Ricci v. DeStefano No. 07-1428

The US Supreme Court has ruled on the New Haven, Connecticut firefighters case by reversing the decision of the city government. The city had decided that since no non-white applicants scored well enough to be promoted the "test" would be thrown out and a new method of promotion would be created. White firefighters who did well enough on the "test" to be promoted to lieutenant or captain argued that they were in fact discriminated against: "reverse discrimination" they argued. The court agreed with the white firefighters. The decision however, "does not eliminate employers ability to take diversity into account in employment decisions". The ruling was 5 to 4. Interestingly, the appeals court case ruled in favor of the city and was supported by President Obama's choice to replace David Souter on the court: Sonia Sotomayor. Souter voted with the minority.

(Source: "Top court finds reverse bias" by the AP. The Record on June 30, 2009).

"Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

It seems that the military policy of not letting gays serve openly in the armed forces is still in place. The issue was in the news in 1993 when the existing "outright ban on gays in the military" was changed to the present day policy of "don't ask, don't tell". Former President Bill Clinton and democrats got considerable heat over the question. President Obama had stated during the campaign he "supported eventually repealing the law" but has been silent on the issue since his election. Now the US Supreme Court has refused to hear a challenge to the policy.

(Source: "Justices decline 'don't ask, don't tell' case" by AP in The Record on 6/9/09)

Census and Illegals

We are heading toward the Constitutionally required census that is to be conducted every 10 years. In Bergen County it seems there is a dispute among Latino group leaders as to whether "undocumented immigrants" should cooperate with the count. Some groups are urging the illegal population NOT to cooperate; to boycott the census. Other groups want the illegal population to participate in an effort to increase the federal aid cities will receive that is based on total population. The groups that favor the boycott want the US government to approve "comprehensive immigration reform" before the census it taken. One anti-census leader refers to illegals as "today's slaves". (This sounds like the 3/5 compromise in the Constitution that held that the slave population in early America were to be counted as 3/5 of their total so that the slave holding states could benefit from their presence while at the same time granting them none of the the rights that other residents and citizens were granted).

(Source: "Latino leaders at odds over census" by Elizabeth Llorente of The Record on 6/13/09).

Immigration Law

During the last days of the Bush II administration, AG Michael Mukasey issued an order that "limited access to lawyers for immigrants facing deportation". Now the Obama admin and AG Eric Holder have "vacated" the rule that said "immigrants facing deportation do not have an automatic right to an effective lawyer". Holder said a new rule will be written. (It would seem that this means that the Miranda rights apply to immigrants as well as those accused of felonies. It should be noted that the article talks of "immigrants" and not "illegal-immigrants").

(Source: "Immigration lawyer rule tossed by Obama" in The Record on 6/4/09)

Medical Lawsuits

The US Supreme Court ruled in February of 2008 that once the FDA approves a "medical device" an "injured patient has no right to sue the manufacturer to seek compensation for harm caused by design defects, failure to warn of the device's risks, or other flaws in the labeling". The case is Riegel v. Medtronic. The consumer group Public Citizen is pushing Congress for legislation-Medical Device Safety Act-to "correct this wrong". The group PC believes patients should have "access to the courts" if they are harmed by medical devices.

(Source: "Medical Device Bill Would Restore Ability to Sue for Harm" bu Rick Claypool. Public Citizen News May/June 2009

Police Search

It was reported, without much detail, the New Jersey Supreme Court's 2/25/09 ruling regarding police searches of a car when a warrant is not involved. The ACLU newsletter says "police are entitled to search parts of a car where the driver may have identification documents without a warrant, but not the entire vehicle". (This is very limited information from a clearly left-leaning source, thus more research is required).

(Source: NJ-ACLU "Civil Liberties Reporter". First Quarter 2009 Vol 43 # 1)