FOIA During Wartime: At SCOTUSblog, Lyle Denniston has a post on an Obama Administration petition asking the Supreme Court "to put a strict new limit on public disclosure of
evidence -- including photos -- of torture or abuse of wartime captives
by U.S. military personnel." The petition, U.S. Defense Department, et al. v. American Civil Liberties Union, et al. (09-160), asks the Court to examine the Second Circuit's conclusion that the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requires disclosure of the photos. Section 7 of FOIA exempts certain government records, including any law
enforcement files, from general disclosure requirements, if their release "could reasonably be expected to
endanger the life or physical safety of any individual." The Second Circuit held that the government could use that exemption only if it offered evidence of a threat to an identified individual, and general U.S. forces were not included in the exemption. While the Supreme Court is asked to interpret only two words in FOIA ("any individual"), Denniston believes the issue is whether the government can prevent the public disclosure of
unclassified evidence of military misconduct during wartime, based on a
generalized claim that release will threaten harm to U.S. military
forces in the field.
Celebration at the White House: Tony Mauro reports on Blog of Legal Times that, today, President Obama hosted a "festive and emotional reception" for new Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor. Obama said Sotomayor's presence on the Court represents "yet another step closer to the more perfect union we all seek." Mauro reports that the President did not speak on "empathy" today, but did quote the late Justice William Brennan Jr. who said government officials need to understand the "pulse of life" behind the events they deal with. Justice Sotomayor gave brief remarks of gratitude and said she was "deeply humbled by the sacred responsibility of upholding our laws and safeguarding the rights and freedoms set forth in our Constitution. I ask not just my family and friends, but I ask all Americans, to wish me divine guidance and wisdom in administering my new office."
Don't Go After Judges, Their Contemporaries Set Your Bail: Ashby Jones reports on Wall Street Journal's Law Blog that, yesterday, federal judge Martin Ashman denied Hal Turner bail, ruling that Turner was still a danger to the community. Turner made headlines back in June when he made threats against three Seventh Circuit Judges - Richard Posner, Frank Easterbrook and William Bauer - on a blog. The three had just upheld handgun bans in Chicago, and an angry Turner wrote, "Let me be the first to say this plainly: These judges deserve to be killed. Their blood will replenish the tree of liberty. A small price to pay to assure freedom for millions." The ruling surprised some, since Turner was once an FBI informant, but Judge Ashman gave greater sway to the fact that, from his prison cell, Turner managed to record and post on the Internet a telephone conversation that included the names of his arresting FBI agents.
Sentencing Post-Booker: Doug Berman posts a link to an SSRN paper on Sentencing Law and Policy. "In Search of the Booker Revolution," by Ryan Scott, presents new data, suggesting a modest increase, in the District of Massachusetts, in inter-judge disparity since Booker. The paper reports "[t]he strength of the relationship between the identity of the sentencing judge and sentence length has increased, by some measures 60-80% above pre-Booker levels. The identity of the judge also has become a stronger predictor of sentencing relative to the Guidelines...."
Celebration at the White House: Tony Mauro reports on Blog of Legal Times that, today, President Obama hosted a "festive and emotional reception" for new Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor. Obama said Sotomayor's presence on the Court represents "yet another step closer to the more perfect union we all seek." Mauro reports that the President did not speak on "empathy" today, but did quote the late Justice William Brennan Jr. who said government officials need to understand the "pulse of life" behind the events they deal with. Justice Sotomayor gave brief remarks of gratitude and said she was "deeply humbled by the sacred responsibility of upholding our laws and safeguarding the rights and freedoms set forth in our Constitution. I ask not just my family and friends, but I ask all Americans, to wish me divine guidance and wisdom in administering my new office."
Don't Go After Judges, Their Contemporaries Set Your Bail: Ashby Jones reports on Wall Street Journal's Law Blog that, yesterday, federal judge Martin Ashman denied Hal Turner bail, ruling that Turner was still a danger to the community. Turner made headlines back in June when he made threats against three Seventh Circuit Judges - Richard Posner, Frank Easterbrook and William Bauer - on a blog. The three had just upheld handgun bans in Chicago, and an angry Turner wrote, "Let me be the first to say this plainly: These judges deserve to be killed. Their blood will replenish the tree of liberty. A small price to pay to assure freedom for millions." The ruling surprised some, since Turner was once an FBI informant, but Judge Ashman gave greater sway to the fact that, from his prison cell, Turner managed to record and post on the Internet a telephone conversation that included the names of his arresting FBI agents.
Sentencing Post-Booker: Doug Berman posts a link to an SSRN paper on Sentencing Law and Policy. "In Search of the Booker Revolution," by Ryan Scott, presents new data, suggesting a modest increase, in the District of Massachusetts, in inter-judge disparity since Booker. The paper reports "[t]he strength of the relationship between the identity of the sentencing judge and sentence length has increased, by some measures 60-80% above pre-Booker levels. The identity of the judge also has become a stronger predictor of sentencing relative to the Guidelines...."
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