Reply #7: Here is an article in the WP today that talks about the Ediths also. [View All]

[Pirate Smile]

Five From the 5th Circuit Mentioned for High Court
Southern Appeals Bench Known for Conservatism

It wasn't all that long ago that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit was on the cutting edge of the civil rights movement, a liberal pocket of scholars aggressively enforcing the Supreme Court's demand for speedy desegregation in the Deep South.

But things have changed mightily in 20 years. Today, the New Orleans-based appellate court is considered among the most conservative in the land -- but it is still at the center of politics and history.

-snip-
The court -- which covers Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana -- is known for its independence, and the Supreme Court has reversed it in a number of high-profile cases. The high court has also openly rebuked the 5th Circuit in death penalty cases, signaling that the appeals court crossed the line in denying defendants' rights.

-snip-
Theodore M. Shaw, the director of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, called "extraordinary" how many times the Supreme Court felt it necessary to chastise the 5th Circuit. "We are not talking about a liberal Supreme Court," he noted. "We're talking about a conservative Supreme Court that apparently became frustrated with the 5th Circuit's failure to meaningfully review criminal convictions for constitutional infirmities . . . cases involving prosecutorial misconduct, police misconduct, racial discrimination. Those problems were not being addressed by the 5th Circuit, so the Supreme Court had to step in."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/18/AR2005071801251.html

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1637453