Courts & Law
A constitutional right to the insanity defense?
FILE - This June 27, 2012 file photo shows the Supreme Court in Washington. President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney say the Supreme Court’s decision last week upholding the president’s health care law gives them each advantages in the roughly dozen of states they are contesting most aggressively. Obama’s team says the decision has swelled the ranks -- by the thousands -- of campaign volunteers in states he won in 2008 and hopes to again to seal his re-election. Romney is claiming success using the ruling as a fundraising tool, saying thousands of small contributions have poured in from across the battleground map as the law’s opponents have seized on Romney as a last hope to repeal it. Both say the groundswell is on their side, and could make the difference in winning and losing. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
Lawyers for John Joseph Delling, a convicted killer who described himself as “a type of Jesus,” are asking the Supreme Court to rule that states must allow an insanity plea.
The High Court by Robert Barnes
- Justices pass on judicial salaries, and that’s good news for judges
- A chief justice not in the headlines sparks censorship controversy
- Retired, but still judging — and being judged
- Supreme Court’s usual teams change sides in some criminal cases
- The question of Clarence Thomas
- Supreme Court looks it up, even if meaning seems pretty clear
- Next challenge of health care act moving quickly to Supreme Court
- Supreme Court has room to maneuver in same-sex marriage cases
- Obama’s impact on federal judiciary falls short in first term
- Tidying up the 2012 election
Latest Supreme Court News
- D.C.’s meditation guru
- D.C.’s meditation guru
- Meditation guru Tara Brach is calm eye of Washington’s storm of stress
- Washington area religion events
- Obama’s trust-in-government deficit
- House panel launches inquiries into IRS targeting of conservative groups
- Prosecutors seek more time for Boston bombing indictment
- Shareholders press firms to disclose more about political spending
- McDonnell’s disclosures highlight Virginia’s loose gift rules
- Cory Booker made over $1 million from speeches over five years
Year In Review
Breaking down the court’s session
An analysis of the 2011-2012 Supreme Court session, including justice voting patterns and key cases.
Health Care
How will the health-care law affect me?
This interactive tool shows how you will be impacted by President Obama’s health-care law.
Photos
Supreme Court gets political
As the Supreme Court held up the mandate in President Obama’s health-care law, here are other instances when the high court has dipped into political fights.
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Politics Videos
Hagel: No ‘silver bullet’ to stop military sexual assaults
After meeting with President Obama and military leaders about sexual assault in the military, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said he is committed to fixing the issue.
Michelle Obama decries ‘slander’ that educated blacks are ‘trying to act white’
During a commencement address at Bowie State University on Friday, first lady Michelle Obama urged the graduates of the historically black university to "please stand up and reject the slander that says a black child with a book is trying to act white.”
Obama sits down with elementary kids
President Barack Obama left behind scandal-focused Washington on Friday to focus on the country's slowly improving jobs picture. Obama stopped at an elementary school that provides early childhood education.
Miller: IRS targeting ‘not illegal’
Former acting IRS comissioner Steven Miller said that he believes the IRS’s targeting of conservative groups was “absolutely not illegal” but he did acknowledge that it was inappropriate.
Part 4: ‘Why don’t you just make yourself legal?’ | Immigration: Pathway to now
VIDEO | The future remains uncertain for 11 million people living illegally in the U.S. Though immigration reform seems closer than it has ever been before, can Washington and the Obama administration effectively repair 30 years of broken policies?
Treasury IG: IRS used ‘inappropriate criteria’ to probe conservative groups
Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration J. Russell George testified Friday on his office’s investigation into the IRS probe into conservative groups.
Former acting IRS chief blames ‘foolish mistakes,’ not partisanship for scandal
Former acting IRS commissioner Steve Miller testified before the House Ways and Means committee Friday on whether the tax agency misled Congress.
Obama on Syria: ‘Increasing pressure’ placed on Assad
In a joint press conference with the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President Barack Obama addressed the situation in Syria and said, “We are going to keep increasing pressure on the Assad regime.”
Obama: ‘No apologies’ for investigating national security leaks
President Obama, discussing the Department of Justice's seizure of Associated Press phone records, described the "balance that we have to strike" between press freedom and national security concerns.
Obama on IRS: ‘We’ve got to make sure that it is doing its job’
In a joint press conference with the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President Barack Obama called for an investigation into the IRS, saying, “We’ve got to make sure that it is doing its job scrupulously.”
White House releases 100 pages of Benghazi emails
In response to critics, the White House has released 100 pages of emails and notes relating to the attack in Benghazi, Libya, in which U.S. ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed.
Sen. Gillibrand on Fort Hood sex assault: ‘Disgraceful and outrageous’
Sen. Kristen Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), is introducing a bill that would make historic changes to the way sexual assaults are prosecuted by the military.
Bachmann denounces IRS targeting of conservative groups
Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), a leader of the Tea Party Caucus in the U.S. House, takes to the steps of the U.S. Capitol with other elected officials and Tea Party leaders to denounce IRS scrutiny of some conservative and religious groups.Elsewhere in Post Politics
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