Court says judges must avoid appearance of bias

The Supreme Court ruled Monday that elected judges must step aside from cases when large campaign contributions from interested parties create the appearance of bias.

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Prosecutor's office opens Airbus plane probe

The Paris prosecutor's office says it has opened a manslaughter probe in the crash of Air France flight 447, a routine step by authorities in the deaths of French citizens overseas.

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When should judges step aside? Justices weigh case

Concerned about dwindling confidence in the impartiality of judges, the Supreme Court leaned Tuesday toward forcing elected judges to step aside from cases that would raise an appearance of bias if they took part.

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House votes to continue impeachment investigation

The House voted Tuesday to renew the unfinished impeachment investigation of U.S. District Judge Thomas Porteous of Louisiana, who is charged with presiding over a trial in which the lawyers involved had given him money.

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W.Va. judicial ethics case draws array of allies

An unusual alliance between public interest groups, corporate giants and even ex-judges has formed in a U.S. Supreme Court case over the ethics of a West Virginia judge who ruled in favor of a campaign contributor's company.

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Second-tier jobs will have clout in Obama era

WASHINGTON — We all know who the new secretary of state will be in president-elect Barack Obama’s administration.

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Court considers case on judicial ethics

Supreme Court justices regularly confront cases involving companies they own shares in or that employ a family member. The decision is easy — the justices have a conflict of interest that forces them to play no role in the case.

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Mexico adopts US-style public trials

Mexico threw open the doors to its judicial system Tuesday, allowing U.S.-style public trials and creating a presumption of innocence.

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Malaysia panel finds judicial conspiracy

A high-level inquiry found evidence that prominent government and judicial figures — including former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad — were involved in a conspiracy to manipulate the appointment of judges, Malaysia's law minister said Friday.

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Mahathir Denies Judicial Corruption

Former longtime leader Mahathir Mohamad denied at a public inquiry Thursday that outsiders manipulated top judicial appointments during his reign — in a scandal that has cast doubts about the independence of Malaysia's judiciary.

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Court Upholds NY Judicial Nominee System

A U.S. Supreme Court ruling that upholds New York's system of choosing trial judges is likely to renew calls for legislative reform, but even some proponents of change say their chances of success are slim.

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Former Miss. Judges Report to Prison

Two judges convicted of accepting bribes in exchange for favorable rulings reported to federal prison Thursday.

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Court Hears NY Judicial Elections Case

Supreme Court justices said Wednesday that New York's system of letting political bosses essentially pick trial judges does not appear to violate the Constitution.

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Pakistani Lawyers Protest Alleged Raid

Dozens of lawyers chanting "Death to Musharraf" boycotted courts and staged a rally in southwestern Pakistan on Monday to protest an alleged raid on a relative of Pakistan's suspended chief justice.

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Thousands Protest Pakistani President

Thousands rallied against President Gen. Pervez Musharraf in eastern Pakistan on Thursday, demanding the ouster of the military ruler for suspending the country's top judge.

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Pakistani Judge: Courts Must Be Free

The country's chief justice returned to the Supreme Court Saturday for the first time since being suspended by President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, making his way through jubilant crowds before delivering veiled critiques of the military ruler.

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27 Killed in Pakistan Political Violence

Government supporters and opponents turned neighborhoods of Pakistan's largest city into battlegrounds Saturday, leaving at least 27 people dead in the worst political violence since President Gen. Pervez Musharraf suspended the chief justice.

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2 Judges, Attorney Convicted of Bribery

A prominent attorney and two former judges he was accused of lavishing gifts and money on in exchange for favorable rulings were convicted of bribery.

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Bush Judicial Nominees Ask to Withdraw

In a concession to the Senate's new Democratic majority, President Bush won't rename four controversial federal appeals court nominees whose confirmations were blocked last year, Republican officials said Tuesday.

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O'Connor Worries About Courts' Autonomy

Retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor said she fears judges are under growing political attack nationwide.

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PESHAWAR: Fazal Raheem, the cop who stopped a suicide bomber at the entrance of the Judicial Complex on Thursday, is no longer in this world, but he has kept his words.

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President Obama has not made significant progress in his plan to infuse federal courts with a new cadre of judges, and liberal activists are beginning to blame his administration for moving too tentatively on what they consider a key priority.

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Is your privacy worth $100?

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Thinking A Bit

Some people come from a school of thought that sees the law as a dry, preserved, sacred text.

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This is what frustrates me. The school system was providing so many hours a week. The family disagreed, and they went to court to try to make the school system pay for the private school expenses.

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Suit challenges California juvenile dependency courts Plucked from their abusive homes, Sacramento County's most vulnerable children are thrust into an overloaded legal system that has neither the time nor the resources to protect them, a federal lawsuit charges

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The third-term Alabama senator, this week at least, is the face of a party without a clear leader. His role strikes some as hypocritical. But arguably, no one knows more intimately what a political minefield race has been for the GOP.

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In a speech at a Berkeley conference on Hispanic judges, Sotomayor said, "I would hope that a wise Latina woman, with the richness of her experiences, would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life." ......................... Fi …

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"But the duel of prosecution and defense psychiatrists was at best a farce, at worst a travesty of the profession and the law. As a former psychiatrist I am appalled."

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President has the power to continue to imprison them indefinitely even if they are acquitted at their trial.

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Judicial Misconduct in Criminal Cases:It's Not Just the Counsel Who May Be Ineffective and Unprofessional. By Richard Klein.

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Some prosecutors and judges make deals with child molesters according to this article and throw citizens in jail for 12 years who injure or kill an animal, even if it's accidental without mercy in my opinion as a long time court watcher.

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Sonia Sotomayor's Quotes Reveal Complete Ignorance on the Duties of Our Judicial Branch

Sonia Sotomayor, President Obama's first nominee for the Supreme Court of The United States, seems to have less knowledge on the duties of our judicial branch than the average high school student. (public school students excluded of course)

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As a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Mr. Biden was present for the nomination and confirmation of every currently sitting Supreme Court justice except for John Paul Stevens. In 1986, the year before Mr.

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In America do we have and all powerful Executive Branch, with a subservient Legislative Branch, and a non functional Judicial Branch

Poll Has America in effect changed our form of government to one of and imperial Presidency in which the Legislative and Judicial Branch's of our Democracy can only function in the absence of a Presidential order.

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The Idiot's Guide to Using Political Ideology Terms To Attack Someone You Don't Like

It really upsets me when people throw out attack code words to accuse people of not being as 'American' as they are, for daring to have different beliefs and / or ideas than they do... especially when the people using those words don't even know what they mean.

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As I post this seed, Sen. Patrick Leahy is making an opening statement regarding nobody being above the law, and how Judge Beebe was made a Federal Judge after approving torture. Please jump in at any time...

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JUDICIAL dispassion - the ability to decide cases without being influenced by personal feelings or political preferences - is indispensable to the rule of law.

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That President Obama has made "empathy" with certain groups one of his criteria for choosing a Supreme Court nominee is a dangerous sign of how much further the Supreme Court may be pushed away from the rule of law and toward even more arbitrary judicial edicts to advance the age …

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True to his campaign promises, President Barack Hussein Obama has picked a rabid judicial activist as his first federal court pick. Judge David Hamilton has been chosen by Obama to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit.

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Do valley residents get a fair shake ?;

Judge Kuenhold seems to be a capable judge, he shows wisdom and fortitude when addressing issue's such as our water problems, but as he is the districts chief judge, and with that i believe goes the responsibility of overseeing the judges and magistrates under his watch, to bear  …

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Pelosi, Obama, Roberts, and others are examples why the following modest proposal is made

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Senate Republicans penned a letter to President Obama on Monday urging him to eschew the "needlessly acrimonious" judicial nomination process and embrace bipartisanship as he fills the bench

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Video creates a danger, the study said, of "decision-making hubris" by judges.

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Kenneth W Starr has a warning for the Obama administration: what goes around comes around.

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