Freedom

Supreme Court Watch

High Court to Hear Medical Marijuana Issue
WASHINGTON -- Angel Raich tried dozens of prescription medicines to ease the pain of a brain tumor and other illnesses before she took up another drug: pot. The mother of two has the support of her doctor and a California medical marijuana law when she lights her pot pipe every few hours. The Supreme Court hears arguments Monday whether that's enough to protect Raich from the federal government, which makes no exceptions for the seriously ill in its war on drugs.

Poll: Most Oppose High Court Life Tenure
WASHINGTON -- Six in 10 Americans say there should be a mandatory retirement age for Supreme Court justices, according to an Associated Press poll. The survey found public support for an idea that has arisen periodically in Congress without ever making headway. Only one of the nine current justices, Clarence Thomas, is younger than 65. Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, 80, appointed to the court by President Nixon, has thyroid cancer. In the survey, people were asked if they could identify what job Rehnquist held, and 59 percent did not know.

Chief Justice Won't Return to the Court This Year
WASHINGTON -- Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, who missed the Supreme Court's November argument session while being treated for thyroid cancer, will be absent for the December session as well, the court announced on Friday. Kathleen Arberg, the court's public information officer, said Chief Justice Rehnquist was continuing to receive chemotherapy and radiation treatments as an outpatient and was meeting with his law clerks and court officials at his home. Ms. Arberg said she had no information on when the 80-year-old chief justice might return to the court. Given the apparent seriousness of his illness, there has been widespread speculation that the chief justice will announce his retirement sometime this winter. Jan. 7 will mark his 33rd anniversary on the court.

Rehnquist's Health Still a Mystery
WASHINGTON -- Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist's health is shrouded in mystery, the extent of his thyroid cancer a closely guarded secret. Several coming events could give the public an idea about the seriousness of his condition. Since announcing his illness in a statement on Oct. 25, the 80-year-old Rehnquist has run the nation's highest court from his home in suburban Virginia.

White House Criticizes High Court Appeal
WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration on Wednesday urged the Supreme Court not to rush a decision in an extraordinary appeal about the government's plans for military trials for foreign terror suspects. The high court had been asked to decide by next week whether to hear Hamdan's case, which raises questions about government power to prosecute wartime prisoners.

Guantanamo Trials Appealed at High Court
WASHINGTON -- Lawyers for an alleged al-Qaida member have filed an unusual appeal at the Supreme Court challenging the government's strategy in holding military trials for terror suspects in Cuba. The Bush administration has defended its plans for military commission trials, resurrected from World War II, at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba. U.S. District Judge James Robertson said the government must first determine that the suspects are not prisoners of war and entitled to more legal rights. He also ruled that the guidelines for the trials must be changed.

Death row case gets revisited
JACKSON -- Attorneys for a death row inmate will argue before the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday that Mississippi juries should be able to convict defendants in capital cases of the lesser crimes of murder or manslaughter. Attorneys for Marlon Howell have said in briefs that Howell deserves a new trial because his Union County jury was not allowed to consider convicting him of a lesser crime rather than capital murder, which carries a maximum penalty of death.

Posted by Editor at November 29, 2004 07:32 AM