Latest news with #federalCourts
The Independent
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Supreme Court will hear Alabama appeal in bid to execute man found to be intellectually disabled
The Supreme Court will consider making it harder for convicted murderers to show their lives should be spared because they are intellectually disabled, according an order released early on Friday after an apparent technological glitch. The justices' action comes in an appeal from Alabama, which is seeking to execute Joseph Clifton Smith. He was sentenced to death for killing a man in 1997. Lower federal courts found Smith is intellectually disabled and thus can't be executed. When it's argued in the fall, the case could be the first in which the Supreme Court cuts back on its 23-year-old landmark ruling that barred the death penalty for people who are intellectually disabled. At issue is what happens in borderline cases, when scores on IQ tests are slightly above 70, which is widely accepted as a marker of intellectual disability. In 2014 and 2017, the court somewhat eased the burden of showing intellectual disability in those cases. It's the second time in about a year that an online error resulted in an early release from the high court. An opinion in an abortion case was accidently posted on its website a day early in June 2024. The court's landmark opinion overturning abortion as a constitutional right also went out early, though those circumstances were different because the case was leaked. This time, the court released a set of orders set for Monday after an 'apparent software malfunction' sent out early notifications.
Washington Post
2 days ago
- Washington Post
Wrongly deported Salvadoran man charged with human smuggling in 2022
The Justice Department has brought human smuggling charges against a wrongly deported Salvadoran man whose removal to a notorious gang prison ignited a standoff with federal courts, according to an indictment made public Friday. The charges against Kilmar Abrego García, stemming from a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee, mean he could face prosecution in the United States and possible deportation to another country.
RNZ News
10-05-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
Trump admin 'looking at' suspending right to court challenge for detainees
Trump campaigned for the White House on a pledge to deport millions of undocumented migrants. Photo: AFP / Jim Watson By AFP A senior White House official says President Donald Trump, as part of his sweeping immigration crackdown , is looking at suspending habeas corpus, the right of a person to challenge their detention in court. "The Constitution is clear, and that, of course, is the supreme law of the land, that the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus can be suspended in a time of invasion," White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller told reporters on Friday. "So it's an option we're actively looking at," Miller said. "A lot of it depends on whether the courts do the right thing or not." Trump campaigned for the White House on a pledge to deport millions of undocumented migrants and has repeatedly referred to their presence in the United States as an "invasion." Since taking office in January, Trump has been seeking to step up deportations, but his efforts have met with pushback from multiple federal courts which have insisted that migrants targeted for removal receive due process. Among other measures, the Republican president invoked an obscure wartime law in March to summarily deport hundreds of alleged Venezuelan gang members to a prison in El Salvador. Several federal courts have blocked further deportations using the 1798 Alien Enemies Act and the Supreme Court also weighed in, saying migrants subject to deportation under the AEA must be given an opportunity to legally challenge their removal in court. The AEA was last used to round up Japanese-Americans during World War II and was previously invoked during the War of 1812 and World War I. Suspending habeas corpus could potentially allow the administration to dispense with individual removal proceedings and speed up deportations, but the move would almost certainly be met with stiff legal challenges and end up in the Supreme Court. It has been suspended only rarely in US history, most notably by president Abraham Lincoln during the 1861-1865 Civil War and in Hawaii after the December 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour. - AFP
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump admin 'looking at' suspending right to court challenge for detainees
A senior White House official said Friday that President Donald Trump, as part of his sweeping immigration crackdown, is looking at suspending habeas corpus, the right of a person to challenge their detention in court. "The Constitution is clear, and that, of course, is the supreme law of the land, that the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus can be suspended in a time of invasion," White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller told reporters. "So it's an option we're actively looking at," Miller said. "A lot of it depends on whether the courts do the right thing or not." Trump campaigned for the White House on a pledge to deport millions of undocumented migrants and has repeatedly referred to their presence in the United States as an "invasion." Since taking office in January, Trump has been seeking to step up deportations, but his efforts have met with pushback from multiple federal courts which have insisted that migrants targeted for removal receive due process. Among other measures, the Republican president invoked an obscure wartime law in March to summarily deport hundreds of alleged Venezuelan gang members to a prison in El Salvador. Several federal courts have blocked further deportations using the 1798 Alien Enemies Act and the Supreme Court also weighed in, saying migrants subject to deportation under the AEA must be given an opportunity to legally challenge their removal in court. The AEA was last used to round up Japanese-Americans during World War II and was previously invoked during the War of 1812 and World War I. Suspending habeas corpus could potentially allow the administration to dispense with individual removal proceedings and speed up deportations, but the move would almost certainly be met with stiff legal challenges and end up in the Supreme Court. It has been suspended only rarely in US history, most notably by president Abraham Lincoln during the 1861-1865 Civil War and in Hawaii after the December 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. cl/jgc
