U.S. Appeals Court In Ohio: Full Text Of No Child Left Behind Ruling Online Here

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- The 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has issued a 29-page decision that allows local school districts in 3 states and the National Education Association to revive a lawsuit challenging funding shortfalls in the No Child Left Behind Act. The complete text of the ruling is available here on The Daily Bellwether.

The 2-1 ruling by the Cincinnati-based appeals court found that the 2002 law -- a hallmark of President Bush's education reform efforts -- did not give the states and local schools clear notice that the measure would underfund its requirements for improving the academic achievement of U.S. students. In other words, the law made the states accountable, but failed to defray the cost of compliance.

The decision means the case now goes back to Chief U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedmann in Detroit, who tossed it out of court in November 2005.

War On Terror: Full Text Of President Bush's Win On Warrantless Wiretapping

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- The complete text of the ruling by the Ohio-based 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals allowing the Bush administration's warrantless surveillance program is 65-pages long.

It offers a comprehensive legal review about presidential powers and national security. It is definitely worth reading -- no matter which side you are on, pro-administration or not.

The appeals court split 2-1, with two Republican appointed judges backing President Bush. Julia Smith Gibbons of Tennessee and Alice Marie Batchelder of Medina County in Ohio were in the majority. Judge Ronald Lee Gilman, a Democrat and Memphis law school prof put on the bench by Bill Clinton, wrote the dissent. It starts on page 46 of the ruling.

Does it seem that our federal legal system is divided along party lines? Are their too many one-vote margins deciding major constitutional issues? And how much of this narrow outlook can be traced back to the Supreme Court's 5-4 ruling after the disputed November 2000 presidential election; the election that Al Gore won by popular vote but lost by a sole vote in the legal system.