The U.S. government can withhold photographs and videotapes of a Guantanamo Bay detainee identified as the would-be 20th hijacker in the Sept. 11 terror attacks, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan agreed with the government that images of Mohammed al-Qahtani, if made public, "could logically and plausibly be used by anti-American extremists as propaganda to recruit members and incite violence against American interests at home and abroad."
Authorities have said al-Qahtani narrowly missed being one of the hijackers when he was denied entry into the U.S. at an Orlando, Florida, airport a month before the attacks. He was captured by Pakistani forces in December 2001 and taken to Guantanamo, where he remains.
The Center for Constitutional Rights sued the departments of Defense and Justice and the CIA in 2012, saying the release of videotapes and photographs of his interrogation and confinement would serve the public interest. The group has accused FBI and military personnel of subjecting al-Qahtani to isolation and aggressive interrogation techniques in 2002, including the use of a snarling dog, stripping him naked in the presence of a woman and repeatedly pouring water on his head.
Thursday, September 4, 2014
Texas abortion clinic to reopen after court ruling
Women in South Texas facing a 200-mile drive for access to legal abortions learned Wednesday that a local clinic shuttered by a sweeping anti-abortion law would reopen, marking the first tangible effect of a court ruling last week that blocked key parts of the state law.
Whole Woman's Health clinic in McAllen, a city near the Mexico border, closed in March after its doctors said they couldn't obtain admitting privileges at nearby hospitals as the state now requires. But a federal judge ruled Friday that the law created unconstitutional barriers to abortions in South Texas, and the clinic is now set to reopen later this week, chief executive Amy Hagstrom Miller said.
Questions are now also being raised about whether the ruling had other broader ramifications than first thought.
U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel made two key rulings in Friday's 21-page decision. He struck down a mandate that required all abortion clinics in Texas to adopt costly hospital-level operating standards and exempted clinics in McAllen and El Paso from an already upheld requirement that doctors who perform abortions obtain admitting privileges at nearby hospitals.
A four-day trial last month narrowly focused on the El Paso and McAllen areas because clinics there serve regions where access to abortions would otherwise be particularly difficult. But language Yeakel included in a separate final judgment has left some questioning whether his order — inadvertently or not — banned the admitting-privileges law at all Texas abortion clinics.
Whole Woman's Health clinic in McAllen, a city near the Mexico border, closed in March after its doctors said they couldn't obtain admitting privileges at nearby hospitals as the state now requires. But a federal judge ruled Friday that the law created unconstitutional barriers to abortions in South Texas, and the clinic is now set to reopen later this week, chief executive Amy Hagstrom Miller said.
Questions are now also being raised about whether the ruling had other broader ramifications than first thought.
U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel made two key rulings in Friday's 21-page decision. He struck down a mandate that required all abortion clinics in Texas to adopt costly hospital-level operating standards and exempted clinics in McAllen and El Paso from an already upheld requirement that doctors who perform abortions obtain admitting privileges at nearby hospitals.
A four-day trial last month narrowly focused on the El Paso and McAllen areas because clinics there serve regions where access to abortions would otherwise be particularly difficult. But language Yeakel included in a separate final judgment has left some questioning whether his order — inadvertently or not — banned the admitting-privileges law at all Texas abortion clinics.
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
South Carolina Episcopalians take fight to court
About 50 conservative Episcopal churches in South Carolina are in court this week, trying to keep their name, seal and $500 million in land and buildings after they broke away from the national denomination in a wide-ranging theological dispute.
The breakaway group, the Diocese of South Carolina, said it had to leave the national church not just because of the ordination of gays, but a series of decisions it says show national Episcopalians have lost their way in the teachings of Jesus and salvation.
The national church argues the split wasn't properly made, and it is fighting for the 20 or so churches in South Carolina staying under its umbrella.
Property disputes in the Episcopal Church and other Protestant churches have been going on for decades and end with varying results.
In March, the U.S. Supreme Court decided not to intervene in a dispute between the Episcopal Church and a conservative northern Virginia congregation that left the denomination in a rift over homosexuality and other issues. The court left in place a judge's decision siding with the national church, ending a seven-year fight over a church that traces its roots back to George Washington.
The breakaway group, the Diocese of South Carolina, said it had to leave the national church not just because of the ordination of gays, but a series of decisions it says show national Episcopalians have lost their way in the teachings of Jesus and salvation.
The national church argues the split wasn't properly made, and it is fighting for the 20 or so churches in South Carolina staying under its umbrella.
Property disputes in the Episcopal Church and other Protestant churches have been going on for decades and end with varying results.
In March, the U.S. Supreme Court decided not to intervene in a dispute between the Episcopal Church and a conservative northern Virginia congregation that left the denomination in a rift over homosexuality and other issues. The court left in place a judge's decision siding with the national church, ending a seven-year fight over a church that traces its roots back to George Washington.
California high court tosses death penalty
The California Supreme Court has tossed out the murder conviction and death penalty sentence of a Riverside County man because of juror misconduct.
The high court ruled Monday that Fred Lewis Weatherton didn't receive a fair trial in 2002 because one of the jurors decided and discussed the case before the start of deliberations. The court said Weatherton is entitled to a new trial.
Weatherton was convicted of shooting to death two neighbors during a 1998 robbery in Indio. A third neighbor who was seriously wounded identified Weatherton as the shooter. Investigators also matched footprints at the scene to shoes Weatherton was wearing when he was arrested shortly after the incident.
The Riverside County District Attorney's office said it hasn't decided how it will proceed.
The high court ruled Monday that Fred Lewis Weatherton didn't receive a fair trial in 2002 because one of the jurors decided and discussed the case before the start of deliberations. The court said Weatherton is entitled to a new trial.
Weatherton was convicted of shooting to death two neighbors during a 1998 robbery in Indio. A third neighbor who was seriously wounded identified Weatherton as the shooter. Investigators also matched footprints at the scene to shoes Weatherton was wearing when he was arrested shortly after the incident.
The Riverside County District Attorney's office said it hasn't decided how it will proceed.
Monday, May 26, 2014
SC high court blocks ruling during Harrell appeal
South Carolina's high court has blocked a judge's dismissal of an investigation into one of the state's top lawmakers while prosecutors appeal.
The state Supreme Court said Thursday it would block the ruling by Circuit Judge Casey Manning earlier this month.
The new order allows prosecutors to continue their investigation into corruption allegations against House Speaker Bobby Harrell. Manning had said Attorney General Alan Wilson improperly empaneled a State Grand Jury in the case.
Manning said courts cannot consider such a case against a lawmaker until a legislative ethics panel has reviewed it. Harrell's attorneys agree, but Wilson says the ruling infringes on his role as the state's top prosecutor.
Wilson is appealing that decision. Both sides are to make their case before the Supreme Court on June 24.
The state Supreme Court said Thursday it would block the ruling by Circuit Judge Casey Manning earlier this month.
The new order allows prosecutors to continue their investigation into corruption allegations against House Speaker Bobby Harrell. Manning had said Attorney General Alan Wilson improperly empaneled a State Grand Jury in the case.
Manning said courts cannot consider such a case against a lawmaker until a legislative ethics panel has reviewed it. Harrell's attorneys agree, but Wilson says the ruling infringes on his role as the state's top prosecutor.
Wilson is appealing that decision. Both sides are to make their case before the Supreme Court on June 24.
Indian court drops charge against NYPD officer
A court in India's capital has dropped a weapons charge against a New York City police officer and is allowing him to leave the country, his lawyer said Saturday.
Officer Manny Encarnacion was arrested in March while visiting his wife in New Delhi after Indian airport authorities discovered three bullets he had accidentally packed in his luggage. He had been out on bail since his arrest, but was barred from leaving India until the case was resolved.
Before leaving for India, Encarnacion went to a police firing range and put the bullets in a coat pocket, according to New York City police. He packed the coat for the trip, forgetting that the ammunition was there, the police said.
Encarnacion, 49, joined the NYPD in 2004 and is assigned to a precinct in Harlem.
His lawyer, Samarjit Pattnaik, said the court heard the case Friday. "All charges against the officer were quashed," he said.
Patrolmen's Benevolent Association President Patrick J. Lynch said, "We are pleased that police officer Encarnacion's unfortunate ordeal has been resolved and that he'll soon be returning home."
Encarnacion's arrest took place months after a diplomatic spat between the United States and India over the arrest and strip search of an Indian consular official for alleged visa fraud in New York. But Indian authorities say Encarnacion's arrest had nothing to do with the spat.
Officer Manny Encarnacion was arrested in March while visiting his wife in New Delhi after Indian airport authorities discovered three bullets he had accidentally packed in his luggage. He had been out on bail since his arrest, but was barred from leaving India until the case was resolved.
Before leaving for India, Encarnacion went to a police firing range and put the bullets in a coat pocket, according to New York City police. He packed the coat for the trip, forgetting that the ammunition was there, the police said.
Encarnacion, 49, joined the NYPD in 2004 and is assigned to a precinct in Harlem.
His lawyer, Samarjit Pattnaik, said the court heard the case Friday. "All charges against the officer were quashed," he said.
Patrolmen's Benevolent Association President Patrick J. Lynch said, "We are pleased that police officer Encarnacion's unfortunate ordeal has been resolved and that he'll soon be returning home."
Encarnacion's arrest took place months after a diplomatic spat between the United States and India over the arrest and strip search of an Indian consular official for alleged visa fraud in New York. But Indian authorities say Encarnacion's arrest had nothing to do with the spat.
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