Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor has weathered criticism for ruling along certain racial or socioeconomic lines. Today, this perception has again come to the fore. She previously decided that white firefighters in New Haven, CT were not discriminated against when the city tossed out the results of a promotion exam because too few minorities scored high enough. Today, the Supreme Court validated the discrimination claim levied by Frank Ricci and his colleagues.  Sotomayor’s “blunder” as characterized by many media sources, is summed up here: \”Judicial Malpractice\”

The ripple effect of California’s budget crisis could have an adverse effect on the high profile drug-related deaths of Anna Nicole Smith and Michael Jackson. Click here for more information on the budget crisis: read our lips. Negotiators have proposed cutting $20 million from the 82 year old Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement, on top of $12 million, in previous cuts from the Bureau. In recent years the Bureau has added to its cadre of skill sets electronic surveillance and fugitive tracking. It was instrumental in establishing the guilt of convicted murderer Scott Petersen, who is awaiting execution for killing his pregnant wife and unborn child in late 2002. Attorney General Jerry Brown, whose department oversees the Bureau’s operations, has publicly stated that local law enforcement agencies that hunt down drug cartels will be severely outmanned and outgunned.  An example of their efforts includes tracking down surging marijuana plantations often operated by Mexican drug cartels in forests and national parks, and major methamphetamine operations in the Central Valley and rural Southern California communities which provide much of the nation’s supply.  The agency, part of the California Department of Justice, works under the radar with plainclothes agents operating in often dangerous conditions. Read More …