Law

Withholds decision on Sotomayor until after confirmation hearing

June 9, 2009 -- U.S. Senator Mel Martinez (R-FL) today met with United States Supreme Court Associate Justice nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor.

After the meeting, the senator made the following comments.

Senator Martinez said:

"She is not only a delightful person, but also a very deep thinker about judicial issues. As a longtime lawyer, I enjoyed the conversation about issues of jurisprudence, the role of the judiciary, and the role of a judge.

"She is very bright and very much someone who would fit in very well at the Supreme Court.    » read more »

WASHINGTON -- June 9, 2009 – Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) Tuesday announced that hearings to consider the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to be an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court will begin on July 13.    » read more »

Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee Holds Hearing To Examine ‘Prolonged Detention’

WASHINGTON -- June 9, 2009 – A Senate Judiciary Committee panel Tuesday morning will consider the consequences of ‘prolonged detention’ of detainees held in U.S. custody. The Subcommittee on the Constitution, chaired by Senator Russ Feingold (D-Wis.), will hear testimony from a panel of six witnesses. Member statements, witness testimony, and a live webcast of the hearing are available online.

Full Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) issued the following statement at the hearing.

Statement Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.),

Chairman, Committee On The Judiciary,

Hearing On “The Legal, Moral, and National Security    » read more »

June 9, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, DC- Following his meeting today in the U.S. Capitol with U.S. Supreme Court nominee, Sonia Sotomayor, U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) released the following statement:

“After meeting with Judge Sotomayor today, I was extremely impressed by her knowledge of the law and her personal warmth. I was also impressed by her honesty in answering questions and her understanding of the role of the judiciary at all levels of our federal system in ensuring the promise of ‘equal justice under law.’

I am strongly inclined to support her nomination, assuming the satisfactory completion of the confirmation process, which is designed to provide information and insight into the nominee’s academic background, judicial temperament and knowledge of the law.    » read more »

June 8, 2009 -- The U.S. Supreme Court today ruled that a $3 million contribution from Massy Coal to Justice Brent Benjamin’s 2004 campaign created “a serious, objective risk of actual bias that required Justice Benjamin’s recusal.”

Justice Benjamin cast the deciding vote in the reversal of a West Virginia court decision ordering Massey to pay $50 million in damages in a dispute with a local coal company.

Another West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals judge involved in the Massey case, Justice Spike Maynard recused himself last year after photos surfaced showing the judge and Massey CEO Don Blankenship vacationing together in Monaco. Justice Maynard voted with Justice Benjamin to reverse the decision against Massey.    » read more »

Statement of Adina Rosenbaum, Attorney, Public Citizen* and Clarence Ditlow, Executive Director, the Center for Auto Safety

June 8, 2009 -- "We are extremely gratified that Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has stayed the Second Circuit’s order affirming the approval of the bankruptcy sale of Chrysler under an agreement that would eliminate all current and future product liability claims of people injured or killed by defects in Chrysler vehicles. Justice Ginsburg’s order stays the sale until a further order from her or from the entire Court.    » read more »

06/08/2009 -- WASHINGTON -- United States Senator Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., today met with President Obama's nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court Sonia Sotomayor. If confirmed, Sotomayor will become the third woman to serve on the nation's highest court and the first Hispanic Justice.

Sen. Landrieu said:

"It was a pleasure meeting Judge Sonia Sotomayor today. In addition to having an impressive professional resume, her personal journey from the Bronx projects to the federal bench is truly extraordinary. Judge Sotomayor is a historic choice who will bring a wealth of experience and added diversity to the nation's highest court. I have confidence in her fair-mindedness, and I intend to support her Senate confirmation. "    » read more »

June 5, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit today rejected a challenge to the conviction of James Ford Seale, a former member of the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan of Mississippi.

Seale was convicted by a federal jury in Mississippi in 2007 and sentenced to three life terms in prison. The jury determined that Seale and other Klansmen conspired to abduct, interrogate, beat and eventually murder Henry Hezekiah Dee and Charlie Eddie Moore, both 19 years old at the time of their murders.    » read more »

Questions the fairness of federal law that outlaws wagering in all but four states

June 05, 2009 --
TRENTON - New Jersey Governor Jon S. Corzine today announced he would seek to intervene in support of a federal lawsuit filed by state Sen. Raymond Lesniak in an effort to overturn a federal ban on sports betting in New Jersey and 45 other states.

"The federal government’s prohibition on sports betting for some but not all states is fundamentally unfair," Governor Corzine said. "There should be uniformity in the application of federal law. If one state is allowed to legalize betting on sports events, all states should be allowed the same opportunity."    » read more »

Former State Representatives Be Released

June 4, 2009 -- The Department of Justice today asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to remand the cases of former Alaska State Representatives Victor Kohring and Peter Kott, who were convicted on corruption charges in 2007, to the District Court. The Department also asked the Court of Appeals to release the two on personal recognizance, after the Department uncovered material that appears to be information that should have been, but was not, disclosed to the defense prior to trial.

Attorney General Eric Holder also instructed the Department’s Criminal Division to review the Department’s public corruption investigation in Alaska to ensure that all other discovery obligations have been met.    » read more »

“Empowered at Home Act” would reduce costly Medicaid bias

June 4, 2009 -- WASHINGTON—More than one million Americans are living in nursing homes, but many would prefer to receive the services they need in their own homes, where they would be more comfortable and potentially save the health care system money in the long run. Unfortunately, many Americans who want to be cared for at home can’t because of a costly institutional bias in Medicaid, which pays for nearly two-thirds of the country’s nursing home residents.

While state Medicaid programs are required to provide nursing home care, home and community-based services that are often less expensive are optional, leaving them first in line to be cut in a poor economy.    » read more »

Washington, D.C., June 3, 2009 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced finalized settlements with Bank of America, RBC Capital Markets, and Deutsche Bank to resolve SEC charges that the firms misled investors regarding the liquidity risks associated with auction rate securities (ARS) that they underwrote, marketed, or sold.

The SEC's Division of Enforcement previously announced preliminary settlements with Bank of America and RBC on Oct. 8, 2008. Today's finalized settlements with those two firms as well as Deutsche Bank provide nearly $6.7 billion to approximately 9,600 customers who invested in ARS before the market for those securities froze in February 2008.    » read more »

Initiates New Rulemaking to Govern Immigration Removal Proceedings

June 3, 2009 -- Attorney General Eric Holder today vacated the order issued in Matter of Compean by Attorney General Mukasey in January and announced his intention to initiate a new rulemaking proceeding for regulations to govern claims of ineffective assistance of counsel in removal proceedings.    » read more »

June 3, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman has renewed his effort to address the critical shortage of nurse faculty.

Because the average age of the workforce is near retirement, the nationwide nursing shortage is growing rapidly just as the health care needs of our nation’s aging population are increasing. A 2006 Health Resources and Services Administration report estimated that the national nursing shortage would more than triple - to more than one million nurses - by the year 2020. The report also predicts that all 50 states will experience nursing shortages by 2015.    » read more »

Ethics Complaint on Governor’s Apparel Dismissed

June 3, 2009, Anchorage, Alaska - Alaska Governor Sarah Palin today welcomed news that another ethics complaint has been dismissed. This is the 14th ethics complaint filed against the governor or her staff that has been resolved with no finding of a violation of the Executive Branch Ethics Act. Those complaints contain 22 separate allegations, all of which have been found to be without merit.    » read more »