Law

Supreme Court Weighs Future Of Voting Rights Act

8:48am February 27, 2013

by Nina Totenberg

The provision at issue in Wednesday's case before the court applies to parts of the U.S. where discriminatory voting practices were once rampant. The formula that covers those areas hasn't changed since 1975. The crux of the case: whether times have changed so much that Congress violated the Constitution when it reauthorized the law in 2006.

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Witnesses To Take The Stand In BP Trial

9:44am February 26, 2013

A federal judge will hear testimony Tuesday in a civil suit over who is to blame and who should be financially liable for the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. On Monday, the court in New Orleans heard more than eight hours of opening statements from lawyers for the government and several defendants.

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Caitlin J. Halligan, shown in 2005, waited more than 700 days in the last Congress for a vote on the Senate floor before she was filibustered, the White House says. She was nominated again last month.

Would-Be Federal Judges Face The Washington Waiting Game

7:23pm February 25, 2013

by Carrie Johnson

The White House is calling out Congress for a slowdown in voting on judicial nominees, saying it has left 10 percent of judgeships unfilled. The president also faces criticism from the left on the pace of his nominations. But recent White House moves and a new Senate rule could help get things moving.

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Is The Voting Rights Act Relevant In 2013?

2:44pm February 25, 2013

The Supreme Court will begin hearing arguments on Wednesday on the relevance and constitutionality of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. The court is tasked with determining whether states with a history of discrimination still need to get federal approval before changing election procedures.

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National

As Police Drones Take Off, Washington State Pushes Back

7:28pm February 22, 2013

by Martin Kaste

Unmanned aerial vehicles are starting to show up in American police departments, courtesy of grants from the Department of Homeland Security. But that's caused something of a backlash, and now some state legislatures are considering legal limits on drones to address opponents' privacy concerns.

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Newly sworn-in U.S. citizens recite the Pledge of Allegiance during a naturalization ceremony in Baltimore in 2012.

The 'Line' For Legal Immigration Is Already About 4 Million People Long

10:26am February 22, 2013

by Ted Robbins

In the debate over immigration, many politicians seem to agree that people now in the U.S. illegally should wait at "the back of the line" for legal residency. But the backlog in processing applications means even those already in line face decades of waiting.

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Religion

Who Gets Religious Exemptions And Why

5:10pm February 21, 2013

Under revised rules of the Affordable Care Act, religious groups can be exempt from paying their employees' insurance coverage for birth control. Religious exemptions are nearly as old as the nation and have been on the rise in recent decades.

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What's Changed For Same-Sex Partners In The Military

5:10pm February 21, 2013

Outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced the extension of some military benefits to same-sex partners of service members. While the Defense of Marriage Act is law, however, gay military partners are not entitled to all of the same benefits as their straight counterparts.

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Civil Penalties At Stake In Trial Against BP

9:41am February 20, 2013

by Debbie Elliott

A massive civil lawsuit over liability for the worst oil disaster in U.S. history goes to trial next week in New Orleans. The U.S. Justice Department and Gulf states say BP was grossly negligent and put profits over safety, leading to the 2010 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon. Eleven rig workers were killed. Settlement talks have continued but states say they are pushing for a trial to make sure BP is held accountable and pays to restore the Gulf Coast environment and economy.

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Law Change Makes It Harder To Unlock Cellphones

9:41am February 20, 2013

by Laura Sydell

A copyright ruling from the Library of Congress covers whether people may buy a phone from one carrier and then use it with another. A recent change makes it illegal to unlock a phone, or untie it from the original carrier, without permission. But some people are petitioning the White House to undo that change.

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