US Constitution

Read the latest US Constitution news and the Bill of Rights on Newser.com

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Judge Scalia: Constitution Doesn't Allow Gay 'Sodomy'

Supreme Court justice also dishes on death penalty, abortion

(Newser) - Hot-button constitutional issues? No problem, says Justice Antonin Scalia—who supports the death penalty, opposes abortion, and believes in criminalizing gay sex. "The death penalty? Give me a break. It's easy," he said to a few hundred people gathered at the American Enterprise Institute. He described his...

Ryan Doesn't Meet Mitt's Requirement for President

Romney echoed argument for 3 years of business experience

(Newser) - Mitt Romney sets a high bar for anyone seeking the presidency—too high, it seems, for his own running mate to match. At a May speech in Las Vegas, Romney avidly recounted the story of a local businessman who wanted a new Constitutional requirement for presidential candidates: that they have...

Georgia to Execute Man Deemed Mentally Retarded

State isn't convinced he meets the definition, despite court ruling

(Newser) - The US Supreme Court declared that the death penalty for mentally retarded criminals was unconstitutional in 2002. Georgia, however, is set to execute a prisoner so labeled next week, reports the Guardian . The execution of Warren Hill is proceeding because Georgia, alone among the states, says that learning disabilities must...

What John Roberts Is Up To
 What John Roberts Is Up To 
OPINION
Jun 28, 2012 1:56 PM CDT

What John Roberts Is Up To

Commentators see ulterior, conservative motive behind Roberts' vote

(Newser) - John Roberts upheld the Affordable Care Act today, and "in doing so, he gave a lot of people who don't pay attention a reason to celebrate him on Twitter," writes Mobutu Sese Seko of Gawker . "They're idiots." Seko and some other observers believe Roberts...

Legal Experts: Sodomy Is a Civil Right

Virginia's Bob Marshall's view is disputed

(Newser) - Actually, Virginia GOP legislator Bob Marshall, sodomy is a civil right. That's the word from a number of legal experts responding to Marshall's headline-grabbing snort that "sodomy is not a civil right"—made in an effort to block the appointment of a gay prosecutor to a...

Oklahoma Court Blocks 'Fetal Personhood' Measure

'Clearly unconstitutional' ballot measure declared void

(Newser) - Oklahoma's Supreme Court has rejected a "clearly unconstitutional" ballot measure that would have defined a fertilized human egg as a person, effectively banning all abortions in the state. The nine justices decided unanimously that the measure should not make it onto the ballot this November because the US...

Individual Mandate: OK With Founding Fathers

Founding Fathers may have liked ObamaCare: Einer Elhauge

(Newser) - Health insurance mandates—unconstitutional? That's what the opponents of ObamaCare are arguing , "but there’s a major problem with this line of argument: It just isn’t true," writes Einer Elhuage in The New Republic . In fact, the founding fathers passed more than one mandate in Congress...

GOP Candidates: We Love the Constitution, Let's Change It

Republicans revere the document, but seek to change it

(Newser) - Republican presidential candidates have a complex relationship with the US Constitution, admiring it one day and bashing it the next, Politico reports. Several, for example, promise to appoint hard-line constructionist judges who will remain faithful to the Founders' vision. "The court should be particularly protective of our founding structure,...

Are Jail Strip Searches Unconstitutional?

 Are Jail Strip Searches 
 Unconstitutional? 
supreme court to ponder
Sep 13, 2011 9:06 AM CDT

Are Jail Strip Searches Unconstitutional?

NJ strip-search case reaches Supreme Court

(Newser) - Is it unconstitutional to strip-search every new inmate entering a jail? The Supreme Court will consider that question next month when it hears the case of Albert Florence, a 35-year-old New Jersey man who spent a week in jail because of a warrant that wrongfully said he was wanted for...

'Psycho Ex-Wife' Blogger Battles Court to Keep Site

Judge tells divorced dad to take down 'cruel' blog

(Newser) - A dad who created a blog called " The Psycho Ex-Wife " to document his bitter divorce and custody battle is balking at a court order to take down the site or risk losing joint custody of his two sons. Anthony Morelli—whose descriptions of his ex-wife on the blog...

Arizona Bills Target Birthright Citizenship

GOP lawmakers aim to trigger review of 14th Amendment

(Newser) - Arizona Republicans introduced four bills yesterday aimed at denying US citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants. The lawmakers hope to provoke a Supreme Court review of the 14th Amendment, which guarantees citizenship to "all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof...

Tea Party Fails History on Constitution
Tea Party Fails History
on Constitution
dana milbank
Jan 8, 2011 10:45 AM CST

Tea Party Fails History on Constitution

Dana Milbank: Reading a sanitized version was a mistake

(Newser) - The "Tea-Party-infused lawmakers" who pushed for this week's reading of the Constitution did so to honor the framers, but the stunt actually "did the opposite," writes Dana Milbank. He joins the chorus of those criticizing the move to read a sanitized version, one "conjuring a fanciful...

Beck: It Was 'Cowardly' to Skip Slaves in Constitution Reading

Beck wanted GOP to read the document 'scars' and all

(Newser) - Glenn Beck was not satisfied with Congress' constitutional read-along yesterday, because House leaders left out a couple of parts: namely, the three-fifths compromise, and the 18th Amendment, which declared prohibition. “They didn’t want to offend anybody ... which shows their cowardice for not reading it,” Beck fumed of...

Congress' New Trend: A Pocket-Sized Constitution

Many lawmakers carry it around in these Tea Party times

(Newser) - In the 2011 Congress, there's one item more and more lawmakers know they can't leave home without: a small copy of the US Constitution. A 6.25-inch-tall edition of the country's founding document has become a must-have for lawmakers who know that in these Tea Party times, they may be...

Birther Interrupts House's Reading of Constitution

She objects during section on presidential citizenship

(Newser) - And you thought listening to members of Congress read the Constitution in its entirety today would be dull: Well, it is, mostly, but a birther in the gallery livened things up during the section about only a natural-born citizen being eligible to be president. "Except Obama, except Obama,"...

Federal Judge Blocks Oklahoma's Sharia Ban

Judge decides ban probably violates constitution

(Newser) - A federal judge has issued a temporary injunction preventing Oklahoma from adding to its constitution a ban on courts considering international or Sharia law. The judge found in favor of a Muslim leader who argued that his constitutional religious rights were in jeopardy, the Oklahoman reports. The ban was approved...

Mitch McConnell Wants to 'Review' 14th Amendment

That pesky part about birthright citizenship

(Newser) - Mitch McConnell thinks Congress “ought to take a look” at changing the 14th Amendment so that it does not grant citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants. That puts McConnell right in line with a growing Republican push on the issue, alongside Jon Kyl and Lindsey Graham, the Hill...

This Year’s Hottest Bestseller: The Constitution

Tea Party tied to upsurge in interest in Constitution

(Newser) - With Democrats, Republicans and the Tea Party all citing the Constitution in support of their agendas, ordinary citizens apparently want to get in on the act too: Sales of the US Constitution have skyrocketed over the past year. In March the Constitution reached number 10 on the Government Printing Office...

ACLU Sues Arizona Over Immigration Law

Class-action suit hits 'shameful, un-American' law

(Newser) - The ACLU and several other civil rights groups yesterday sued Arizona over what one lawyer calls the state's "shameful, un-American" immigration law. The federal class-action suit charges that Arizona's law is unconstitutional, will lead to widespread racial profiling, and violates the free-speech rights of day laborers, the Los Angeles ...

Supreme Court Axes Life Terms for Juveniles

Kids in nonhomicide crimes must at least get chance at parole

(Newser) - The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 today that teens may not be locked up for life without chance of parole if they have not killed anyone, holding that the Constitution requires that young people serving life sentences must at least be considered for release. The court ruled in the case of...

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