In both cases, the rulings were decided by a 5-to-4 majority, with the dissenting justices, the court's four most liberal members, calling on Congress to fix what they said were overly restrictive rulings.
That shift, in turn, is intended to produce more restrictive rulings on social issues such as abortion, gay rights and federal authority to protect civil rights and the environment.
They refused to follow the restrictive rulings of the American Supreme Court, Lord Steyn observing that the Supreme Court's approach of 'judicial deference to the view of prison authorities... does not accord with the approach under English law.
called for even less restrictive rules.
In 2012, the same court specified a very restrictive standard by ruling, at least in the case of vaginal sex, that HIV-positive people are relieved of the obligation to disclose under the criminal law only when they use a condom and have a 'low viral load' (Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, 2012).
So despite public statements in favor of a more relaxed Internet policy, Iran's formal rulings remain restrictive, forcing many in the country to use tools to get around imposed censorship.
On Thursday afternoon, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued its ruling on a restrictive Texas abortion law.
Coming after several restrictive habeas corpus decisions, the ruling today is likely to further limit federal judges' discretion to set aside state sentences in circumstances where the Supreme Court has not directly addressed an almost identical issue.
Attempts to put news websites and bloggers on a tight leash started to escalate in January when the court of cassation, Jordan's highest judicial authority, issued a rather ominous ruling recommending the restrictive press and publications law be extended to online news sites and other electronic media.
She also argued that there were "less restrictive alternatives" to a contempt ruling.
