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The comments made by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) continue to reverberate on Capitol Hill and beyond. Durbin has tried to back away from his comments by deflecting the issue to "lies" told by the Bush administration. As a typical liberal, Durbin is not taking responsibility for his action. It is always someone else's fault. Sorry, Dick, you said it, you own it.
Now, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is urging the Senate to censure Durbin for his remarks that equate interogation of terrorist prisoners at Guantanamo Bay to the regimes of Hitler, Stalin, and Pol Pot.
Letter to Members of US Senate on Censuring Richard Durbin -- 06/20/2005
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Surprise, Surprise, Surprise! Not.
Sen. Joseph Biden (D-DE) has announced he plans to run for president in 1008. While the senior senator from Delaware will not make a formal announcement until later this year after seeing what level of support and funding he can find.
"My intention is to seek the nomination," Biden said on CBS's "Face the Nation." "I know I'm supposed to be more coy with you. I know I'm supposed to tell you, you know, that I'm not sure. But if, in fact, I think that I have a clear shot at winning the nomination by this November or December, then I'm going to seek the nomination."
Biden ran for president in 1988, but dropped out because of a plagiarism scandal involving his speeches and writings. It is likely he will have the same problem this time.
Biden to Seek Presidential Nomination
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As the Supreme Court enters its final two weeks of the current term, the speculation continues about how many if any, justices will retire this year.
Since October, the future of Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist became unclear during his battle with thyroid cancer. While Rehnquist is participating in the writing of opinions and dissents, the 80-year old jurist is said to look frail.
At the end of the term Rehnquist will have served for 19 years on the high court. Will he decide to complete the 20th or retire? Only Chief Justice Rehnquist knows for sure.
Chief Justice Rehnquist may not be the only justice to retire. Speculation is that Justice Sandra Day O'Connor of Justice Arthur Kennedy may also decide to retire at the end of this term.
Whatever happens in the next few weeks will set in motion the most contentious partisan battle in the Bush presidency. Senate democrats have vowed to filibuster any conservative nominee for the Supreme Court. If they keep their word, it will also trigger a vote to change Senate rules to ban the filibuster for judicial nominees.
The White House will only say that it is ready with a possible list of nominees in case of a retirement. If it is Rehnquist, the nod will first go to Justice Antonin Scalia a gifted jurist and administrator. Early speculation also had Justice Clarence Thomas as a contender for Chief Justice. His recent dissent in the cases involving discrimination in jury selection will hurt his chances with liberals and conservatives alike.
W.House mum on possibility of Rehnquist retirement - Yahoo! News
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The Supreme Court declined today to consider whether hundreds of criminals who were sentenced prior to a landmark ruling on federal sentencing guidelines should received reduced jail time.
Without comment, the justices let stand the nine year sentence of a drug dealing received under the mandatory minimum sentences.
In January, the high court ruled that the mandatory sentencing guidelines were unconstitutional. The reasoning was the guidelines required judges to make factual decisions that affect prison time. Facts that may not be part of the trial evidence.
Rulings by the high court generally do not apply to cases whose appeals are pending at the time of the decision unless there is a "plain error."
High Court Declines to Rule on Sentencing - Yahoo! News
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The Supreme Court overturned the death penalty of a Pennsylvania man because his trial attorney failed to investigate his background.
In his opinion Justice David Souter said the court agreed with the defendant's claim that a public defender failed to adequately research his background for evidence of mental illness and a traumatic upbringing. The court said this evidence could have resulted in a life sentence.
Even when a defendant in a capital case and his family cannot suggest mitigating circumstances, it is up to the attorney to make a reasonable effort to obtain and review materials that the prosecution will probably rely on during sentencing, Souter wrote.
In this case the defense knew the prosecution would use the defendants previous criminal record, but the public defender did not look at the file until a prosecutor warned, for the second time, that the previous criminal record would be use in sentencing.
The 5-4 decision said that prosecutors must retry the case or give the defendant a life sentence.
In a written dissent, Justice Arthur Kennedy wrote, "The Constitution does not mandate that defense attorneys perform busy work.
Top court overturns death sentence - Yahoo! News
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More later.
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