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
- Conservative justices likely to write decisions
- Recess appointments case looks at an article of the Constitution: ‘the’
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Same-sex marriage isn’t waiting
for the Supreme Court to weigh in - 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
Latest Supreme Court News
- Ted Cruz: Oppose immigration reform in name of `our humanity'
- The politics of abortion on demand
- Who will be the next Republican senator to embrace gay marriage?
- Americans don't believe in much of anything -- and why that's a terrible thing for politics
- House votes to ban abortion after 20 weeks
- Defense of Marriage Act decision could expand rights for gay feds
- Why marriage matters
- The Morning Plum: Immigration reform's fate hangs in the balance
- Morning Bits
- Supreme Court lets U.S. regulators challenge generic-drug deals
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
Here are some landmark cases through history when the Supreme Court has dipped into political fights.
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Politics Videos
What Germans think of Obama’s visit
Pedestrians in Cologne, Germany, discussed their sentiments towards the American president, his visit and his surveillance programs.
FBI uses drones for surveillance ‘on U.S. soil,’ director says
Asked by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, if the FBI uses drones on U.S. soil for surveillance, FBI Director Robert Mueller replied, "Yes."
Sen. Hirono: Immigration bill unfair to women
By opening the doors to highly educated immigrants, the bill being debated in the Senate will disadvantage women without access to education according to Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii).
Reid pushes for D.C. statehood
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Wednesday that “D.C. residents deserve the same right to self government and Congressional representation” as other Americans.
Obama invokes JFK memory in Berlin
President Obama said there is still work to do to observe President John F. Kennedy’s admonition to care for “all mankind.”
President Barack Obama arrived in Germany Tuesday for a 24-hour visit, the culmination of which will be a speech on Wednesday at Berlin's iconic Brandenburg Gate.
Military plans to put women in combat jobs
Military leaders are ready to begin tearing down the remaining walls that have prevented women from holding thousands of combat and special operations jobs near the front lines.
Biden on gun legislation: ‘We have not given up’
Despite the failure of gun legislation in the Senate in April, Vice Presiden Joe Biden says the fight for expanded background checks and other gun reforms is not over.
NSA head: Surveillance might have helped before 9/11 attacks
NSA Director Gen. Keith Alexander told members of Congress these programs are a “tool to...stop future attacks.”
FBI deputy director: Snowden’s leaks were ‘egregious’
At a hearing Tuesday, security leaders said leaks about classified programs affect their work and America’s relationship with allies.
Transgender candidate running in NYC
Mel Wymore is campaigning in New York as a community board appointee, ex-PTA chair and founder of local organizations. But this city council candidate's resume has an unusual feature: He built much of it while he was a woman.
FBI deputy director: NSA foiled NYC bombing plots
Tuesday FBI Deputy Director Sean Joyce said the NSA’s surveillance program helped stop an attack on the New York Stock Exchange.
NSA head: CIA, FBI, NSA prevent new terrorist attacks
NSA Director Gen. Keith Alexander told members of the House these programs helped prevent a terrorist attack similar to 9/11.Elsewhere in Post Politics
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