there?s still no obvious runaway frontrunner for VP on either side---although that?s about to change. We expect Barack Obama to make his announcement next week, just before the Democratic convention,...

McCain: I prayed "to keep going"

Posted on August 15, 2008
The Chicago Tribune's Jill Zuckman has a fascinating and revealing article today looking at John McCain's faith and how he relied on it to survive in Vietnam--and suffered for it greatly at the hands of his captors. McCain and fellow...

McCain: Not Ruling Out Pro-choice VP

Posted on August 13, 2008
As John McCain weighs his choices for vice president, he gave a fascinating interview today in which he said he would not rule out the possibility of choosing an openly pro-choice running mate?something no Republican President has ever done. In...

McCain: "Put my country first"

Posted on August 11, 2008
With his campaign plane parked on the tarmac at Erie's "Tom Ridge International Airport," Sen. John McCain just finished up an appearance at a GE transportation plant here with the with the former at his side. He heaped praise on...

Kaine: Lieberman for President

Posted on August 01, 2008
It was just last week that the McCain VP hysteria was at a fever pitch, after a couple news outlets breathlessly speculated that his running mate selection was imminent. This week, it was an uncharacteristic media blitz around Tim Kaine,...

McCain's "Celebrity" Strategy

Posted on July 31, 2008
McCain's tough new "celebrity" ad campaign, designed to portray Obama as an empty suit who -- like Paris Hilton -- is devoid of substance, is the first part of a broader strategy that ultimately could have ramifications for McCain's VP...

Obama's Mixed Reviews from Chicago

Posted on July 30, 2008
Today's NYT has a fascinating article about Obama's 12 years teaching at the University of Chicago Law School, which happens to be my alma mater. It quotes a number of professors (liberal and conservative), as well as former students. They...

McCain's VP: An Early Pick?

Posted on July 22, 2008
I said the other day that covering the run-up to the VP announcement reminded me of the good ol? days of summer 2005, when we all were trying to figure out who President Bush would pick for the Supreme Court....

Party Mixers

Posted on July 17, 2008
Nebraska Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel may be joining Barack Obama on his fact-finding trip to the Mideast next week, but a bipartisan "Obama-Hagel" campaign is likely a "dream ticket" only in a Chuck Hagel nocturne. "Take a look at the...

McClellan: Condi a war criminal?

Posted on July 09, 2008
My colleague Jake Tapper has just posted a rather astonishing excerpt of an interview with former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan, in which the former Bush loyalist-turned-critic says top administration officials may be guilty of war crimes for approving...

Kaine Spins Webb

Posted on July 08, 2008
As our colleague Matt Jaffe reported on RADAR yesterday, in a statement, Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine spun the Jim Webb announcement by the junior Democratic senator that he won?t be a vice presidential contender as "good news for Virginia that...

The Politics of Abortion

Posted on July 06, 2008
I was going to write today about the story that has captivated my neck of the world for the past three days ? one that's had us all talking about how this could have happened, what does it all mean,...

Obama revisits abortion

Posted on July 05, 2008
We've gotten a response from Sen. Obama on his comments this week that he would support a ban on abortions after 22 weeks--even if a woman sought the procedure because she was in "mental distress." Obama told a Christian magazine,...

Obama: Sounding Like Thomas and Scalia?

Posted on July 04, 2008
The Supreme Court fired a shot last week that ricocheted into the political campaign when it struck down a Washington DC law that banned people from owning handguns. For the first time in history, the justices said the Constitution's 2nd...

KSM in the "hood"

Posted on July 03, 2008
No less than White House spokeswoman Dana Perino gave voice to the extreme nightmare scenario that Bush administration officials fear could be the outcome of the Supreme Court?s five to four opinion in Boumedienne v Bush late last month: ?It...

Detainees to be freed in the U.S.?

Posted on July 03, 2008
As high-level discussions continue over the future of Guantanamo as a prison for al-Qaeda suspects, administration officials also are focusing on how to handle detainees who prevail in federal court and are ordered released from prison. The administration fully expects...

Bush to Close Guantanamo?

Posted on July 02, 2008
President Bush will soon decide whether to close Guantanamo Bay as a prison for al-Qaeda suspects, sources tell ABC News. High-level discussions among top advisers have escalated in the past week, with the most senior administration officials in continuous talks...

A "Flaw" in the Child Rape Case?

Posted on July 02, 2008
The controversial decision outlawing the death penalty for child rape has taken a bizarre turn. Today?s New York Times has a Page One story by Linda Greenhouse that the Court -- and the lawyers on both sides -- failed to...

Hitting the Trail

Posted on June 30, 2008
The Court wrapped up another big term with a bang, so to speak, and I?m now going to spend the next four months covering the presidential campaign for ABC, focusing on the candidates for the number two spot on the...

Obama, guns and self-defense

Posted on June 26, 2008
Barack Obama has recently been calling himself a strong defender of the 2nd Amendment right to bear arms, but Hale Demarr?an Illinois man who got in a ton of legal trouble after he shot a home invader--might disagree with that....

The Politics of Interrogation

Posted on June 17, 2008
A strong statement by Sen. Lindsey Graham in this morning's Armed Services Committee that sheds some light on how Republicans are going to approach controversial interrogation policies and terrorism issues in the months to come--as Democrats kick off a series...

Nothing is Private: Judges and "Porn"

Posted on June 16, 2008
It?s one of those stories that make you say: WHAT? Renowned federal appeals court Judge Alex Kozinski, the chief judge of the US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, outed for keeping so-called ?sexually explicit? materials on his home...

KSM in Gitmo: A view of the "Mastermind"

Posted on June 05, 2008
GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba--We're on a break for lunch and a scheduled prayer time for top 9/11 suspects who are being arraigned here today. It's been an extraordinary last couple of hours, sitting in the courtroom press gallery, a mere 50...

General Garre

Posted on June 02, 2008
Today is Paul Clement?s last as Solicitor General, and the White House moved quickly to tap a replacement: Deputy Solicitor General Gregory Garre. The White House announced this afternoon that President Bush would nominate Garre to be the administration's top...

Supreme Court on Discrimination

Posted on May 27, 2008
The Supreme Court this morning refused to narrow the scope of two federal discrimination laws, ruling that people who are fired for complaining about age and race bias are protected under federal law. The Court, ruling in two separate cases,...

Obama's "Jewish Problem"

Posted on May 22, 2008
The New York Times has a problematic article on Page One today that suggests some Jewish voters won?t back Obama in part because they?re a bunch of racists. Here?s the problem: The article focuses largely on people in their eighties...

Ashcroft's Silence

Posted on May 22, 2008
Ashcroft's silence Scattered throughout Glenn Fine's 438-page report are mentions of people who made his job more difficult. On the very first page, he targets the Department of Defense which "delayed" the release of the report while it performed an....

"Borderline torture" and the FBI

Posted on May 21, 2008
The IG report on FBI interrogations is full of new details about a behind-the-scenes struggle over the use of harsh interrogation techniques for terror suspects. It?s an important document because it provides just enough new information to make key questions...

Illegal Cash: Currency Discriminates Against Blind

Posted on May 20, 2008
In a major ruling that could force changes to the nation?s currency, an influential federal appeals court ruled today that the uniform design of U.S. paper money discriminates against the blind and violates a federal disability law. The decision, by....

Unanswered Questions

Posted on May 20, 2008
The Justice Department has released the results of a three-year investigation into the FBI?s role in interrogating terror suspects overseas, and it raises nearly as many of the key questions as it answers. The report is more than 400 pages...

Child Porn and the 1st Amendment

Posted on May 19, 2008
An interesting and important ruling from the Court today upholding a federal law banning the distribution or solicitation of child pornography. It?s obviously an area of growing concern, with advances in technology and easy transmission through the Internet...

Gay Marriage in Texas?

Posted on May 15, 2008
A key question after today's sweeping California Supreme Court decision striking down the state's gay marriage ban is what it means for the 48 other states that don't recognize gay marriage. If, for example, a gay married couple in California...

O'Connor: The Pain of Alzheimer's

Posted on May 14, 2008
Sandra Day O'Connor, the trailblazing first woman Justice, sat down with me yesterday for a moving conversation about Alzheimer's Disease and how it has affected her life. It was the first time she's discussed the horrific disease from her perspective...

Former DOJ Official Yoo Refuses to Testify

Posted on April 22, 2008
Former Justice Department lawyer John Yoo, who wrote the controversial legal memos authorizing harsh interrogation programs, will not testify voluntarily before the House Judiciary Committee -- paving the way for a possible subpoena and showdown over Executive Privilege...

"The Principals" of Interrogation

Posted on April 10, 2008
This is a link to a my World News story last night that I've spent the last five months reporting. It's about what sources said was the role of some of the President's most senior and influential advisers--Principals of the...

Torture

Posted on April 02, 2008
A few points on the long-awaited, just-released ?torture memo" authorizing harsh military interrogations: --This is THE torture memo that civil liberties groups and Senate Democrats have been demanding for years. A similar memo leaked several years ago that authorized harsh...

Torture in Daylight

Posted on April 02, 2008
Now that we've finally gotten the long-renounced and repudiated 2003 torture memo authorizing harsh interrogation techniques by the military, there are obvious questions about what took the White House so long to release it--and why. In fact, there were some...

The Gift That Keeps on Giving

Posted on March 31, 2008
It was pretty quiet at the Court today, so I figured I'd use the time to call your attention to one of the Chief's favorite cases. It made a big appearance in his opinion last week in Medellin v. Texas,...

Mukasey's Brief

Posted on March 25, 2008
Talk about rising to the occasion?and then quickly sitting down. Attorney General Michael Mukasey, making his first-ever argument before the Supreme Court this morning, stood before the justices, answered their questions, and then?when things started slowing down--asked if they had...

In Sight

Posted on March 18, 2008
After 90 minutes of intense argument this morning in the 2nd Amendment case, here are a few bullet points: ---A majority of the justices clearly seemed to embrace the idea that the 2nd Amendment protects an individual right to own...

The Court's Gun Battle

Posted on March 18, 2008
When a man tried to break into her house one night, Shelly Parker -- a single woman living alone -- felt defenseless. "I had the alarm system, had the dog. And I was like, ok, my next step is that...

Dirty Words

Posted on March 17, 2008
Holy @$#%! Here?s a surprise: The Supreme Court is going to hear some bad language. The justices announced today they?re going to take up the issue of profanity on network television?and whether it?s OK for President Bush to use the...

Lining up for Guns

Posted on March 16, 2008
The landmark legal battle over the 2nd Amendment is still two days?and two cold nights?away. But people already are waiting in line to get a prized seat in the courtroom for the historic arguments. Jason McCrory, 23, and Dan Mott,...

Spitzer -- Possible Financial Crimes

Posted on March 11, 2008
New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer has said his alleged tie to a prostitution ring is a "private" matter, but charges against him could extend well past prostitution. Because Spitzer's bank notified the government of suspicious financial activity in his accounts...

Choice

Posted on March 05, 2008
Of all the conversations I?ve had with Justice O?Connor over the years, one of the most interesting and provocative was a personal one. It involved the issue of choice. I?ve been thinking about it a lot lately, because it says...

Oil and water

Posted on February 28, 2008
One thing was clear after the argument before the Supreme Court in the Exxon Valdez case: It's absolutely unclear how the Court is going to resolve it. For 90 minutes, the justices struggled to come up with a framework for...

Sex, Lies and Regulation?

Posted on February 21, 2008
Let?s leave aside, for a moment, the obvious questions about whether the New York Times committed journalistic malpractice by relying on unnamed sources to imply John McCain was sleeping with a woman 30 years his junior?and then, as a favor...

Obama and Guns

Posted on February 15, 2008
A day after the tragic shootings at NIU, Barack Obama has revealed that he thinks the 2nd Amendment protects an individual?s right to own a gun. That sounds surprising?and certainly not what you?d expect from someone with the Senate?s most...

Does terror trump torture?

Posted on February 12, 2008
We all know Justice Antonin Scalia is a big fan of 24's Jack Bauer, the fictional hero of the popular television show who sometimes tortures terrorists to derail their fiendish plots and save lives. Scalia mounted a spirited defense of...

More Ammo for Gun Rights

Posted on February 07, 2008
Momentum is building for gun rights supporters in next month?s big 2nd Amendment case, with a bipartisan majority in the Senate and House filing an amicus brief in the Supreme Court tomorrow arguing that the 2nd Amendment protects an individual?s...

No Gun Quickdraw

Posted on January 16, 2008
It looks like the 2nd Amendment showdown at the Supreme Court isn?t shaping up exactly like we expected. I, for one, sure didn?t think gun rights supporters would be up in arms, so to speak, over the Bush Administration?s position...

Kennedy's Turn Signals

Posted on December 06, 2007
Throughout yesterday?s argument in the Guantanamo detainee cases, all eyes were focused, of course, on Justice Kennedy. With the Court presumably divided 4-4 along ideological lines, Kennedy once again is at the wheel, deciding where he?s going to take the...

The Evil at GTMO

Posted on December 05, 2007
When I was getting ready for a trip to Guantanamo Bay last week, I read an article written last year by a young interpreter (and now lawyer) who was working with some of the attorneys for the detainees. Titled ?My...

A Christmas Caution

Posted on November 27, 2007
The Christmas music was playing last night, and the tree was halfway lit (I know it?s only November, but Thanksgiving was really early this year), when my 10-year-old daughter shrieked. ?Mom,? she screamed, ?these lights can kill us.? I knew...

Firing Questions

Posted on November 26, 2007
The other day I spent most of the morning with a .38 in my hand. It was very similar to the handgun I learned to shoot in Alabama many years ago, when I was single, childless and, of course, a...

An execution or a reprieve?

Posted on October 30, 2007
At some point today, convicted killer Earl Wesley Berry will either die or get a reprieve. The Mississippi man is scheduled to be put to death at 6 p.m. CDT, but he?s asked the Supreme Court to step in and...

Overtime

Posted on October 10, 2007
Much has been made about Justice Thomas? near-refusal to ask questions at argument and why he chooses to sit silently. I?d often wondered why that is, and I?ve seen him offer a few different explanations for it over the years....

Thomas and Oral Argument

Posted on October 09, 2007
Justice Thomas is known for his silence on the bench, and he?s talked over the years about why he rarely asks questions. He has explained that he thinks his colleagues talk too much and that he?d rather let the lawyers...

Thomas on Precedent

Posted on October 08, 2007
Clarence Thomas is blunt when asked how he is ?similar? to fellow conservative Antonin Scalia. ?Oh no, no,? he says. ?How I ?followed? Justice Scalia.? It was the storyline when Thomas first joined the Court back in 1991. Critics and...

Being a Justice

Posted on October 04, 2007
Justice Thomas?s memoir spans his life up until 1991, ending when he was sworn in and heading into his first conference with his new colleagues. Sixteen years have passed since then, and although Thomas chose not to write about those...

Clarence Thomas Unplugged

Posted on October 03, 2007
Please click here to link directly to part one of the "Director's Cut" version of my Clarence Thomas report for Nightline. Then click here for part two. It's a special extended version and adds some extraordinary material we had to...