Pete Williams
From NBC's Pete WilliamsSupreme Court Associate Justice
Ruth Bader Ginsburg is out of the hospital and expected back on the job today.
From NBC’s Pete Williams
Another "birther" lawsuit, challenging President Obama's constitutional qualification to be president, has been rejected in federal court. And in tossing the case out, the judge said that Congress seems satisfied that Obama is qualified, based on the unanimous passage of a House resolution dealing with Hawaii.
On July 27th, the House approved, by a vote of 378-0, a resolution to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Hawaii's statehood. In extolling the state's history, the resolution says, "the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama, was born in Hawaii on August 4, 1961."
"Congress is apparently satisfied that the President is qualified to serve," says federal judge Clay Land, in dismissing the case. "Congress has not instituted impeachment proceedings, and in fact, the House of Representatives in a broad bipartisan manner has rejected the suggestion that the President is not eligible for office."
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From NBC's Pete Williams
The U.S. Supreme Court appears to be on the verge of permitting a huge change in the mix of money in American politics.
Based on the comments from the justices today during an unusual summer argument session, the court appears to be inclined to strike down decades of federal laws and court decisions that have limited who can buy political campaign ads. At stake are laws that ban corporations and labor unions from spending their own money to run ads that attack or support candidates, and ads that even mention a candidate's name in the months leading to elections.
The conservative backers of the "Hillary: The Movie" documentary argued today that the laws are a violation of free speech, and at least five justices appeared today to agree.
From NBC's Pete Williams
In interviews with C-SPAN, several U.S. Supreme Court justices say whenever a new member comes on the court, its entire chemistry is altered.
C-SPAN did the interviews earlier this year and made the tape available today to coincide with the arrival next week of Sonia Sotomayor.
Both Chief Justice John Roberts and Clarence Thomas say getting a new justice is like living through a change in a family. "You quickly get to view the court as composed of these members, and it becomes kind of hard to think of it as involving anyone else," Roberts says.
Justice Anthony Kennedy says changes are "stressful for us, because we so admire our colleagues. We wonder, oh, will it ever be the same?"
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor say one difference for a woman is finding a suitable judicial robe. Most are made for men, designed with a v-neck to show a little shirt and tie. Women struggle to find robes with collars, they both said.
From NBC's Pete Williams
What does it mean that Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens has hired only one law clerk for the term that begins next year, in the fall of 2010?
It's the clearest indication yet that he's seriously considering retirement, say those familiar with his hiring. But there's no sign yet that he has actually made the decision -- or if he has, that he's told anyone about it.
For at least the past three years, Stevens has told the clerks he has hired that he might retire and therefore couldn't promise them the full term of the clerkship. So far, of course, that caveat has proven unnecessary.
Associate justices are allowed up to four clerks, and he has hired the full complement for the coming term which begins next month. By hiring just one for the term that begins in 2010, he leaves himself the option of either retiring with only one clerk to disappoint or going ahead and hiring the remaining three in the coming months.
In any event, it's no secret that Stevens is likely the court's next retirement. He's 89, and though he is in good health and remains a vigorous member of the court, the odds have always been good that President Obama, in his first term, would be nominating a Stevens successor.
From NBC's Pete Williams
An administration official says the cases Attorney General Holder wants investigated are those listed today in the CIA Inspector General report -- and some others, about 10 in all.
In addition to the ones enumerated today -- involving the gun, the drill, threats to harm family members, and so on -- there are other cases that were fully redacted from the IG report.
"And they raise allegations of abuse that are much worse," the official says.
Those cases remain classified.
As a practical matter, this set of roughly 10 allegations is the universe of cases Holder wants investigated -- meaning that he has all but concluded he will not recommend that the prosecutor look at the Bush officials who conceived of the enhanced interrogation program or the Justice Department lawyers who authorized it.
From NBC’s Pete Williams
The CIA's inspector general looked at allegations of abuse after 9/11 up to October 2003.
In late December 2002 or early January 2003, the report says, unauthorized techniques were used on an al Qaeda suspect, Abd al Rahim al Nashiri. An American, who was not a trained interrogator and was not authorized to use enhanced methods, used a gun and a power drill to frighten al Nashiri. The gun was held close to his head and "racked," to produce the sound of a round being loaded into the gun's chamber. The power drill was revved while the detainee stood, naked with a hood over his head.
In another incident, a debriefer told al Nashiri, "We could get your mother in here," and "We can bring your family in here." The report says the debriefer was trying to exploit a belief in the Middle East that interrogation techniques included sexually abusing female relatives in front of the detainees.
The inspector says the man, believed to be the 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, was told by a debriefer that if anything else happened in the U.S., "We're going to kill your children."
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From NBC’s Pete Williams
Attorney General Eric Holder has directed a federal prosecutor to look into possible violations of U.S. law in the CIA's treatment of terrorism detainees overseas.
Administration officials say he'll give the assignment to a career federal prosecutor in Connecticut, John Durham.
For more than a year, since January 2008, Durham has been investigating whether any laws were broken when CIA officials destroyed audio and videotapes of the interrogations of several terrorism detainees. His work on the tapes issue is not yet completed, though there are indications that Durham is nearly done with that part of his work.
Holder’s statement on a “preliminary review into the interrogation of certain detainees:
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From NBC's Pete Williams
Though Sonia Sotomayor was confirmed today by the Senate to become the next Supreme Court justice, she is technically not yet "Justice" Sotomayor. She won't be until she takes both the federal oath and the judicial oath on Saturday.
A White House official says Sonia Sotomayor will stay out of public view today. She's at her chambers at the federal courthouse in New York.
Video: Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., officially announces that Sonia Sotomayor has been confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court in the Senate.
She'll be sworn in on Saturday at the Supreme Court by
Chief Justice Roberts. (That event will be available for TV pool coverage, which will be a first for the court.)
Justice Sotomayor will be the court's second-youngest member, at age 55. Only Roberts, who turned 54 in January, is younger.
*** UPDATE *** Here's what the Supreme Court now says about the swearing in:
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From NBC's Pete Williams
Former Congressman William Jefferson (D-LA) has been found guilty at his bribery trial of 11 of the 16 counts against him -- but not guilty on the other five. He was found NOT GUILTY of the most spectacular charge: planning to bribe an African official with money that was later found in his freezer.
Video: Pete Williams reports on Jefferson's conviction.
*** UPDATE *** But the jury still found him guilty of conspiring to pay that bribe, so he stands convicted of one of the charges involving the freezer case.
