USLegal Reporter

The Democratic National Committee Rules and Bylaws Committee voted on Saturday to seat delegations from Michigan and Florida at this year’s national convention. However, delegates will only have half a vote. Michigan and Florida had been stripped of their delegates earlier this year as a penalty for holding their primaries early in violation of DNC rules.

The total number of delegate votes now needed to secure the Democratic nomination for President is 2,118.

As of today, neither Barack Obama nor Hillary Clinton had enough delegates to secure the nomination.

Source: http://democrats.org/a/2008/06/rbc_reaches_agr.php

 

California officials at the state’s Office of Vital Records have given permission for county clerks to begin issuing gay marriages licenses starting on June 17, 2008. The state Supreme Court has until the end of business on June 16 to decide whether to grant a stay of its ruling which legalizes gay marriage. New forms for marriage licenses will include blanks for “Party A” and “Party B”, rather than bridge and groom.

Those opposed to gay marriage have asked the court to stay its decision until after the November election, when voters are likely to vote on a ballot initiative that would restore the definition of marriage as a union between a man and a woman. If the initiative passes, it would overrule the Supreme Court. In the Field Poll, released after the Supreme Court ruling legalizing gay marriage, 51 percent of respondents backed legalizing same-sex marriage and 42 percent opposed it.

Source: http://news.findlaw.com/ap/other/1110//05-28-2008/20080528125005_113.html

An Ohio judge has agreed to release a man jailed for his daughter’s truancy if if his daughter Brittany attends a GED preparatory class and schedules the test before the next court date. Brittany Gegner, now 18, has a history of skipping large amounts of school since she was in fifth or sixth grade, according to Butler County Judge David Niehaus. The problem continued after she became pregnant and bore a child, officials and relatives said. Records show she had 31.5 unexcused absences and was tardy 27 times in 2005-06 alone.The father, Brian Gegner, was ordered months ago to make sure his daughter passed the GED test. Due to the failure to do so, Gegner received a 180-day sentence for contributing to the unruliness or delinquency of a minor. Gegner must return to court July 16. Judge Niehaus has ruled that he will go back to jail that day unless Brittany attends the classes as arranged. Under Ohio’s truancy law, parents and legal custodians whose children repeatedly fail to attend school can receive punishments including mandatory parenting classes, community service, fines and jail time. In 2007, 11 people were jailed in Butler county alone for failing to send their children for school. Judge Niehaus stated that Brittany’s mother wasn’t charged because Brian Gegner was the parent with legal custody and the responsibility in this case.

Source: http://news.findlaw.com/ap/other/features/1120//05-16-2008/20080516113503_10.html

Minnesota has joined several other states in passing anti-REAL ID legislation this week. The Minnesota House of Representatives and Senate passed a bill that prohibits the state’s department of public safety from implementing REAL ID requirements for state driver’s licenses due to concerns relating to privacy and costs of complying with the law.

Source: http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2008/05/minnesota-house-senate-pass-bill.php; https://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/revisor/pages/search_status/status_detail.php?b=House&f=HF3807&ssn=0&y=2007

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