Court Decisions on Detainees; Court Decisions on Punitive Damages; Autism Genome Project; XM Sirius Merger; The Evolution of Street Family Culture
Court Decisions on Detainees
In a ruling upholding a key provision of a law at the center of President Bush's anti-terrorism plan, a federal appeals court said that Guantanamo Bay detainees may not challenge their detention in U.S. courts. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled 2-1 Tuesday that civilian courts no longer have the authority to consider whether the military is illegally holding foreigners. The ruling is all but certain to be appealed to the Supreme Court, which last year struck down the Bush administration's original plan for trying detainees before military commissions. - (AP). Larry talks with Charles Doskow, Dean Emeritus and Professor of Law at the University of La Verne College of Law and John Eastman, Professor of Law at Chapman University School of Law and Director of Claremont Institute's Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence.
Court Decisions on Punitive Damages
The Supreme Court threw out a $79.5 million punitive damages award to a smoker's widow Tuesday, a boon to businesses seeking stricter limits on big-dollar jury verdicts. The 5-4 ruling was a victory for Altria Group Inc.'s Philip Morris USA, which contested an Oregon Supreme Court decision upholding the verdict. In the majority opinion written by Justice Stephen Breyer, the court said the verdict could not stand because the jury in the case was not instructed that it could punish Philip Morris only for the harm done to the plaintiff, not to other smokers whose cases were not before it. -(AP). Larry continues his conversation with Professor Charles Doskow and is joined by John S. Baker, Professor of Law at Louisiana State University.
Autism Genome Project
The first results from a genome scan of the world's largest collection of DNA samples from families affected by autism indicate that two new hereditary links may predispose children to the brain disorder. UCLA was one of 13 centers participating in the five-year study led by the Autism Genome Project, an international consortium involving scientists from 50 institutions in 19 countries. Larry talks with Dr. Daniel Geschwind, director of the Neurogenetics Program at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA.
XM Sirius Merger
XM and Sirius, the two satellite radio providers, have proposed to merge in a possible 4.6 billion-dollar deal. The Federal Communications Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission must approve of the merger before finalization. Larry takes calls and talks with Erica Farber, president and publisher of Radio and Records, Professor Jonathan Taplin of the USC Annenberg School for Communication, and Daniel Lazaroff, Professor of Law at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.
The Evolution of Street Family Culture
1.5 million teenagers live on the streets of America and many of them form themselves into street families. In her new book All God's Children: Inside the Dark and Violent World of Street Families (Public Affairs), author Rene Denfeld brings to light the elaborate structure and culture of homeless street families and the insular, cultish and hierarchical communities they often form. The author joins Larry Mantle to discuss the evolution of street family culture.