Politics has way of finding Supreme Court eager to avoid it
The Supreme Court might prefer to avoid politics, but politics has a way of finding the court.
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High court nominee Barrett served as ‘handmaid’ in religious group
Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett served as a “handmaid,” the term then used for high-ranking female leaders in the People of Praise religious community, an old directory for the group’s members shows.
Lilly seeks emergency use of its antibody drug for COVID-19
Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Company says it has asked the U.S. government to allow emergency use of an experimental antibody therapy based on early results from a study that suggested the drug reduced symptoms, the amount of virus, hospitalizations and ER visits for patients with mild or moderate COVID-19.
VP debate takeaways: Pandemic looms over a more civil fight
Vice President Mike Pence faced considerable pressure at Wednesday’s debate to boost coronavirus-stricken President Donald Trump’s flagging reelection hopes, while California Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris balanced her role as Joe Biden’s validator with her own historic presence as the first Black woman on a major party national ticket.
Analysis: Trump’s mostly white male judges buck 30-year trend of increasing court diversity
Most of the 218 judges Trump has so far appointed to the federal judiciary are not women or judges of color, bucking a 30-year historical trend of increasing diversity on the bench, a Purdue University researcher says.
Appeals court: Trump must turn over taxes to prosecutor
President Donald Trump’s accountant must turn over his tax records to a New York state prosecutor, an appeals court ruled Wednesday in a decision that likely sets up a second trip to the U.S. Supreme Court over the issue.
Democrats ask if more material omitted from Barrett response
Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee are calling on the Justice Department to provide any missing materials from a questionnaire completed by Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett. Confirmation hearings for the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals judge and Notre Dame law professor remain scheduled to begin next week.
7th Circuit splits in dual citizen’s challenge to reduction of U.S. Social Security benefits
A split 7th Circuit Court of Appeals panel affirmed a grant of summary judgment to the Social Security Administration on Monday in a class-action suit brought by a Canadian woman with dual citizenship who alleged her U.S. Social Security benefits were wrongly reduced based on similar benefits she receives from Canada.
Trump, still infectious, back at White House — without mask
President Donald Trump staged a dramatic return to the White House after leaving the military hospital where he was receiving an unprecedented level of care for COVID-19. He immediately ignited a new controversy by declaring that despite his illness the nation should not fear the virus that has killed more than 210,000 Americans — and then he entered the White House without a protective mask.
Trump aims for Monday release after supporter drive-by
President Donald Trump was hoping for a Monday discharge from the military hospital where he is being treated for COVID-19, a day after he briefly ventured out while contagious to salute cheering supporters by motorcade in a move that disregarded precautions meant to contain the deadly virus that has killed more than 209,000 Americans.
Trump, first lady positive for COVID-19; he has ‘mild symptoms’
President Donald Trump is experiencing “mild symptoms” of COVID-19 after revealing Friday that he and first lady Melania Trump have tested positive for the coronavirus, a stunning announcement that plunges the country deeper into uncertainty just a month before the presidential election.
Ginsburg first woman to lie in state at Capitol; Trump draws jeers at SCOTUS
Commemorations are set to begin Friday at the U.S. Capitol honoring the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the first woman in American history to lie in state at the domed building, capping days of commemoration of her extraordinary life.
Feds execute first Black inmate since execution restart
A man who killed a religious couple visiting Texas from Iowa was executed Thursday, the first Black inmate put to death as part of the Trump administration’s resumption of federal executions after a nearly 20-year pause.
Lawyer: Case of Black inmate set to die reveals racial bias
The lawyer for the first Black inmate scheduled to die this year as part of the Trump administration’s resumption of federal executions says race played a central role in landing her client on death row for slaying a young white Iowa couple and burning them in the trunk of their car.
Long lines of mourners pay respects to Ginsburg at Supreme Court
With crowds of admirers swelling outside, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was remembered Wednesday at the court by grieving family, colleagues and friends as a prophet for justice who persevered against long odds to become an American icon. Ginsburg “wanted to be an opera virtuoso, but became a rock star instead,” Chief Justice John Roberts said.
Birch Bayh’s bid to end Electoral College recalled at IU McKinney lecture
At the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law 2020 Birch Bayh Lecture, journalist and author Jesse Wegman recounted the late Sen. Birch Bayh’s nearly successful attempt at abolishing the Electoral College and letting Americans elect the president directly.
Young joins Braun in support of SCOTUS nominee vote before election
Indiana Sen. Todd Young on Tuesday joined fellow Republican Sen. Mike Braun in supporting the Senate taking a confirmation vote on a nominee to replace Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg before the November election. Like Braun, Young also signaled support for 7th Circuit Judge and Notre Dame law professor Amy Coney Barrett as Ginsburg’s successor.
US government executes killer obsessed with witchcraft
The U.S. government on Tuesday executed a former soldier who said an obsession with witchcraft led him to kill a Georgia nurse he believed had put a spell on him. The lethal injection at the federal prison in Terre Haute was the sixth carried out this year after a nearly two-decade moratorium.
7th Circuit vacates intellectually disabled killer’s death sentence
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has vacated the death sentence of a federal death row inmate convicted of murdering a teen girl. The condemned man has spent years claiming he is intellectually disabled, and the appellate court agreed, citing evidence withheld by the government during his trial.
US execution planned today for killer who said witchcraft drove him
A former U.S. soldier who said an obsession with witchcraft led him to slay a Georgia nurse in a bid to lift a spell he believed she put on him is the first of two more inmates the federal government is preparing to put to death this week.