Death row inmate executed by first-ever nitrogen asphyxiation: “Tonight Alabama causes humanity to take a step backwards”
By Kate Randol. The state of Alabama put Kenneth Eugene Smith to death Thursday evening at the Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore. With his execution, Alabama has earned the macabre distinction of being the first US state, and likely the first government entity internationally, to utilize nitrogen asphyxiation to deliberately kill
Supreme Court narrowly upholds federal immigration authority against Texas measures
By John Burton On Monday, the US Supreme Court overruled a lower court injunction that was preventing US Border Patrol agents from removing sections of razor wire laid along the banks of the Rio Grande by Texas officials at the direction of the state’s fascistic, anti-immigrant Governor Greg Abbott. The Supreme Court’s
Kentucky bill aims to criminalize homelessness
By Milo Stevens. A Kentucky bill introduced in the legislature January 9 aims to criminalize homeless encampments across the state. House Bill 5, called the “Safer Kentucky Act,” would allow police to arrest people camping in public areas, sleeping in their cars or generally trying to survive in the elements. The bill
Right-wing Supreme Court majority conspires with billionaires to undermine federal regulations
By John Burton. At Wednesday morning’s oral argument, the right-wing supermajority of the US Supreme Court signaled that it will be dismantling 40 years of case law requiring federal judges to defer to the actions of regulatory agencies that were established by Congress and staffed by the executive branch. The decision will
Netanyahu suffers defeat on curbing judiciary, but Supreme Court and opposition parties back Gaza genocide and planned war on Iran
By Chris Marsden Israel’s Supreme Court has narrowly overturned the “reasonableness” amendment passed last July 14 by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government. This was nominally a political victory for last summer’s mass protest movement against Netanyahu’s efforts to remove minimal checks on his government by ending the Supreme Court’s power
Israeli Supreme Court strikes down Netanyahu regime’s judicial overhaul law
By Staff Writer The Supreme Court of Israel on Monday (01) in a historic judgment has struck down the government's reasonableness limitation law, annulling one of its quasi-constitutional Basic Laws for the first time in the country's history. The court split over the highly contentious legislation, with eight justices ruling to
Clarence Thomas demanded more money just before receiving gifts from his ultra-rich supporters
By Kevin Reed. Supreme Court Judge Clarence Thomas demanded a salary increase and threatened to quit the high court in 2000 just before ultra-rich supporters stepped in and gifted him with cash and other favors, according to a new report published by ProPublica on Monday. Based on interviews and other documents that
Right-wing Supreme Court majority on brink of gutting federal regulatory powers
By John Burton. At oral arguments Wednesday morning the right-wing majority of Supreme Court justices sympathized openly with an extremist position advocated by the attorney for a fascistic con artist that threatens longstanding federal powers to regulate the securities markets and other major business activities, including workplace safety, environmental protections and
US appeals court guts Voting Rights Act
By Barry Grey On Monday [20], the US Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling that effectively turns the landmark Voting Rights Act (VRA) of 1965 into a dead letter. In a 2 to 1 ruling, the appeals court, based in St. Louis and overseeing the mid-US states
US Supreme Court papers over rampant corruption with first-ever “Code of Conduct”
By Kevin Reed On Monday [13], the Supreme Court of the United States published, for the first time in its history, a document concerning what it calls “ethics rules and principles that guide the conduct of the Members of the Court.” The code elaborates five fundamental principles called “canons” and is signed