Guns and the mentally ill, Padilla torture suit

Guns and the mentally ill

President Bush this week signed legislation aimed at preventing gun sales to the mentally ill. The law was passed in the wake of last spring’s shootings at Virginia Tech. It authorizes up to $1.3 billion in grants to states to improve their tracking of people who should be barred from buying guns, including those who have been involuntarily committed to a mental institution. Virginia Tech gunman Seung-Hui Cho was able to buy two guns, despite being having been declared mentally ill by a Virginia court.

Padilla torture suit

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Jose Padilla, a former gang member once accused of plotting a “dirty bomb” attack, has filed suit against a former Bush administration lawyer who wrote opinions supporting the harsh treatment of terrorism suspects. Padilla contends that while he was being held for three years following his arrest in 2002, he was subjected to inhumane treatment. Former Justice Department lawyer John Yoo provided the legal rationale for those policies, Padilla alleges. Padilla was convicted last year of participating in a terrorist conspiracy. Yoo, who now teaches law, had no comment.