Terrorism Trial: Federal investigators were forced to move
quickly to put together a case against Najibullah Zazi since an imam informed
Zazi Sep. 10 that the F.B.I. was after him. A New York Times article details
the hasty nature of the investigation, including that key elements of the
prosecution’s case were discovered after the imam’s tip off and that law
enforcement officials were largely in the dark about the scope of the
24-year-old Denver airport shuttle bus driver’s alleged terrorism plot. A government
official said yesterday that they were first notified about Zazi’s activities
late this summer.
Climate Legislation: A new Environmental Protaction Agency proposal would require new power plants, factories and oil refineries to get permits to emit greenhouse gases. The proposal puts pressure on Congress to pass comprehensive climate legislation. "The EPA's ready to work with Congress," EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said, as reported in the Wall Street Journal. "But we're not going to continue with business as usual while we wait for Congress to act." A spokesman for the National Mining Association, however, questioned the proposal’s legality.
Vistitation Rights: A federal judge has dismissed a case brought against a hospital by a lesbian who was barred from visiting her same-sex partner who was dying in a Florida trauma center. Janice Langbehn sued the Miami hospital after she and her adopted kids were kept from they bedside of her partner of 18 years, according to the New York Times. But Judge Adalberto Jordon of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida dismissed the case, saying, “Decisions as to visitation must be left to the medical personnel in charge of the patient, without second-guessing by juries and courts.”
Wild West: A new law took effect yesterday in Arizona that allows citizens with a concealed weapons permit to carry guns in bars, as long as they’re not drinking alcohol, that is. The law is part of a national trend, the Christian Science Monitor reports; the number of places gun owners can pack heat is growing as the gun lobby increases pressure on the government to broaden Second Amendment rights. The law took effect as the Supreme Court yesterday announced it would hear a case examining whether a Chicago handgun ban is unconstitutional.
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