Constitution

November 26, 2007 -- Little Rock, AR – Former Arkansas Governor and Republican Presidential Candidate Mike Huckabee received the endorsement of the Republican Sportshooters Association at a sportsmen’s “meet and greet and skeet shoot” just outside Spartanburg, South Carolina yesterday.

“The Second Amendment is not about loving guns, it is about ensuring freedom,” said Huckabee.    » read more »

McDaniel to Support Gun Ownership Rights for Citizens at High Court

Nov 27, 2007 -- LITTLE ROCK— Today, Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel announced his intent to support the Second Amendment as a “right to bear arms” for individuals, not just militia members, by joining a brief to be filed with the U.S. Supreme Court. Last week, the high court agreed to hear District of Columbia v. Heller, a lawsuit challenging gun laws enacted by the District of Colombia. The case is expected to be heard next spring.    » read more »

Obama joins entire CBC in filing brief to revoke voter ID requirement

November 26, 2007 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) today released the following statement on the Supreme Court amicus brief to challenge the constitutionality of the Indiana Voter ID Law currently before the Supreme Court, which he has signed.

The brief, originally filed by Congressman Keith Ellison and supported by the entire Congressional Black Caucus, argues that the Indiana law is unconstitutional because it is effectively a poll tax and therefore violates the 24th Amendment.    » read more »

Judge Hood rules that display is not covered by previous injunction

November 05, 2007 -- FRANKFORT, Ky. – Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher has directed that the “Foundations of American Law and Government” display be placed in the Capitol, following a ruling today by U.S. District Judge Joseph M. Hood that the display is not covered by a previous injunction.    » read more »

November 02, 2007 -- Kentucky Attorney General Greg Stumbo today questioned Kentucky Governor Fletcher's belated attempt to clarify a federal court order regarding posting the Ten Commandments on state grounds.

"I offered to clear the way for posting the Ten Commandments a year and a half ago." Stumbo noted. "Obviously, this issue was not important to the Governor until he could play politics with it."    » read more »

October 30, 2007 -- “The state has successfully defended the Speaker of the Indiana House of Representatives before the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in a case that challenged that body’s practice of prayer before opening General Assembly Sessions.

Today’s decision confirms that federal courts exist to redress actual injuries rather than abstract philosophical disputes.    » read more »

Based on Multi-state Findings, Bar Association Renews Call for Nationwide Moratorium on Executions

WASHINGTON, D.C., Oct. 29, 2007— The American Bar Association today released the findings from their three-year study on state death penalty systems and called for a nationwide moratorium on executions.    » read more »

18 September 2007 -- The U.S. Director of National Intelligence, Mike McConnell, has urged lawmakers not to weaken powers Congress approved in August expanding government capabilities conduct electronic eavesdropping to prevent future terrorist attacks.

Before leaving Washington in August for its summer break, Congress approved what is called the Protect America Act.

Passed with bipartisan margins in the House and Senate, it came after an intense Bush administration campaign to revise existing law from 1978 called the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).    » read more »

September 4, 2007 -- (Lincoln, NE) Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning today commented on the death penalty case of child killer Raymond Mata of Scottsbluff. Oral arguments were presented to the Nebraska Supreme Court today.

“Today the State argued that electrocution does not violate the cruel and unusual punishment clause of the 8th Amendment,” said Bruning. “We asked the court to uphold the Nebraska Legislature's chosen method of execution and allow justice to move forward.”    » read more »

August 30, 2007 -- “I am pleased that Department of Justice Inspector General Glenn Fine will look into my concerns about potentially false, misleading or inappropriate testimony by the Attorney General. I look forward to the Inspector General’s findings on the unprecedented firings of nine United States Attorneys, the improper political hiring of career officials within the Justice Department, the misuse of National Security Letters, and the efforts to bypass the Department’s finding that a warrantless surveillance program was without legal basis.    » read more »

Program is Part of the Law Library’s 175th Anniversary Celebration in 2007

August 28, 2007 -- In the aftermath of 9/11, measures were taken to formulate and implement a national security program. The impact of these policies on constitutional principles is the subject of a panel discussion to be held at noon on Wednesday, Sept. 12, in the Law Library’s Multimedia Room, located in Room 240 of the James Madison Building, 101 Independence Ave. S.E., Washington, D.C.    » read more »

August 28, 2007 -- After years of misleading the public and promoting illegal government action, Alberto Gonzales finally resigned his post as attorney general yesterday. One of the many "loyal Bushies" to resign recently under a cloud of scandal, Gonzales had lost the confidence of the American people long ago. Editorials from around the country are echoing the sentiments of the American people, who are glad to see Gonzales go but reluctant to believe the Bush White House will turn over a new leaf and put their poisonous brand of partisan politics behind them.    » read more »

Denies preliminary injunction; allows Texas schoolchildren to continue reciting Pledge

August 28, 2007 -- DALLAS – Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott today prevailed in federal court, where a North Texas couple tried to prevent schoolchildren from reciting the Texas Pledge of Allegiance. A federal district judge ruled against David Wallace Croft and his wife, Shannon, who sought a preliminary injunction because the Texas Legislature recently added the words “one state under God” to the state Pledge. Solicitor General Ted Cruz argued on the state’s behalf.    » read more »

August 28, 2007 -- Statement of Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott:

"With today's ruling, a federal judge denied the plaintiffs' attempt to prevent Texas school children from pledging their allegiance to "one state, under God"--just as they pledge to "one nation, under God."

The United States Supreme Court has repeatedly held patriotic acknowledgments of the Almighty such as these are completely consistent with the U.S. Constitution.

Texans can rest assured that we will continue vigorously defending their children's ability to recite the State Pledge of Allegiance each morning."    » read more »

Washington DC | August 27, 2007 -- Barack Obama today released the following statement on the resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

"I have long believed that Alberto Gonzales subverted justice to promote a political agenda, and so I am pleased that he has finally resigned today.

The President needs to nominate an Attorney General who will be the people's lawyer, not the President's lawyer, and in an Obama Administration that person will first and foremost defend and promote the rights and liberties enshrined in our Constitution," said Obama.    » read more »