Holder Asks Europe to Take Gitmo Detainees: Wall Street Journal Blog writer Ashby Jones posts on the anticipation that Attorney General Eric Holder will ask Europe for help in closing the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Jones reports that Holder is expected to ask countries to take a few detainees off of our hands. Holder told reporters that there are about 30 detainees the United States is prepared to release, and the United States is hoping that our allies will agree to allow them to relocate in Europe. According to Jones, several European countries, like Lithuania and Portugal, have said they will consider accepting detainees. France has said it will take one detainee. Holder has his work cut out for him. Even after he finds a place for the 30 detainees, he still has to relocate 211 in the next nine months (Gitmo's scheduled closing date).
Follow-up on Crack Sentencing Disparity: Yesterday, Doug Berman posted at Sentencing Law and Policy that today could be the day the DOJ advocated changing the "100-to-1crack/powder" federal sentencing disparity. Turns out he was right (our News Scan has a link to an AP article on the proposed change). Today, Berman has several posts on the DOJ's proposal to change the 100-to-1 sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine with an even 1-to-1 ratio. A report on the live webcast can be found here, and musings on how to implement the change can be found here, and here.
Oral Arguments on Voting Rights Act Case: At SCOTUSblog, Lyle Denniston reports on oral arguments in Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District Number One v. Eric Holder, Jr, Attorney General, et al. (08-322). The case asks whether the municipal utility district is eligible to "bail out" from the preclearance requirement of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. The Court's decision could have significant effects on the voting rights of minorities. Denniston writes that Justice Kennedy controlled the tempo of today's arguments, expressing "concern over Congress intruding on the sovereignty of some states but not others", and looking for a way to check federal management of state voting systems, when doing so could mean invalidating a statute that even he conceded had been "very effective." Tony Mauro has this report at Blog of Legal Times, and Heather Gerken writes for Balkinization, that comments from the Justices today might make supporters of the Voting Rights Act a little nervous.
Follow-up on Crack Sentencing Disparity: Yesterday, Doug Berman posted at Sentencing Law and Policy that today could be the day the DOJ advocated changing the "100-to-1crack/powder" federal sentencing disparity. Turns out he was right (our News Scan has a link to an AP article on the proposed change). Today, Berman has several posts on the DOJ's proposal to change the 100-to-1 sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine with an even 1-to-1 ratio. A report on the live webcast can be found here, and musings on how to implement the change can be found here, and here.
Oral Arguments on Voting Rights Act Case: At SCOTUSblog, Lyle Denniston reports on oral arguments in Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District Number One v. Eric Holder, Jr, Attorney General, et al. (08-322). The case asks whether the municipal utility district is eligible to "bail out" from the preclearance requirement of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. The Court's decision could have significant effects on the voting rights of minorities. Denniston writes that Justice Kennedy controlled the tempo of today's arguments, expressing "concern over Congress intruding on the sovereignty of some states but not others", and looking for a way to check federal management of state voting systems, when doing so could mean invalidating a statute that even he conceded had been "very effective." Tony Mauro has this report at Blog of Legal Times, and Heather Gerken writes for Balkinization, that comments from the Justices today might make supporters of the Voting Rights Act a little nervous.
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