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Donald Trump nominates Judge Neil Gorsuch to Supreme Court

in 2017/Top Headlines by

President Donald Trump has nominated Judge Neil Gorsuch to the U.S. Supreme Court. Gorsuch, 49, serves on the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, where he has made a name for himself as a graceful writer. Gorsuch is a graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School, and served as a law clerk to Justices Anthony Kennedy and fellow Coloradan Byron White. If chosen, he would be the first justice to serve with a colleague for whom he…

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Legislation would allow lawmakers to override judges’ rulings

in Statewide by

Lawmakers could override court decisions they don’t like under bills filed Tuesday. State Rep. Julio Gonzalez, a Venice Republican, filed two pieces of legislation, one aimed at state judges and another at federal judges who interpret state laws. The first measure (HJR 121) would allow the Legislature to review judicial rulings that declare legislative acts void. If approved in the 2017 Legislative Session, it would allow lawmakers to put the issue on the ballot and amend the state Constitution. That means that if “the…

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Retiring Justice gives final voice of reason on Florida’s death penalty

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There are some things that only lawyers can explain. This is one of them. But I defy them to make sense of it. Just in time for Christmas, the Florida Supreme Court in two cases last week gave new leases on life to 213 convicted killers but turned down about 173 more. The only difference between the two groups is the turn of one page on the calendar. Those whose sentences — or new sentences after appeal — became “final”…

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After Asay decision, anti-death penalty advocates call for commutations

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The state’s leading death penalty opposition group is calling for more than 200 Florida death row inmates to have their sentences reduced to life imprisonment. Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (FADP) says a Florida Supreme Court decision on convicted killer Mark Asay out Thursday means that many are “entitled to be resentenced.” The court determined that this year’s U.S. Supreme Court opinion, Hurst v. Florida, requiring Florida juries—not judges—”to (determine) the facts necessary to sentence a defendant to death”…

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Vandals attack pentagram erected to protest Nativity scene

in Apolitical/Top Headlines by

A 300-pound metal sculpture of a satanic pentagram, erected as an atheist protest to a public park’s Nativity scene, was severely damaged on Tuesday when it was pulled to the ground by vandals. Atheist Preston Smith‘s 10-foot tall sculpture lay broken in Sanborn Square at noon. Tire tracks led from the twisted metal to the street. It appeared vandals had attached a chain from a vehicle to the sculpture and yanked it down, dragging it several feet. As local television…

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Joe Henderson: Hillary Clinton, Citizens United and ‘never-ending’ thirst for cash

in 2017/Top Headlines by

One of the themes of Hillary Clinton’s campaign for the presidency has been her opposition to Citizens United. From the podium, she preaches that she doesn’t like the idea of the wealthy few using their money to buy influence over policies that determine the future for the rest of us. She says he wants to overturn that controversial ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that has allowed our politics to be bartered out to the uber rich. Well, OK. She…

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Florida Court: Jury must unanimously agree on death penalty

in Statewide by

The fate of convicted killers on Florida’s death row – as well as the fate of people awaiting trial for murder – was put in limbo Friday after the Florida Supreme Court ruled that death sentences require a unanimous jury. By a 5-2 vote the court struck down a newly enacted law allowing a defendant to be sentenced to death as long as 10 out of 12 jurors recommend it. The court added that the new law can no longer…

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