High Court Turns Away Several Cases
APRIL 5, 2010, 11:46 A.M. ET.
Associated Press
WASHINGTON—The Supreme Court said it won't hear an appeal from the indigenous people of the Marshall Islands as to whether they can sue the federal government again for blowing up and irradiating the land by conducting nuclear tests in the 1940s-50s.
The high court Monday turned away the appeal from the people of Bikini Atoll and Enewetak Atoll, both parts of the Marshall Islands. Between 1946 and 1958, the U.S. detonated 67 nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands, then a U.S. protectorate under the United Nations. The megatonnage was equal to exploding 1.6 Hiroshima atomic bombs a day for 12 years.
The federal government agreed to pay the people of Enewetak $385 million and the people of Bikini $563 million for the loss of their land. Only a token amount has been paid so far. The islanders have sued to get the rest of their money, but the courts have thrown out their lawsuits.
The islanders agreed to have their complaints against the U.S.heard by a Nuclear Claims Tribunal, which awarded them the money. In exchange for setting up the tribunal, lower courts said Congress had banned the federal judiciary from hearing this type of complaints from the Marshall Islanders again.
The Marshall Islands' protectorate status ended in 1986. The islands now constitute a parliamentary democracy in free association with the U.S.
The cases are the people of Enewetak v. United States, 09-498, and the people of Bikini v. United States, 09-499.
In other court action:
The justices turned away an appeal from two police officers who wanted the courts to throw out a lawsuit that accused them of illegally entering a man's house without a warrant following a hit-and-run accident. The high court refused to hear an appeal from San Carlos, Calif., police officers Armand Bonvicino and David Buelow. The lower courts said the officers didn't have immunity against a lawsuit filed by Bruce Hopkins accusing them of excessive force. The officers didn't have evidence that Mr. Hopkins was ill or had done anything illegal when they entered his home without a warrant, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said. The appeals court also said the officers can be sued for pointing their guns at a noncombative Mr. Hopkins. The case is Bonvicino and Buelow v. Hopkins, 09-681.
The court also won't get involved in a judicial fight in Idaho over whether a local judge violated the residency requirement for his job. The Idaho Supreme Court ordered John H. Bradbury to make his primary home in Idaho County, instead of Nez Perce County, as required by law. Judge Bradbury sued in federal court, challenging the residency requirement. He also said he wasn't told of the evidence against him, and that the chief judge of the Idaho Supreme Court was also chairman of the Idaho Judicial Council, which had brought the residency complaint. The case is Bradbury v. Idaho Judicial Council, 09-952.
The justices won't hear an appeal from rap artist Lupe Fiasco's mentor, who was convicted on drug charges despite complaints that his jurors weren't asked whether they had any biases against firearms. The high court refused to hear an appeal from Charles Patton, who was convicted and sentenced to 44 years in prison on drug charges. He appealed his conviction, saying that jurors weren't questioned by his trial judge on whether they had any bias against firearms. Mr. Patton had a loaded firearm when he was arrested. The Illinois Appellate Court threw out the appeal, saying the judge did not have to ask about potential firearm bias on his own. The case is Patton v. Illinois, 09-957.
In another case, the justices turned away an appeal from a Saudi Arabian citizen who blamed anti-Muslim sentiment for his conviction for keeping his housekeeper a virtual slave. Homaidan Al-Turki was convicted of sexually abusing his Indonesian housekeeper and paying her less than $2 a day. He complained that he wasn't allowed to question a potential juror about potential anti-Muslim sentiment. The case is Al-Turki v. Colorado, 09-700.
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