Supreme Court to Hear First Abortion Case in 5 Years

WASHINGTON, Nov. 28 - When the Supreme Court meets on Wednesday to hear its first abortion case in five years, the topic will be familiar: a requirement that doctors notify a pregnant teenager's parent before performing an abortion.

The court has upheld such laws for years, even in its more liberal days, and nearly all states now have them. But in the current climate, with the court in transition and the abortion debate as raucous as it has ever been, there is no such thing as just another abortion case. As reflected in dozens of briefs filed on both sides, interest in this new case, from New Hampshire, is extremely high.

It's been about 20 days

Since I last put up a post. I'm really busy here at school so, I don't think I'll be posting as often as I'd like.

Shocked Jordanians Protest Bombings in Their Capital

Paris May Face Curfew as Efforts to Curb Rioting Continue

PARIS, Nov. 9 - The French government, continuing its efforts to curb riots across the country, published a state-of-emergency decree today empowering local authorities to impose a curfew on 38 towns and regions, including the city of Paris.

An Interior Ministry official, asked whether the curfew would be enforced in Paris tonight, said officials had not yet decided. A city's presence on the list "does not mean a curfew is automatic," said the official, Luc De Flandres of the ministry's press department.

Other towns on the list included Nice, Marseille, Dijon, Toulouse, Strasbourg, Nancy, Rouen, Avignon, and the entire Ile-de-France region encompassing Paris and its suburbs.

France-Inter radio said curfews would be imposed "in a certain number of places," mainly affecting minors under the age of 16. But in one town in Normandy - Evreux, where rioters staged particularly violent attacks on Saturday night - the overnight curfew will apply to adults as well, the state-funded radio said.

The decree on the curfews follows a decision this week by Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin to enact a 50-year-old state of emergency law written during the Algerian War. The law took effect by decree at midnight today and will remain in force for 12 days.

Alito for Supreme Court

WASHINGTON, Oct. 31 - One weekend in 1986, two young lawyers working for Samuel A. Alito Jr., then a deputy assistant attorney general in the Justice Department, faced a looming deadline for a legal analysis and realized they would have to work all night to get it done.
"In the legal world, most bosses would say, 'This is what I want on my desk in the morning,' " said John F. Manning, one of the lawyers. "Sam stayed with us. He went out and got pizza and he pulled the all-nighter with us. I've never seen anything like that before or since."

Throughout his life - ever since he resolved his high school indecision between his dream of a career in baseball or a life in law - the self-effacing Judge Alito, President Bush's new choice for the Supreme Court, has made his mark with quiet dedication rather than showy display. He has cloaked his formidable intellect in modesty, an attribute both surprising and endearing to colleagues in high-octane legal circles.

While Judge Alito, 55, has built a reputation for decency, he has also compiled a conservative record that is coming under intense scrutiny from activists on the left and the right who understand his potential for shifting the balance on the bench.

Larry Lustberg, a former federal prosecutor who has known Judge Alito for 22 years, called him "totally capable, brilliant and nice."

But Mr. Lustberg added, "Make no mistake: he will move the court to the right, and this confirmation process is really going to be a question about whether Congress and the country wants to move this court to the right."