Liz Halloran

Same-Sex Couple Seeks Immigration Relief From High Court

Liz Halloran — Sun, 09 Jun 2013 21:48:00 +0000

The Sunday morning party in suburban Washington, D.C., had all the trappings of anticipation.

A lace-trimmed bassinet, a jumble of gifts tied with pink and blue ribbons, a "diaper cake" on the table. And chatter about babies, diets, new spring outfits and the coming end of the school year.

But for Sue Costello, the grandmother-in-waiting, the happy cacophony of the baby shower masked an abiding anxiety about the future of her daughter's family and the twins — a boy and a girl — who are due before June's end.

That future is now in the hands of the U.S. Supreme Court.

4 Big Players Emerge In Military Sexual Assault Debate

Liz Halloran — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 22:45:00 +0000

The nation's top military leaders came to Capitol Hill on Tuesday primed to defend their ability to handle, in their chain of command, the sexual assault scandal that has engulfed the armed services.

But the dramatic faceoff with the Senate Armed Services Committee — in particular two of its female members — appeared to only deepen the chasm between the four-star brass and those who want significant change in a system that has failed victims for decades.

If nothing else, the hearing revealed the four players who will play an outsized role in the debate: Army Chief of Staff Gen.

Lautenberg's Death Sets Off New Jersey Senate Scramble

Liz Halloran — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 18:05:00 +0000

The traditionally collegial U.S.

Court Prepares To Write New Chapters In Civil Rights History

Liz Halloran — Sat, 01 Jun 2013 19:45:00 +0000

It's not unusual for the Supreme Court to find itself at the center of roiling national debates.

But this month, justices are poised to deliver blockbuster opinions involving three of the most divisive issues in the public arena. And in doing so, they will write new and potentially groundbreaking chapters in America's civil rights story.

Affirmative action. Voting rights law.

Bachmann's Legacy: A Trailblazer, For Better And For Worse

Liz Halloran — Wed, 29 May 2013 22:07:00 +0000

Minnesota Rep.

For Chris Christie, Obama Connection Has Risks, Rewards

Liz Halloran — Tue, 28 May 2013 21:59:00 +0000

President Obama's second trip to New Jersey to meet with Republican Gov.

Stunned By Military Sex Scandals, Advocates Demand Changes

Liz Halloran — Sat, 25 May 2013 19:50:00 +0000

West Point alum Donna McAleer was at her Utah home last week when she got a call asking if she'd "seen the latest."

A male Army sergeant, a friend told her, had just been charged with secretly photographing and videotaping at least a dozen female cadets at McAleer's alma mater.

Many of the women were naked; some images were taken in a bathroom at the U.S. Military Academy in New York.

Oklahoma's GOP Senators Find Themselves In Tornado Aid Bind

Liz Halloran — Tue, 21 May 2013 18:57:00 +0000

Even as President Obama was declaring that tornado-devastated Oklahoma would get "everything it needs right away," the state's most vociferous critic of federal emergency aid vowed that he, too, would push for assistance "without delay."

Yet Republican Sen. Tom Coburn's position on federal aid came under close scrutiny in the hours after the tragedy.

Tesla Rides High, But Faces Formidable Foe: Car Dealers

Liz Halloran — Sun, 19 May 2013 04:51:00 +0000

Tesla Motors, the American maker of luxury electric cars, has been riding a wave of good publicity.

Its Model S sedan (base priced at $62,400, after federal tax credits) was just named Motor Trend Car of the Year.

When The Missing Return, Recovery Is Long, Too

Liz Halloran — Wed, 15 May 2013 19:59:00 +0000

They call themselves "Rooters," and they convene in a private online place they call the "RooterHood."

There, they can talk freely and frankly about what it was like to be kidnapped, to be stripped of identity, often sexually abused by their captors, separated from family, friends.

And also about the struggle to recover their uprooted lives, to trust and hope again.

It's a place that would welcome the three young Cleveland women who just last week escaped more than a decade of incarceration and abuse, allegedly at the hands of Ariel Castro, 52, the former school bus driver now facing mul

On Military Sexual Assault Issue, A New Era for An Old Committee

Liz Halloran — Fri, 10 May 2013 22:28:00 +0000

Other bipartisan efforts on Capitol Hill may be collapsing around them, but a cadre of Democratic and Republican women serving on the Senate and House Armed Services committees are leveraging their historic clout to respond together to the sexual assault crisis engulfing the U.S.

Poll: Obama Approval Up, Effectiveness Down; GOP In Doldrums

Liz Halloran — Wed, 08 May 2013 16:34:00 +0000

President Obama's job approval has inched up in recent weeks, but the percentage of Americans who say they believe he is effective has taken a hit, according to a Pew Research Center survey released Wednesday.

And while the image of Republican leadership remains "deeply negative," and continues bearing the brunt of the blame for Washington gridlock, the survey found that the GOP runs even with Democrats on the key issues of the economy, immigration and guns.

The survey also showed that even while Republicans hold a negative view of their own leaders, with over half expressing disapproval,

Joy, And New Hope, For All Families Of The Missing

Liz Halloran — Tue, 07 May 2013 20:34:00 +0000

Parents in a networking group for missing children were at a strategy dinner Monday night, discussing the terrors of Internet exploitation and the need for better communication with law enforcement, when news out of Cleveland hit somebody's smartphone and reverberated through the hotel conference room.

"All of a sudden someone said, 'Oh my God,' and started reading the report," said Mika Moulton, president of the Surviving Parents Coalition.

She was among those attending the Justice Department-sponsored gathering called the Family Roundta

Bulletproof Whiteboards And The Marketing Of School Safety

Liz Halloran — Sat, 04 May 2013 10:02:00 +0000

A recent news item out of Minnesota caught our eye: "Bulletproof Whiteboards Unveiled at Rocori Schools."

Bulletproof what? Where?

That would be whiteboards, at the small central Minnesota Rocori School District, which will spend upward of $25,000 for the protective devices produced by a company better known for its military armor products.

"The timing was right," Rocori school board Chairwoman Nadine Schnettler tells us.

Personality Or Party? Mass. Senate Race Shows Value Of Both

Liz Halloran — Wed, 01 May 2013 16:03:00 +0000

When Democratic Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts was tapped to replace Hillary Clinton as secretary of state, his state — and national — party bosses were wringing their hands.

Why? The prospect of Republican Scott Brown launching another campaign to return to the Senate, where he served after winning a special election in 2010 to complete the term of the late Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy. Brown lost to Democrat Elizabeth Warren last November in a race for a full Senate term.

But Brown opted not to run for Kerry's seat, and now it will go to either Rep.