No worries. Like gay marriage, Florida’s anal majority will be sure to vote gay adoption into oblivion next election too.

Nothing says “proud American” like flipping the bird to people you perceive as your lessors.

Judge overturns Florida ban on adoption by gays

(CNN) — A Florida circuit judge declared unconstitutional Tuesday a 31-year-old state law that prevents gays and lesbians from adopting children, saying “the blanket exclusion” of gay applicants “defeated Florida’s goal of providing dependent children a permanent family.”

“The best interests of children are not preserved by prohibiting homosexual adoption,” Judge Cindy S. Lederman wrote in her 53-page ruling.

Florida is the only state that specifically bans all “homosexual” people from adopting children, although it does allow them to be foster parents.

This month, Arkansas voters approved a ballot measure to prohibit unmarried partners — same-sex or opposite-sex couples — from adopting children or from serving as foster parents.

The measure is similar to one in Utah, which excludes same-sex couples indirectly through a statute barring all unmarried couples from adopting or taking in foster children.

Mississippi allows single gays and lesbians to adopt but prohibits same-sex couples from adopting.

“…those who promote hate and violence will be held accountable and made to pay a steep price.”

If that were true, the KKK, most Churches and the entire republican party would be broke and out of business by now. Maybe one day, if there’s any justice, that’ll be the case.

Jury awards $2.5 million to teen beaten by Klan members

(CNN) — A jury awarded $2.5 million in damages on Friday to a Kentucky teenager who was severely beaten by members of a Ku Klux Klan group because they mistakenly thought he was an illegal Latino immigrant, the Southern Poverty Law Center said.

The jury found that the Imperial Klans of America and its founder wrongfully targeted 16-year-old Jordan Gruver, an American citizen of Panamanian and Native-American descent.

The verdict included $1.5 million in compensatory damages and $1 million in punitive damages against “Imperial Wizard” Ron Edwards.

The law center said before the verdict that a large damage award could break the Klan group, allowing the teen and the law center to seize the group’s assets, including its headquarters, a 15-acre compound in Dawson Springs, Kentucky.

“We look forward to collecting every dime that we can for our client and to putting the Imperial Klans of America out of business,” said SPLC founder and chief trial attorney Morris Dees, who tried the case. [...]

An all-white jury of seven men and seven women deliberated for five hours after three days of testimony. The suit alleged that Edwards, Hensley, and the Imperial Klans of America as a whole incited its members to use violence against minorities.

“The people of Meade County, Kentucky, have spoken loudly and clearly. And what they’ve said is that ethnic violence has no place in our society, that those who promote hate and violence will be held accountable and made to pay a steep price,” Dees said.

What a piece of work.

Have you noticed that the only time a damn republican screams for justice is when there’s a democrat involved?

They’re concerned about the irreparable harm that can be brought to Sarah Palin and the republican party. What about the irreparable harm the lying sack o’ shit will bring to all of America if republicans are allowed, yet again, to thumb their noses at the law?

But they’ll get away with it. They’ll get their wish. They always do. Nixon was the exception, not the rule.

GOP lawmakers appeal Palin probe ruling

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (CNN) — Lawmakers backing Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin appealed a judge’s refusal to block the state Legislature’s investigation into her firing of the state’s public safety commissioner, according to documents filed in court Friday.

“If this unconstitutional and unlawful investigation is allowed to continue, is completed, and if the resulting report is released as planned, Plaintiffs and Alaskans in general will suffer irreparable harm,” lawyers for the Liberty Legal Foundation told the Alaska Supreme Court.

The Texas-based conservative group is representing Republican legislators who support Palin and are asking the Alaska Supreme Court to shut down the probe, which they call “biased.” [...]

“The superior court’s decision is wrought with error and it must be reversed,” attorneys wrote in the appeal.

The justice system usually gives celebrities and politicians a pass for their ‘indiscretions’. O.J. got one on his first pass through the courts. No such luck this time though:

O.J. Simpson found guilty on all counts

LAS VEGAS, Nevada (CNN) — Former gridiron great O.J. Simpson was found guilty Friday of all 12 counts in the armed robbery of two sports memorabilia dealers at a Las Vegas, Nevada, casino hotel last year.

Simpson, 61, and his co-defendant Clarence “C.J.” Stewart, 54, were charged with a dozen offenses stemming from the sports memorabilia heist. Stewart was found guilty of the same charges as Simpson.

Simpson sat quietly and showed little emotion at the defense table as courtroom clerk Sandra Jeter read the verdicts.

After the verdicts were read, deputies immediately handcuffed Simpson and led him out of the courtroom.

Texas justice…….

As district attorney of Dallas for an unprecedented 36 years, Henry Wade was the embodiment of Texas justice.

A strapping 6-footer with a square jaw and a half-chewed cigar clamped between his teeth, The Chief, as he was known, prosecuted Jack Ruby. He was the Wade in Roe v. Wade. And he compiled a conviction rate so impressive that defense attorneys ruefully called themselves the 7 Percent Club.

But now, seven years after Wade’s death, The Chief’s legacy is taking a beating.

Nineteen convictions - three for murder and the rest involving rape or burglary - won by Wade and two successors who trained under him have been overturned after DNA evidence exonerated the defendants. About 250 more cases are under review.

No other county in America - and almost no state, for that matter - has freed more innocent people from prison in recent years than Dallas County, where Wade was DA from 1951 through 1986.

More at Forbes

I really don’t know how to feel about this one. These people have had to wait all this time for justice to be rendered. And when it came, it came with a pretty harsh slap.

I have to say I’m a little on the fence with this one. Someone close to me works in trucking insurance. In case after case, it seems the common theme is that it doesn’t really matter who is at fault, it’s who has the deeper pockets. And that usually proves to be the trucking company. And that infuriates me! We often hear how the big, bad truck driver, driving that rally big, un-safe truck, jack-knifed and caused all the damage. In truth, it’s usually an irresponsible motorist in his “4-wheeler” that started the disastrous chain of events.

We know beyond a shadow of a doubt that Exxon is guilty of this crime. And Exxon should pay. But $2.5 billion? Reducing that amount to $507.5 million just seems more rational. It’s sad these people have been put on hold for so many years. But by going for such a large judgment, they may have shot their own selves in the foot.

If we are to learn anything from this case it’s that large companies such as Exxon can not be trusted with their word when they say they will do everything in their power to not bring harm onto the environment. THEY WILL! They make mistakes. And they know how to “work” the American justice system. We must work hard and continue to refuse access to environmentally-sensitive areas to Exxon and all other large oil corporations.

Exxon Valdez $2.5 billion oil spill ruling overturned

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday threw out the record $2.5 billion in punitive damages that Exxon Mobil Corp had been ordered to pay for the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill off Alaska, the nation’s worst tanker spill.

By a 5-3 vote, the high court ruled that the punitive damages award should be slashed — limited by the circumstances of the case to an amount equal to the total relevant compensatory damages of $507.5 million. [...]

In the majority opinion, Justice David Souter concluded the $2.5 billion in punitive damages was excessive under federal maritime law, and should be cut to the amount of actual harm.

And now, the pisser:

Actually, our government is in the process of striking down “presumption of innocence,” with Guantanamo being their test site. If all works out well there (and, so far, it has), the right to a fair trial will be but a memory in the good ol’ U.S. of A.

Go, Republicans - Yea, team!

Mexico adopts U.S.-style trials, presumption of innocence

Mexican President Felipe Calderon on Tuesday signed a broad judicial reform measure setting up U.S.-style public trials and establishing a presumption of innocence for defendants, the Associated Press reports.
Under the changes, enacted in a constitutional amendment, prosecutors and defense lawyers will have to argue their cases out in public court. Previously, trials involved closed-door hearings that relied on written evidence.

All cruelty springs from weakness.

- Seneca

One of the Bush administration’s chief defenses, besides a mostly gutless and complicit Congress and press, is that the harm they’ve done is so deep and widespread it’s hard to keep track of it all. That said, the Guantanamo show trials and the use of torture are as fundamental a betrayal of American ideals as there can be, and even if the American press isn’t watching, the world is. All of these pieces should be read or listened to in their entirety, but I’ll provide some excerpts.
Read more »

There’s no question these men deserve a trial. As long as the U.S. is doing the detaining and the prosecuting, then we are bound by our rules. And in that vein, these men deserve a timely trial also.

Even in a military environment, there should be the presumption of innocence. If not, why even hold a trial? If the prosecution wants to withhold evidence, then the prosecution doesn’t have a case. To continue holding these men in this fashion makes us no better than that which we condemn them of.

Secret Evidence Bogs Down Gitmo Hearings

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba (AP) — The secrecy shrouding government files on terror suspects is bogging down the Pentagon’s effort to hold trials at Guantanamo Bay, with defense attorneys accusing the government of withholding potential evidence.

At pretrial hearings this week, attorneys for two al-Qaida suspects captured in Afghanistan said they need more access to interrogators, witnesses and records. Prosecutors objected, citing a need to protect the identities of U.S. service members and other security concerns.
[...]

“We’re going to have to see how willing the judges are to interpret the rules so as to give defense counsel some kind of chance to actually defend their clients,” said Navy Lt. Cmdr. William Kuebler, a defense attorney for detainee Omar Khadr. “That means litigating these discovery issues and that takes time.”

Godwin’s law notwithstanding, a big “HOORAY!” for the residents of Brattleboro, Vermont. They’ll soon be voting on whether Bush and Cheney should be arrested for “war crimes, perjury or obstruction of justice if they ever step foot in Vermont.”

Probably won’t happen though… Bush hasn’t stepped foot in Vermont since 2001.

(Note to Bush and Cheney: Vermont has many farms that need clearing. I also hear their quail hunting is unmatched anywhere in the world!)

Reading this gave me a renewed sense of hope. And it put a smile on my face. I may have giggled a little bit too!

If the man really is guilty of everything Bush and the prosecution alleges, then they should have brought forth evidence. They didn’t though. And probably because it really doesn’t exist.

Jose Padilla Sentenced to 17 Years in Prison

Justice Dept. Pushed for Life Sentence for Alleged Dirty Bomb Plotter

Jose Padilla, who was detained as an enemy combatant for 3 1/2 years for allegedly plotting to set off a radioactive “dirty bomb,” was sentenced today to just over 17 years in prison on separate terrorism-related charges in Miami.

The sentence marks another major setback in a terrorism prosecution for the Justice Department, which had urged U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke to sentence Padilla to life in prison for being part of an extremist cell that gave support to al-Qaeda and other Islamic militant groups.
[...]

Padilla, a U.S. citizen, was arrested returning to the United States at O’Hare International Airport in 2002 and was soon designated an enemy combatant by President Bush. The case was announced at the time with great fanfare by then-Attorney General John D. Ashcroft and other Bush administration officials, who portrayed Padilla as a dangerous and high-ranking al-Qaeda operative who was working on a plot to detonate a “dirty bomb” inside the United States.
[...]

Defense attorneys said Padilla and the other defendants were working to provide humanitarian aid to persecuted Muslims in other parts of the world. Federal prosecutors, on the other hand, portrayed them as willing participants in efforts to spread “violent jihad.”

This was such a joke!

Yahoo! Alerts Yahoo! News - My Alerts - Edit Alert
Thursday, December 13, 2007, 12:32 PM PST
MIAMI (AP) A jury has acquitted one of seven defendants charged with plotting to destroy Chicago’s Sears Tower and wage war against the U.S. A mistrial has been declared for the other six.

Oh gee, the guy gets out 13 days early. There are just way too many of these cases. Again I point you to the Innocence Project. Jim did an interview with them, which you can find in the Blue Herald Radio archives. I hope Mr. Bostic is able to enjoy life!!

After more than 19 years in prison, Larry Bostic on Friday walked out of a Broward County courtroom a free man.

Bostic, now 51, was happy and philosophical about his release on a rape charge after test results showed his DNA does not match evidence from the crime.

“I’m lucky. My family stuck with me through this ordeal,” said Bostic before heading to the jail to have an electronic monitoring device removed from his ankle.

Earlier Friday morning, Broward Circuit Judge Marc Gold vacated the remaining 13 days left on his state prison sentence.

The prosecutor, Morgan Rood, wished Bostic good luck.

More at the Sun Sentinel

from CNN.com

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (AP) — The woman who paid $7,400 on eBay for 22 Michael Vick football cards, chewed up and slobbered on by two Missouri dogs, acknowledges she hadn’t heard of the star football player before he was indicted for dogfighting.

But Laura Norton-Dye, 40, of Cape Girardeau, wanted to send the message that local animal shelters need help — and she challenged Vick to donate money himself.

Norton-Dye, who outbid 30 others, lives in the town where the auction originated and has requested the money be donated to the Humane Society of Southeast Missouri and to Safe Harbor, a local animal sanctuary.

Norton-Dye, who has incurable gastrointestinal carcinoid cancer, said she has a big heart for animals.

“I really think this was the right thing to do,” said Norton, a former teacher. “This is one way I thought I could make a difference.”

The success of the auction created a craze of more than 25 other postings this week offering torn-up cards featuring the disgraced NFL superstar, most also promising to donate the money to local animal shelters.

But so far, the original post from Rochelle Steffen, of Cape Girardeau, has been the only auction to attract droves of bidders.

Steffen gave Monte, her 6-year-old Weimaraner, and Roxie, her Great Dane puppy, every Vick card she owned to destroy. The cards, worth $1 to $10 each, were crumpled, crimped, chewed, torn and generally in a sorry state. Some even had corners missing.

read more HERE

United Press International

WASHINGTON, Aug. 23 (UPI) — Arthur Bremer, who attempted to assassinate Alabama Gov. George Wallace in 1972, is set to get out of prison in Maryland this year.

Corrections officials Thursday told The Washington Post Bremer is scheduled to be released in December from the Maryland Correctional Institute in Hagerstown.

Wallace was campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination when Bremer shot him in Laurel, Md. Three people traveling with Wallace were wounded, and Wallace was paralyzed in both legs.

Wallace died at 79 in 1998.

An investigation found that Bremer had been stalking Wallace for weeks.

Bremer, who was 21 at the time of the attempted assassination, pleaded insanity. A Prince George’s County, Md., jury convicted him and sentenced him to 53 years in prison.

When he is released in December, Bremer will have served 35 years of his sentence.

Corrections official Leonard Vaughan told the newspaper Bremer is being released under a state program that reduces prison time for inmates who maintain good behavior and have a prison job. Vaughn said Bremer could be released before December, because he earns more days off his sentence each month.

Bremer will be required to maintain contact with a parole officer until the end of his sentence, May 15, 2025, the Post said.