From the United States Supreme Court

Davis v. Washington and Hammon v. Indiana: Constitutionality of admitting certain evidence in criminal cases. In the first case, the Court affirmed as constitutional the use of an accuser's 911-call recordings against the defendant in a criminal case, even when the accuser declines to testify or cannot be located, and thus cannot be cross-examined. But in the second case, the 8-1 majority held unconstitutional the use of on-the-scene affidavits gathered by police, when their purpose is to establish or prove events for a later criminal prosecution.

June 19, 2006. The Supreme Court granted certiorari in Gonzales v. Planned Parenthood , a Bush administration appeal from the US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in San Francisco, which struck down the law because it did not make an exception to preserve the health of the woman seeking the abortion. In February, the court agreed to review the statute in Gonzales v. Carhart, an appeal from the 8th Circuit, which also found the law unconstitutional. The vote of Justice Samuel Alito is expected to be pivotal in the cases; his predecessor, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, voted to strike down a Nebraska law banning the same late-term procedure in a 5-4 decision handed down in 2000.

News for the Capitol

Senate panel to consider port security bill .

The US Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will vote in April on legislation to improve port security at American ports .