USLegal Reporter

The U.S. Supreme Court has turned down an appeal by a Chinese man who sought asylum due to a forced abortion on his wife. Yi Qiang Yang was 20 when he married his 17 year-old wife. Because they were too young to be legally married, they had a traditional marriage. Authorities forced his wife to have an abortion when she was eight months pregnant, due to a controversial family planning policy that generally limits couples to having only one child.

In 1996, an asylum law was enacted for victims of China’s policy on children. The Bush administration has supported asylum for women, but has resisted the male partners’ efforts to get asylum. U.S. immigration authorities and some courts have used the distinction between traditional and legal marriage to deny asylum. The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to deny the appeal was made without comment from the justices.

Source: http://news.findlaw.com/ap/a/w/1154//05-12-2008/20080512085004_15.html

The US Senate voted today to suspend shipments of an average of 70,000 barrels of oil a day into the government’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve until December 31, 2008 in an effort to aid the market and curb soaring gas prices. The Bush Administration has supported continued shipments in order to meet the maximum capacity of 727 million barrels for protection against possible interruption in supplies. The stockpile is now 97% full with 701 million barrels. The country currently uses more than 21 million barrels daily.

The House of Representatives is expected to vote on similar legislation to that proposed in the Senate, which was added to a bill relating to flood insurance. 

Source: http://news.findlaw.com/ap/a/w/1153//05-13-2008/20080513095002_19.html; http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/R?r110:FLD001:S53982;http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:S.2284:;http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:H.R.6022:

The Pentagon gave approval to ask for the death penalty in the cases against five Guantanamo detainees suspected in planning the September 11, 2001 terror attacks against the U.S, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has claimed to be the mastermind in planning the 9/11 terror attacks, as well as in 29 others that were planned.The charges are the first from the Guantanamo war court claiming direct involvement in the 2001 attacks on the United States and the first involving the death penalty.

Mohammed’s testimony was given before the Combatant Status Review Tribunal. Michael Hayden, the CIA director, has admitted to the use of waterboarding tactics during his interrogation. These controversial tactics, involving simulated drowning, could pose legal problems for Mohammed’s confession. The rules of court at the naval base at Guantanamo Bay and international treaty law signed by the U.S. prevent introducing evidence obtained through torture.

Source: http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2008/05/pentagon-approves-death-penalty-charges.php

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Minnesota’s governor, Tim Pawlenty, signed legislation Thursday that provides compensation to victims and/or their families of the August 1st Interstate 35W bridge collapse that killed 13 individuals and injured 145 more.

The bill allows for $38 million in funds, consisting of individual distributions of up to $400,000 for persons present on the bridge and additional payments from a supplemental fund for those who received more severe injuries. Victims and/or family members have until October 15 to file a claim and in accepting the payment, must forfeit their right to sue the state and other governmental entities.

Source: http://news.findlaw.com/ap/other/1110//05-08-2008/20080508085003_03.html; http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jUh_mElfJjbKk0e620KmTxCHwPSwD90G27TO0

A California lawmaker has introduced a bill to fine drivers who drive with pets in their laps. The law would impose a $35 fine for those caught in violation of the lap dog ban. Assembylan Bill Maze’s bill passed the Assembly with a 44-11 vote and is headed to the Senate.

Assemblyman Maze, R-Visalia, says he was prompted to introduce the legislation after seeing a woman driving with three dogs in her lap. There are currently no restrictions on having pets in cars. The only restriction applies to pets who are put in the back of a pickup, requiring them to be secured in a cage or by other means.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/05/06/pets.driving.ap/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

April 29, 2008

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case that will determine the legality of the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) policy that even a single utterance of an obscene word on radio and television broadcasts during daytime and early evening hours may be penalized. It will be the first time in 30 years for the court to rule on the use of expletives on television and radio.

The lawsuit arose when Fox Broadcasting sued the FCC after being reprimanded for the use of vulgar language by Cher and Nicole Richie during televised awards shows in 2002 and 2003. Fox claims the enforcement of the indecency policy is arbitrary and unconstitutional. The reprimand came after the FCC reversed its position in 2004 and said even “fleeting” expletives could subject a network to sanctions.

In June 2007, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit in New York found that the FCC’s policy was “arbitrary and capricious” under the Administrative Procedure Act because the commission had “failed to articulate a reasoned basis for its change in policy.” The court also raised questions about its constitutionality under the First Amendment.

In FCC v. Pacifica Foundation, 438 U.S. 726 (1978), involving a monologue by the comedian George Carlin, the Court held that the federal government has the authority to police over-the-air radio and television broadcasts for “patently offensive” material of a sexual or excretory nature from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., when children are mostly likely to be in the audience. However, Justice John Paul Stevens noted in the decision that “We have not decided that an occasional expletive in either setting would justify any sanction.” It was not until a wardrobe malfunction involving Janet Jackson at the Super Bowl in 2004 that the FCC changed its enforcement policy.

The FCC claims that technology has made it possible for the networks to edit the use of expletives. The networks argue that variants of expletives are used which don’t reference sexual or excretory organs or activities, and that the FCC has exceeded its authority when it issues sanctions for a word that does not convey a sexual message.

Source:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/17/AR2008031700842.html?sub=new

Since 1999, the number of executions under the death penalty have dropped 57%, according to the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC). The number of executions in 2007 was 42, compared to 98 in 1999. 37 states currently have a death penalty, although executions were carried out in only ten states last year. 86 percent of the executions in 2007 were carried out in southern states, mainly in Texas, with 62% of the total executions nationwide. Executions outside the South were conducted in Arizona, South Dakota, Indiana, and Ohio.

The U.S. Supreme Court issued a moratorium on executions in September 2007, in order to decide whether lethal injections constitute uncontitutional cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment. This month the Court decided that the method doesn’t violate the Eighth Amendment, and stays imposed on executions pending the court’s ruling have been lifted. Therefore, this month’s decision may lead to an increase in executions in 2008.

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/12/18/death.penalty.decline/index.html

Maine, the only state that failed to meet the deadline of March 31, 2008 to comply with or request an extension to comply with REAL ID legislation, was given a new deadline of 5pm on Wednesday, April 2 to follow all other states in complying or requesting an extension for compliance with the law. Maine had previously passed legislation that prohibited state compliance with REAL ID, which requires states to implement more strict driver license standards.

Maine received an official extension after its governor, John Baldacci, wrote the Department of Homeland Security on April 2 agreeing to introduce legislation which would target the federal government’s concerns with state driver’s license systems, including requiring the state to only issue driver’s licenses to legal residents. Had Maine failed to receive the extension, its residents would not have been able to use their driver’s licenses when boarding commercial airplanes or entering certain federal buildings starting May 11, 2008.

Source: http://news.mainetoday.com/updates/024718.html

Although South Carolina’s governor Mark Sanford did not formally request an extension for the state to comply with the REAL ID law, the state received an extension on the date of the deadline of March 31, 2008. REAL ID requires state driver’s licenses to meet new standards. The extension came after Sanford sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security stating that the state’s driver’s licenses already contain many of the REAL ID safeguards and that the state is prohibited from compliance due to a state law passed last year. As a result, South Carolina residents will be allowed to continue to use their driver’s licenses as identification for flying commercial airplanes or entering federal buildings after enforcement of the law begins on May 11, 2008.

Three other states held out in opposition to complying with the legislation or seeking an extension, including Montana, New Hampshire and Maine. Montana and New Hampshire also did not explicitly seek an extension but wrote letters outlining how the states were otherwise strengthening their driver’s license systems. The government responded by granting these two states unrequested extensions. Maine was the only state left that had not complied or received an extension on the date of the deadline after having sent a letter setting forth steps the state is taking to improve its driver’s licenses and asking the government to allow its residents to continue to use driver’s licenses as identification. The government did not respond by granting an actual extension but gave the state a new deadline of Wednesday, April 2, to comply or request an extension.

Source: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hGWEcbtYTTl9RTiO3YS_POnaYJ9gD8VOPT080

The families who lost loved ones and those who were injured during the Virginia Tech killings will have another week to consider the proposed settlement by the state of Virginia. Instead of having to respond to the settlement by March 31, 2008, the deadline has been extended for the families and victims to April 7, 2008.

Under the settlement, the families of the persons who were murdered would receive $100,000. For those injured but not killed in the shootings, $800,000 would be available, but no individual could receive more than $100,000. Both the families of the murdered and injured persons would be compensated for medical and counseling expenses and would be given the opportunity to obtain additional money from a hardship fund of $1.75 million.

Families and individuals who accept the settlement will be prohibited from bringing lawsuits against the state and the university.

Source: http://news.findlaw.com/ap/other/1110//03-28-2008/20080328150505_07.html