When Amy was a little girl, her uncle made her famous in the worst way: as a star in the netherworld of child pornography. Photographs and videos known as “the Misty series” depicting her abuse have circulated on the Internet for more than 10 years, and often turn up in the collections of those arrested for possession of illegal images.

Now, with the help of an inventive lawyer, the young woman known as Amy — her real name has been withheld in court to prevent harassment — is fighting back.

She is demanding that everyone convicted of possessing even a single Misty image pay her damages until her total claim of $3.4 million has been met.

Some experts argue that forcing payment... Read On

WASHINGTON - Still wonder exactly why Justice Samuel Alito shook his head and mouthed the words "not true" during President Barack Obama's State of the Union address? He objected to the president's saying the ruling reversed a century of law.

The president touched off a controversy when he broke with tradition -- and decorum, his critics said -- by criticizing the court's recent campaign finance decision in his speech with six justices in attendance and bound by their own tradition of not reacting to what is said. (Justice Antonin Scalia once said he no longer goes to the annual speech because the justices "sit there like bumps on a log" in an otherwise highly partisan atmosphere.) Read On

E-mails shed new light on Todd Palin's role while his wife was Alaska's governor, showing that the one-time oil field worker's advice was sought on board appointments and suggesting he was close to matters related to state government, his wife's image and politics.

Relatively few of the messages obtained as part of a public records request were sent by Todd Palin himself.

Rather, his personal e-mail address is included on messages sent by administration staff, top

aides to then-Gov. Sarah Palin and Palin on topics ranging from use of the state plane to day-to-day governing issues and oil and gas legislation that Palin made a hallmark of her 2 1/2 years in office. Read On

There were 7,340 words in President Obama's State of the Union address last Wednesday--but Congress is only fixating on 32 of them. In eight days, one simple sentence has hurled all of Congress's legitimate business overboard and thrown a country desperate for jobs and tax relief into a fiery--and unnecessary--debate over homosexuality. Despite all of the hot issues on Capitol Hill, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" somehow shoved its way to the front of the line, generating two hearings faster than most Democrats can say "judicial nominees."

The Senate's Armed Services Committee kicked things off on Tuesday with the administration's pro-repeal reps, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Admiral Mike Mullen. Yesterday, the duo gave an encore performance to a lukewarm audience for the House committee. On one side, the sponsor of the House bill to overturn "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is complaining that the Pentagon isn't moving faster. On the other, Representatives like Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) were adamant. "The military is not civilian life," he said. Its rules don't exist to satisfy the Left's notion of "equality" or "freedom of expression." In the heat of battle, political correctness isn't a recipe for success--it's an obstruction to it.

At the very least, Army Secretary John McHugh thinks the military deserves a say. "Before the President or special interests force a change in the policy or law, Congress deserves to see from the services concrete, in-depth evidence that readiness concerns require a change and that such a change would not degrade wartime military readiness in any measurable, significant way." Read On

Family Concerns:

• Teens: "There's No Place Like Home"
• Palin targets Obama in 'tea party' speech
• Haitian lawyer for jailed US missionaries fired
• Baptists to flood TX with Bible CDs
• Perspective: Deifying Darwin

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