Looking for news you can trust?Subscribe to our free newsletters. On the morning of his 47th birthday, his first outside prison in three decades, Antonio Espree wakes up around 5 a.m. It’s a cool February day in Phoenix, still dark outside, and his cousin Marlon Bailey is asleep on a bed about an arm’s reach away. Their bedroom has little space for anything but their mattresses, so Espree slips quietly out and heads up to the roof to watch the sunrise. In the kitchen later, after he pours himself a bowl of cereal, his phone rings. An acquaintance who volunteers at a nearby women’s prison wants advice on how to support an inmate named Tasha Finley, who is about to be released after spending more than two decades in prison for a murder she committed as a teen. Soon she’ll live in a halfway house. “She’s like a baby all over again,” Espree tells the acquaintance. “You have to be there to make sure she understands, and if she don’t … [Read more...] about The Supreme Court Said No More Life Without Parole for Kids. Why Is Antonio Espree One of the Few to Get Out of Prison?
Environment supreme court cases
Colorado Supreme Court hears arguments in appeal case that could determine future of oil and gas drilling near communities
Colorado communities and pro-oil and gas industry groups are clashing in a Supreme Court case that could change the way the state handles decisions on allowing increased fossil-fuel production near people. City and county attorneys are urging Colorado Supreme Court justices on Tuesday afternoon to uphold a court ruling that requires the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission to ensure protection of the environment and people as a precondition that must be met before issuing permits for more oil and gas drilling. Industry attorneys, with the backing of Colorado Attorney General Cynthia Coffman, favor a balancing of interests — a balancing that increasingly has been contested as expanding oil and gas development collides with a growing Front Range population and house-building boom. No decision is expected for months. For years, the COGCC interpreted its statutory orders from state lawmakers as the balancing of industry interests with protection of public health and the … [Read more...] about Colorado Supreme Court hears arguments in appeal case that could determine future of oil and gas drilling near communities
Same-sex couple ponders marriage rights with Supreme Court in transition
Eve Samples Treasure Coast Newspapers Published 4:06 PM EDT Sep 27, 2018 The issues at the fore of Lisa Davis' mind this election year will feel familiar to parents across Florida: She wants safe schools for her children. Quality education is a huge priority. The crisis in our waterways alarms her. And then there's a big, foundational issue in the background: Her right to be married to the person she loves. Davis and her wife, Corinne, were married in Massachusetts in 2010. They traveled some 1,400 miles for their wedding because, at the time, same-sex marriage was illegal in Florida. Five years later, the U.S. Supreme Court changed that, granting gay and lesbian couples the right to marry in all 50 states. The ruling meant Lisa and Corinne's marriage was legally honored in their home state. When Lisa gave birth to their second son in 2015, they didn't have to bear the expense and hassle of having Corinne legally adopt him, as … [Read more...] about Same-sex couple ponders marriage rights with Supreme Court in transition
Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearings launch amid partisan fireworks, high stakes for Supreme Court
close Video Senate Democrats find new excuse to oppose Kavanaugh Senators refuse to meet with President Trump's pick to replace Supreme Court Justice Kennedy over details in the plea deal struck by Trump's former attorney Michael Cohen. The Senate Judiciary Committee launches confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh on Tuesday, kicking off what is expected to be a bitterly partisan gauntlet as Democrats vow to scrutinize his lengthy record as an appellate judge and lawyer in the Bush administration. Kavanaugh's elevation from the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to replace retired Justice Anthony Kennedy would mark a generational rightward shift on the Supreme Court, raising the stakes beyond those of last year's nomination of Neil Gorsuch and leading Democrats to ratchet up their rhetoric. Last month, Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., accused anyone who supports Kavanaugh of being "complicit in evil." After ex-Trump lawyer Michael Cohen’s guilty plea … [Read more...] about Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearings launch amid partisan fireworks, high stakes for Supreme Court
Issues for Kavanaugh: the president who chose him and the Supreme Court he would change
WASHINGTON – Two factors animate U.S. Appeals Court Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s crucial Supreme Court confirmation hearings that begin Tuesday in the Senate: one is the justice he would succeed, and the other is the president who chose him. A host of issues are at stake with the departure of the court’s pivotal justice, Anthony Kennedy, whose swing-vote jurisprudence did not fit neatly into a conservative or liberal box. Abortion, affirmative action, the interplay of religious beliefs and gay rights, and the government’s protection of the environment are among the issues impacted by Kennedy’s departure, and Kavanaugh is likely to be to the right of Kennedy on all. But this confirmation fight also comes as the powers of a special prosecutor to investigate President Donald Trump are part of a national debate, with important constitutional decisions on executive power and prerogative possibly awaiting the high court. The politics of the Trump age only add to the … [Read more...] about Issues for Kavanaugh: the president who chose him and the Supreme Court he would change