In addition to the case noted below involving Guantanamo Bay, there are other recent Supreme Court cases of interest. In D.C. v Heller the court for the first time ruled in favor of an individual right to "bear arms". The ruling also says that the right is "not absolute" (nothing in the Bill of Rights is) "and can be subject to reasonable regulation". In Crawford v. Marion County Election Board an Indiana law requiring "voters to produce a government-issued photo ID in order to vote" is legal. The ACLU notes that some 43,000 voters in that state lacked the ID; mostly poor, minority, elderly and the disabled. In Kentucky v. Louisiana ruled that a death penalty for a child rape was unconstitutional. In Baze v. Rees the court ruled that using a three-drug combination in lethal injections was constitutional. The ACLU notes that 23 states forbid the same drug combination by veterinarians "putting animals to sleep" because of "unnecessary pain".
(Source: "Supreme Court restores Habeas for Guantanamo detainees" by Steve Shapiro. Civil Liberties: The American Civil Liberties Union National Newsletter dated Summer 2008).
No comments:
Post a Comment