Judiciary

Latest Articles

Marriage and the Supremes

What will the highest court say about same-sex matrimony?
It's a given that, at some point — whether in these DOMA challenges or some other future cases — the US Supreme Court will hear a case relating to same-sex marriage. Can we read any tea leaves for indications of how they will rule?
By JEFF INGLIS | June 02, 2010

Considering Kagan

She’s weak on free speech, but doesn’t deserve her ‘Seinfeld moment’
Elena Kagan, onetime dean of Harvard Law School and current US solicitor general, is a less than perfect candidate to sit on the Supreme Court.
By EDITORIAL | May 12, 2010

Elena Kagan’s shaky record

What a Kagan appointment to the Supreme Court could mean for civil liberties
As a potential Obama nominee for Supreme Court justice, Elena Kagan has liberal bona fides and the likely support of the right. But if her record is any indication, she’s more likely to side with the conservative bloc on matters of executive power and war-time presidential authority.
By HARVEY SILVERGLATE AND KYLE SMEALLIE | April 16, 2010

Judicial ups and downs

Plus poppy hypocrisy, pressuring the Pope, and even more ‘Buttercup’ trivia
It was about time that Rogeriee Thompson was finally confirmed (unanimously, we might add) by the United States Senate for what amounts to an historic spot on the Federal Court of Appeals.
By PHILLIPE AND JORGE | March 24, 2010

New ways to prevent domestic violence

Following Up
About eight months ago, the Sanford-based anti-domestic-violence organization Caring Unlimited launched a court-monitoring program that placed observers in York County courtrooms to take notes on domestic-violence case proceedings.
By DEIRDRE FULTON | March 17, 2010

The US Supreme Court has saved us from financial ruin

Not a modest proposal
There has been powerful criticism of the recent US Supreme Court ruling that corporations are truly people, and deserve all the rights people have, including the right to spend as much as they wish to support or oppose candidates in elections.
By JEFF INGLIS | February 10, 2010

Impeach John Roberts

The Chief Justice lied
It is time for an enterprising and courageous member of the US House of Representatives to file articles of impeachment against the chief justice of the United States Supreme Court, John Roberts. The charge: lying under oath.
By EDITORIAL | February 08, 2010

Corrections disobeys another federal court order

Solitary Confinement
For decades, as it has with other court orders, the Maine Department of Corrections has apparently been breaching a 1973 federal court’s decree that forbids disciplinary solitary confinement at the Maine State Prison beyond 10 days for minor offenses, or 30 days for major ones.
By LANCE TAPLEY | December 16, 2009

Catching up with FairPoint’s decline

On the Ropes Dept.
We've been telling you for ages how bad the FairPoint deal was for residents of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont.
By JEFF INGLIS | November 24, 2009

Jews and Latinos get cozy

ADL + LPN 4EVA
While US Senate Republicans dropped politically prudent bombshells on Sonia Sotomayor during her Supreme Court–nomination hearings this week, watchdogs from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the Latino Professional Network (LPN) kept extra close ears on rage speech bubbling through conservative media channels.
By CHRIS FARAONE | July 15, 2009

The 12th Annual Muzzle Awards

A look at the dishonorable enemies of free speech and personal liberty in New England.
With the era of repression and secrecy fostered by George W. Bush and Dick Cheney finally over, this should be the best of times for freedom of expression, open government, and civil liberties. Yet change comes slowly.
By DAN KENNEDY | July 10, 2009

Patrick's patchwork

Plus, Massachusetts needs a DNA-testing law
The folks on Beacon Hill deserve credit for crafting a budget in this extraordinarily challenging fiscal climate that will hopefully sustain services at a level just short of disastrous.
By EDITORIAL | July 02, 2009

Jailed HIV-positive pregnant woman released - for now

Judicial Discretion
Quinta Layin Tuleh, the HIV-positive pregnant woman a federal judge in Bangor, Maine, ordered jailed until her baby was delivered, has been released on bail while her appeal of her sentence makes its way through the courts.
By JEFF INGLIS | June 24, 2009

Guilty until proven guilty

Freedom Watch
The US Supreme Court's June 18 decision denying prisoners access to DNA testing — a procedure that could reliably prove innocence — adds to the high court's decades-long shameful record on criminal-justice issues.
By HARVEY SILVERGLATE | June 24, 2009

Supreme court

Maine senators playing major role in Sotomayor confirmation
Next month, Congress will begin confirmation hearings to decide the fate of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, the 55-year-old Bronx native whom President Barack Obama nominated last month to fill retiring Justice David Souter's spot on the nine-member bench.
By DEIRDRE FULTON | June 17, 2009

Bozzio appeals jail sentence, goes on tour

Reappearing Person
The bizarre animal-cruelty case of Missing Persons frontwoman Dale Bozzio is far from over.
By ASHLEY RIGAZIO | June 18, 2009

Federal judge: more rights for the unborn

Fetal Obligations
A federal judge in Bangor, Maine, has recognized a new right of fetuses that could become a key element in the nation's ongoing abortion debate.
By JEFF INGLIS | June 11, 2009

Robojudge

Stephen Breyer may be the right man at the wrong time
Judge Stephen Breyer, Bill Clinton's latest pick for the Supreme Court, has attracted support so broad that it spans ideological and political differences.
By HARVEY SILVERGLATE | June 11, 2009

Gay deceivers

Outrage isn't outrageous enough
The California State Supreme Court just upheld Proposition 8, denying gay people the right to marriage. This should disabuse the complacent of the illusion that the religious right has relinquished its death grip on America. So, too, should Kirby Dick's documentary about the homophobic power of closeted right-wing politicians in America.
By PETER KEOUGH | June 04, 2009

Judging the judge

Facing the facts of the Sotomayor nomination
Women may not yet have full equality, but Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the US Supreme Court proves we can compete with the big guys now. It also means that women accepting patronage (and every political appointment is patronage) have an equal shot at getting pounded in the process.
By Mary Ann Sorrentino | June 03, 2009

Sotomayor's mixed message on free speech

Freedom Watch
Minutes after President Barack Obama announced that he was nominating appellate judge Sonia Sotomayor for the vacant seat on the Supreme Court, battle lines were drawn on the pre-scripted questions of "post-racial" America.
By HARVEY SILVERGLATE | June 03, 2009

Battle over open space in North Providence

Real estate
Will the last large piece of open space in North Providence turn into the site of 47 single family homes? That decision currently rests with the Rhode Island General Assembly and the Rhode Island Supreme Court. The outcome could jeopardize open space preservation statewide.
By STEVEN STYCOS | May 27, 2009

On Sotomayor

A noble pick that highlights a political flash point. Plus, California's shame.
There is a pleasing symmetry to President Obama's nomination of federal appeals court judge Sonia Sotomayor to the United States Supreme Court.
By EDITORIAL | May 27, 2009

Regarding President Obama's Supreme Court pick

Idiot Box
Women in the court
By MATT BORS | May 13, 2009

ACLU and Irons: Strange political bedfellows

LegalWatch
Politics has seldom made stranger bedfellows than those exposed when the RI ACLU hopped into the sack with former state senator William Irons.
By MARY ANN SORRENTINO | May 06, 2009

Equal rites?

Why has Rhode Island lagged behind the rest of New England on same-sex marriage legislation?
New England has made a pretty good case, in recent years, for America's capital of queer.
By DAVID SCHARFENBERG | April 08, 2009

A great little performer

Obama administration stubs its toe with the tax-challenged
If this doesn't convince you that no one with lotsa bucks plays by the rules, and that insider trading is rife on Wall Street, along with obscene bonuses collected by what are essentially crooks, with no morals, at most big lending institutions, how would you like to buy that bridge to Brooklyn at the lower end of Manhattan?
By PHILLIPPE AND JORGE | February 04, 2009

Providence lawyer plays pioneering role in suing terrorists

National Security
The use of Predator drones and covert Special Forces teams is bound to be satisfying for many victims of terrorism.
By BILL RODRIGUEZ | January 21, 2009

The Impeachinator

Watchdog Fein
From Caligula to Bush...er Obama: Bruce Fein watches them all.
By HARVEY SILVERGLATE | November 24, 2008

Dictator McCain?

Don’t laugh: if the Arizona ‘maverick’ is elected, he’ll complete the job Bush started
The only thing standing in the way of Republican John McCain assuming the powers and prerogatives of a dictator should he be elected president is the vote of a single Supreme Court justice.
By EDITORIAL | October 27, 2008