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'Jury Nullification' Can Help the Fight for Legal Pot

Jurors can acquit guilty people under obscure principle: law professor

(Newser) - Proponents of legal marijuana should tuck this one away: A law professor argues that jurors should acquit people accused of possessing or selling pot even if the evidence against them is clear. The principle is called jury nullification, writes Paul Butler in the New York Times . Essentially, jurors have the... More »

Face It: We Need Revenge

Justice is just a fancy word for vengeance, argues Thane Rosenbaum

(Newser) - Norway doesn’t have the death penalty, and that means it’s “legally and morally” unprepared to deal with the likes of Anders Breivik, the man allegedly responsible for the Oslo massacre, argues legal scholar Thane Rosenbaum in the New York Times . Americans, meanwhile, are outraged over the acquittal... More »

Hungry Judges Less Lenient

Fatigue may lead decision-makers to choose easy options

(Newser) - If you ever find yourself before a judge, you should hope that he or she is well-fed and well-rested, new research suggests. Researchers analyzed more than a thousand parole hearings in Israel and discovered that judges were much likelier to grant an inmate parole if the hearing occurred soon after... More »

Plan in Iowa to Impeach Judges Is Dangerous

Op-ed: Activists angry over same-sex ruling are going too far

(Newser) - Throughout US history, “no matter how controversial the case, no state or federal judge has been impeached for an opinion issued from the bench,” writes Bert Brandenburg in the Washington Post . But now, activists in Iowa want to impeach the justices who voted to allow same-sex marriage in... More »

Gore, Wolfowitz Team Up to Fight Malaysia Trial

They don't agree on much, except that Anwar Ibrahim is being railroaded

(Newser) - The case of persecuted Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has created an unlikely pair of allies: Al Gore and Paul Wolfowitz. They argue in a joint editorial for the Wall Street Journal that the US must pressure Malaysia to stop the politically motivated trial Anwar is currently facing on dubious... More »

'Murderer' Freed After Victim Shows Up Alive

Chinese man spent 10 years in prison

(Newser) - A Chinese man has been cleared of murder, thanks to the sudden reappearance of his "victim." Zhao Zuohai was sent to prison nearly 10 years ago after his neighbor, Zhao Zhenshang, whom he'd recently had a fight with, disappeared. Police assumed he'd been murdered, later identifying a decomposing... More »

Kidnapped Murder Suspect Will Stand Trial

Victim's father delivered him 'bound and gagged' to France for 27-year-old murder

(Newser) - A French court ruled last week that murder suspect Dieter Krombach, 74, must stand trial, despite the fact he was abducted from Germany, bound and gagged, and driven to France against his will. The kidnapping was arranged by the victim's father, André Bamberski, 72, who says he was driven to... More »

Wise Latinas Embrace Their New Label

(Newser) - GOP senators may have pooh-poohed Sonia Sotomayor’s “wise Latina” comment, but wise Latinas everywhere are wearing the phrase like a badge of honor, the New York Times reports. From t-shirts to blogs, women of Hispanic heritage have warmed to the phrase much like other minority groups appropriate slurs,... More »

Blame Everyone Involved for Shallow Sotomayor Hearings

Dems go lightly; GOP eyes history outside of court

(Newser) - With Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation a virtual certainty and her appointment unlikely to change the direction of the Supreme Court, last week's toothless hearings held few surprises. Except, that is, for observers who were hoping the Senate Judiciary Committee would press for substantive Q-and-A, Joan Biskupic writes for USA Today. “... More »

Sotomayor Wins Republicans' Backing

She's shown 'judicial temperament': statement

(Newser) - Richard Lugar said today he’ll back Sonia Sotomayor’s Supreme Court bid, making him the first GOP senator to do so, the Washington Post reports. Mel Martinez of Florida, the chamber's sole Republican Latino, quickly followed suit. “Judge Sotomayor has demonstrated a judicial temperament during her week-long nomination... More »

Sotomayor Pledges 'Fidelity to the Law'

(Newser) - After listening to senators air their issues for most of the day,  Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor finally got the microphone at the end of her confirmation hearing today, telling senators she would serve the “larger interest of impartial justice," the AP reports. Sotomayor also took an... More »

Both Parties Will Use Sotomayor to Push Agendas

Parties hope to inspire support through questioning

(Newser) - Nobody expects Sonia Sotomayor to have serious trouble winning confirmation to the Supreme Court; the hearings that start today will be battles for American hearts and minds, with both parties seeing them as an opportunity to position themselves on key issues, the Washington Post reports. Aiming to ignite their base,... More »

Sotomayor's Record Reveals Rigor, Little Else

Dispassionate rulings exhaustive, but show no larger vision

(Newser) - Sonia Sotomayor’s decisions “are not always a pleasure to read,” writes Adam Liptak of the New York Times, but “they are usually models of modern judicial craftsmanship.” They are exhaustive and technical, with even uncontroversial propositions justified with detailed footnotes. They also reveal strikingly little... More »

5 Judges Obama Never Considered

We guarantee Obama never considered any of these schmucks

(Newser) - Barack Obama probably never sat down to consider the worst possible contenders for David Souter’s Supreme Court vacancy. But the guys at The Stimulist did. Here are the top (bottom?) five judges who never had a shot:
  • Myron Steele: Used his government email address to send a lewd video
... More »

Obama Picks Sotomayor for Court

(Newser) - Barack Obama named Sonia Sotomayor his Supreme Court pick this morning, the AP reports, setting the 54-year-old appeals court judge up to be the high court’s first Hispanic justice. Obama noted that she'd "worked at almost every level of our judicial system," saying she had more experience... More »

Gay Marriage Is New GOP Litmus Test for Supremes

Same-sex unions replace abortion debate as heated issue

(Newser) - Abortion has long been the hot-button issue at Supreme Court confirmations—but this year, gay marriage is taking over, conservatives say.  Senate Republicans believe that questioning over the matter could be the new litmus test to help reveal a candidate's overall philosophy, reports the Washington Post. “It may... More »

Ginsburg Shows No Signs of Slowing Down

Symposium celebrates 'midpoint' of justice's career

(Newser) - Ruth Bader Ginsburg has shown no signs of slowing, despite cancer surgery in February: Since then, she's attended every Supreme Court session, written more opinions than all but one other justice, and raised plenty of questions from the bench. A symposium celebrating Ginsburg’s service almost seemed designed to quash... More »

In Stevens Case, Justice Was Served After All

Ruling in court of public opinion trumps court of law's dismissal

(Newser) - Ted Stevens and his lawyers were awfully indignant yesterday for a crew that had just won. “You’d think there would be jubilation,” said Stevens’ attorney. Instead, “it was revulsion, revulsion turned to anger,” Brendan Sullivan raged. Stevens himself lamented that “consequences…can never be... More »

Ginsburg Back in Court After Cancer Surgery

Docs optimistic, but senator predicts justice has 9 months to live

(Newser) - Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg returned to the Supreme Court today, 18 days after her surgery for pancreatic cancer, the AP reports. Doctors gave her an encouraging prognosis after removing a small malignant tumor, but in a speech this weekend, Sen. Jim Bunning said Ginsburg would be dead within 9 months,... More »

Blinded Woman Wins Eye-for-Eye Islamic Justice

Iranian court orders acid be dropped in attacker's eyes

(Newser) - An Iranian judge is applying Islamic law to give a blinded woman the eye-for-an-eye justice she seeks. A jilted suitor who poured acid on the woman—blinding and disfiguring her—will have the chemical dropped into his eyes, the Washington Post reports. Some officials say it may deter similar crimes... More »

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