Post Tagged with: "Government Accountability"

• Health Care: Should Justice Kagan Recuse Herself?

  By Alex Groden, Courts, Issue Areas February 27, 2012 9:34 am no comments

  If it is true that Kagan expressed an opinion on the merits, the dilemma she faces pits the integrity of the Court against what she (and many others) may see as a greater purpose: to fight for and protect a law she apparently believes in passionately. She likely also feels loyalty to the man who put her on the court; after all, if this law is overturned, it might do serious damage to his reelection chances. But should these considerations matter? What about the public’s confidence in an independent and objective judiciary?

   

• Republican Presidential Candidates Question Virtues of Judicial Independence

  By Bill O'Neil, Courts, Original Content, Voting and Elections October 24, 2011 6:05 pm no comments

  Fueled by the lingering (and largely erroneous) perception of a liberal judiciary, Republican presidential candidates are calling for new legislation to curb the power of federal judges.  As the Washington Post reports, a majority of the Republican field is calling for some sort of judicial reform, including the abolition of [...]

   

• Study Reveals Depth of Ties Between K Street and Congress

  By Alex Trepp, Original Content, Voting and Elections September 14, 2011 1:07 pm 3 comments

  Many fear that lobbyists corrupt our government. For those concerned, a new study by LegiStorm will prove alarming. According to the study, nearly 3,000 registered lobbyists have recent experience on Capitol Hill. As reported by the Washington Post, “Twenty-five powerhouse firms and organizations employ 10 or more former Hill workers.” [...]

   

• DOJ Civil Rights Hiring Comes Under Republican Scrutiny

  Issue Areas, Voting and Elections June 2, 2011 1:53 pm no comments

  The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division came under fire during the Bush Administration for stacking attorney positions with conservative lawyers with little civil rights experience.  Now, the Civil Rights Division is coming under fire for doing just the opposite – hiring lawyers with civil rights experience. A New York Times’ [...]

   

• PA Chief Judge has routinely accepted gifts, including from parties before him

  By Jon Cioschi, Courts November 27, 2010 12:25 am no comments

  Mark Faziollah and Joseph Tanfani of the Philly Inquirer report that disclosures of Ronald D. Castille, the chief judge of the PA Supreme Court, show “routine[]  accept[ance of]  dinners, plane rides, tickets to sporting events, and rounds of golf from lawyers and businessmen, some of them with cases that go before [...]

   

• Former CIA Officials Cleared of Charges for Destroying Waterboarding Videotapes

  By Jon Cioschi, Human Rights, Issue Areas, Privacy and National Security November 12, 2010 10:51 pm no comments

  A special prosecutor cleared the CIA’s former top clandestine officer and others [on November 9th] of any charges for destroying agency videotapes showing waterboarding of terror suspects [...] The decision not to prosecute anyone in the destruction of the videotapes came five years to the day after the CIA destroyed [...]