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Supreme Court hears Texas affirmative action challenge
Topics |
2015/12/10 14:58
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For the second time, the Supreme Court is hearing a white Texan's challenge to the use of race in college admissions.
Abigail Fisher has been out of college since 2012, but the justices' renewed interest in her case is a sign that the court's conservative majority is poised to cut back, or even end, affirmative action in higher education.
The arguments Wednesday are expected to focus on whether the University of Texas' flagship campus in Austin has compelling reasons to consider race among other factors when it evaluates applicants for about a quarter of its freshman class. Most students are admitted to the university through a plan that guarantees slots to Texans who graduate in the top 10 percent of their high school classes.
Fisher says the "top 10" program works well to bring in Hispanic and African-American students, without considering race. Texas says the program alone is not enough and it needs the freedom to fill out incoming classes as it sees fit.
Twelve years ago, the justices reaffirmed the consideration of race in the quest for diversity on campus. A more conservative court first heard Fisher's case in 2012, but the case ended inconclusively with a tepid decision that ordered a lower court review.
The federal appeals court in New Orleans has twice upheld the Texas admissions program and rejected Fisher's appeal.
Fisher's case was conceived by Edward Blum, an opponent of racial preferences. Blum also is behind lawsuits against Harvard University and the University of North Carolina that aim to eliminate any consideration of race in college admissions. |
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High Court rules against Northern Ireland's abortion law
Court Issues |
2015/12/03 06:35
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A Belfast High Court ruling is expected to ease Northern Ireland's strict anti-abortion laws to make it easier for women to terminate pregnancies in some cases.
Abortions are illegal in Northern Ireland except in extreme cases when a woman's life is deemed at risk from her pregnancy. Judge Mark Horner said Monday that certain prohibitions violate the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights — cases where a fetus has fatal abnormalities or when a woman became pregnant as a result of sexual crimes like rape or incest.
John Larkin, attorney general for Northern Ireland, said he was "profoundly disappointed" by the court's ruling and said he is studying grounds for a possible appeal.
Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom, but it has much more restrictive abortion laws than the other regions.
Judge Horner said the present law making it illegal for a mother to terminate her pregnancy where her fetus cannot survive independently once it leaves the womb constitutes a "gross interference with her personal autonomy." He said in such cases "there is no life to protect."
Horner also said the existing law is unfair to victims of sexual crimes who become pregnant.
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US court rejects Virginia death row inmate's appeal
Blog News |
2015/12/02 06:34
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A federal appeals court has rejected a Virginia death row inmate's appeal of his murder-for-hire conviction.
Ivan Teleguz was sentenced to death in 2006 for hiring a man to kill his former girlfriend, Stephanie Sipe, in Harrisonburg. After two key prosecution witnesses recanted, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2012 ordered a judge to conduct a hearing on Teleguz's innocence claim.
After one of those witnesses refused to testify and the other did not attend the hearing, U.S. District Judge James P. Jones determined that affidavits recanting their previous testimony were unreliable. A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Monday that it found no reason to overrule Jones on that issue. |
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Court papers: Witness ID'd man in playground shooting
Court Watch |
2015/12/02 06:34
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A witness's statement and photo identification led to the arrest of a man accused in a playground shootout that wounded 17 people, court papers show.
Joseph "Moe" Allen, 32, faces 17 counts of attempted murder in the Nov. 22 gunfight at Bunny Friend Playground after a neighborhood parade. He's being held in lieu of $1.7 million bond on those charges, and without bond on a Texas warrant accusing him of violating probation.
Defense attorney Kevin Boshea did not immediately return a call and email Monday. Allen's mother, Deborah Allen, told NOLA.com ' The Times-Picayune Sunday night that her son was in Texas the night of the gunfight. Calls to her home on Monday got repeated busy signals.
Police are still trying to identify other people involved in the shooting. Allen's arrest was based on a witness who gave the "name and nickname of one of the many shooters ... in this mass shooting," and then identified Allen in a "six-pack photographic lineup" at the local police station, New Orleans police Detective Chad Cockerham said in a sworn statement.
Allen "was observed walking into Bunny Friend Playground and firing a semi-automatic handgun into the crowd," Cockerham said.
Cockerham described hearing a "barrage of gunfire erupt" at Bunny Friend Playground as police headed there to break up an "unauthorized party."
"They were met with chaos and panic of citizens running in numerous directions across the park as well as throughout the surrounding streets," he wrote, adding that "tires ... were spinning and screeching."
For Allen, the Texas warrant was issued Nov. 25, based on the New Orleans allegations, since travel outside of Texas would violate Allen's parole, said Jason Clark, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. |
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