Washington (AP) --- The Supreme Court said Wednesday that evidence obtained after illegal searches or arrests based on simple police mistakes may be used to prosecute criminal defendants. The justices split 5-4 along ideological lines to apply new limits to the court's so-called exclusionary rule, which generally requires evidence to be suppressed if it results from a violation of a suspect's Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches or seizure. The conservative majority acknowledged that the arrest of Bennie Dean Herring of Alabama --- based on the mistaken belief that there was a warrant for his arrest --- violated his constitutional rights, yet upheld his conviction on federal drug and gun charges. [continues 200 words]
Opposed by Bush Administration Crack Cocaine Offenders May Seek Reduced Jail Time Starting March 3 WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Sentencing Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to allow some 19,500 federal prison inmates, most of them black, to seek reductions in their crack cocaine sentences. The commission, which sets guidelines for federal prison sentences, decided to make retroactive its recent easing of recommended sentences for crack offenses. Roughly 3,800 inmates could be eligible for release from prison within a year after the decision's March 3 effective date. Federal judges will have the final say whether to reduce sentences. [continues 217 words]
WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court ruled Monday that federal judges can impose shorter sentences for crack cocaine crimes, making them more in line with those for powder cocaine -- a decision with a strong racial dimension because the vast majority of crack offenders are black. The court, by 7-2 votes in the crack case and one other involving drugs, upheld more lenient sentences imposed by judges who rejected federal sentencing guidelines as too harsh. The decision was announced ahead of a vote scheduled for Tuesday by the U.S. Sentencing Commission, which sets the guidelines, that could cut prison time for as many as 19,500 federal inmates convicted of crack crimes. [continues 720 words]
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Sentencing Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to allow some 19,500 federal prison inmates, most of them black, to seek reductions in their crack cocaine sentences. The commission, which sets guidelines for federal prison sentences, decided to make retroactive its recent easing of recommended sentences for crack offenses. Most of those eligible could receive no more than a two-year cut in their prison terms, but roughly 3,800 inmates could be released from prison within a year after the March 3 effective date of Tuesday's decision. Federal judges will have the final say whether to reduce sentences. [continues 712 words]
WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court agreed Monday to review whether judges are required to impose dramatically longer sentences for crack cocaine than for cocaine powder, stepping into a long-running dispute with racial overtones. Most crack cocaine offenders in federal courts are black. The justices said they would hear the case of Derrick Kimbrough in the fall. Kimbrough, who is black and a veteran of the first war with Iraq in 1991, received a 15-year prison term for dealing both crack and powder cocaine, as well as possessing a firearm in Norfolk, Va. [continues 578 words]
Washington -- The Supreme Court dissected a teenager's sign Monday and tried to divine whether its "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" message was advocating drug use or just talking nonsense. Students' free speech rights could hinge on the outcome of the case. Joseph Frederick was a high school senior when he held up the 14-foot "Bong Hits" banner in Juneau, Alaska, five years ago. He said he was testing his constitutional right to free speech. His principal thought he was delivering a pro-drug message and suspended him. If the justices side with principal Deborah Morse, the result could be greater restrictions on student speech. [continues 779 words]
School Control Over Student Speech at Stake During Arguments WASHINGTON-A high school senior's 14-foot banner proclaiming "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" gave the Supreme Court a provocative prop for a lively argument Monday about the extent of schools' control over student speech. If the justices conclude Joseph Frederick's homemade sign was a pro-drug message, they are likely to side with principal Deborah Morse. She suspended Frederick in 2002 when he unfurled the banner across the street from the school in Juneau, Alaska. [continues 182 words]
Rights May Hinge on Decision in 'Bong Hits' Case WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court dissected a Juneau teenager's sign Monday and tried to divine whether its "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" message was advocating drug use or just talking nonsense. Students' free speech rights could hinge on the outcome of the case. Joseph Frederick was a high school senior when he held up the 14-foot "Bong Hits" banner five years ago on a sidewalk across from Juneau-Douglas High School. He said he was testing his constitutional right to free speech. His principal thought he was delivering a pro-drug message and suspended him. [continues 549 words]
WASHINGTON -- A high school senior's 14-foot banner proclaiming "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" gave the Supreme Court a provocative prop for a lively argument yesterday about the extent of schools' control over student speech. If the justices conclude that Joseph Frederick's homemade sign was a pro-drug message, they are likely to side with principal Deborah Morse. She suspended Frederick in 2002 when he unfurled the banner across the street from the school in Juneau, Alaska. "I thought we wanted our schools to teach something, including something besides just basic elements, including the character formation and not to use drugs," Chief Justice Roberts said yesterday. [continues 550 words]
The message connected drug use and religion in a nonsensical phrase that was designed to provoke, and it got Joseph Frederick in a heap of trouble. After he unfurled his 14-foot "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" banner on a Juneau, Alaska, street one winter morning in 2002, Frederick got a 10-day school suspension. Five years later, he has a date Monday at the Supreme Court in what is shaping up as an important test of constitutional rights. Students don't leave their right to free speech at the school door, the high court said in a Vietnam-era case over an anti-war protest by high school students. [continues 667 words]
'BONG HITS 4 JESUS' ON JUSTICES' DOCKET WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court on Friday stepped into a Juneau dispute about free speech involving a suspended high school student and his banner that proclaimed "Bong Hits 4 Jesus." The justices agreed to hear the appeal by the Juneau School Board and then-principal Deborah Morse of a lower court ruling that allowed the student's civil rights lawsuit to proceed. The School Board hired former Whitewater prosecutor Kenneth Starr to argue its case to the high court. [continues 470 words]
Justices Hear Arguments Over How State, Federal Laws Conflict On Severity WASHINGTON - Supreme Court justices wrestled Tuesday with the question of whether convictions for minor crimes should force immigrants' deportation, the first case in a term expected to make clearer the court's direction under Chief Justice John Roberts. Thousands of immigrants who have run afoul of the law, some for possessing small amounts of drugs, could be affected by the court's ruling. The second year of Roberts' tenure began with little drama, just a brief welcome to visiting jurists from India. [continues 403 words]
WASHINGTON - Methamphetamine use is rare in most of the United States, not the raging epidemic described by politicians and the news media, says a study by an advocacy group. Meth is a dangerous drug but among the least commonly used, The Sentencing Project policy analyst Ryan King wrote in a report issued Wednesday. Rates of use have been stable since 1999, and among teenagers meth use has dropped, King said. "The portrayal of methamphetamine in the United States as an epidemic spreading across the country has been grossly overstated," King said. The Sentencing Project is a not-for-profit group that supports alternatives to prison terms for convicted drug users and other criminals. [continues 226 words]
WASHINGTON - Methamphetamine use is rare in most of the United States, not the raging epidemic described by politicians and the news media, says a study by an advocacy group. Meth is a dangerous drug but among the least commonly used, The Sentencing Project policy analyst Ryan King wrote in a report issued Wednesday. Rates of use have been stable since 1999, and among teenagers meth use has dropped, King said. "The portrayal of methamphetamine in the United States as an epidemic spreading across the country has been grossly overstated," King said. The Sentencing Project is a not-for-profit group that supports alternatives to prison terms for convicted drug users and other criminals. [continues 367 words]
WASHINGTON - Methamphetamine use is rare in most of the United States, not the raging epidemic described by politicians and the news media, says a study by an advocacy group. Meth is a dangerous drug but among the least commonly used, the Sentencing Project policy analyst Ryan King wrote in a report issued Wednesday. Rates of use have been stable since 1999, and among teenagers, meth use has dropped, King said. "The portrayal of methamphetamine in the United States as an epidemic spreading across the country has been grossly overstated," King said. The Sentencing Project is a not-for-profit group that supports alternatives to prison terms for convicted drug users and other criminals. [continues 366 words]
FARC Leaders Accused Of Trafficking More Than $25 Billion In Cocaine WASHINGTON - The United States charged 50 leaders of Colombia's largest guerrilla group with sending more than $25 billion worth of cocaine around the world to finance their fight at home, a federal indictment that depicts the rebels as major narco-terrorists. The indictment made public Wednesday in U.S. District Court said the leaders of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, ordered the killings of Colombian farmers who did not cooperate with the group, the kidnapping and killing of U.S. citizens and the downing of U.S. planes seeking to fumigate coca crops. [continues 248 words]
WASHINGTON -- American teenagers are cutting back on their use of illicit drugs and cigarettes, but alcohol consumption is holding steady, the government says. An annual survey of eighth-, 10th- and 12th-graders done for the Health and Human Services Department found declines in use of many kinds of drugs by high school students, especially for Ecstasy and LSD. Overall, the Bush administration said the annual survey funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse showed an 11 percent drop in illegal drug use in the last two years, slightly surpassing President Bush's goal of a 10 percent reduction during that period. [continues 363 words]
WASHINGTON -- American teenagers are cutting back on their use of illicit drugs and cigarettes, but alcohol consumption is holding steady, the government says. An annual survey of eighth-, 10th- and 12th-graders done for the Department of Health and Human Services, found declines in many kinds of drugs for high school students, especially for Ecstasy and LSD. Overall, the Bush administration said the annual survey funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse showed an 11 percent drop in illegal drug use in the past two years, slightly surpassing President Bush's goal of a 10 percent reduction during that period. [continues 545 words]
WASHINGTON - American teenagers are cutting back on their use of illicit drugs and cigarettes, but alcohol consumption is holding steady, the government says. An annual survey of eighth-, 10th- and 12th-graders done for the Department of Health and Human Services, found declines in many kinds of drugs for high school students, especially for Ecstasy and LSD. Overall, the Bush administration said the annual survey funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse showed an 11 percent drop in illegal drug use in the past two years, slightly surpassing President Bush's goal of a 10 percent reduction during that period. [continues 541 words]
WASHINGTON (AP) -- American teenagers are cutting back on their use of illicit drugs and cigarettes, but alcohol consumption is holding steady, the government says. A survey of eighth-, 10th- and 12th-graders done for the Department of Health and Human Services, found declines in many kinds of drugs for high school students, especially for Ecstasy and LSD. Overall, the Bush administration said the annual survey funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse showed an 11 percent drop in illegal drug use in the past two years. [continues 221 words]
