It’s getting close to the end of the Supreme Court term, and this is when controversial cases start coming out. Although a few cases were handed down today, they weren’t the ones on my particular radar. The ones of national import, I believe, are: Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin (argued December 9, 2015). This case, a challenge to … Read More
Trump Releases List of 11 Potential SCOTUS Justices
Breaking: JERSEY CITY, N.J. (AP) — Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has released a list of 11 potential Supreme Court justices he plans to vet to fill the seat of late Justice Antonin Scalia. Trump’s picks include Steven Colloton of Iowa, Allison Eid of Colorado and Raymond Gruender of Missouri. Also on the list are: Thomas Hardiman of Pennsylvania, … Read More
Panicky RedState: Confirm Garland Now
From Think Progress: RedState, the influential conservative blog that has often helped shape the outcome of Republican primary elections and congressional Republican strategy, says its now time for Republicans to end their blockade of Chief Judge Merrick Garland’s nomination to the Supreme Court. “Now that Donald Trump is the presumptive nominee, this is not even a close call,” the site … Read More
SCOTUS Strikes Down Texas Voting Suppression Attempt
They saw what you did there, Texas. Since the 1960s — the case of Wesberry v. Sanders – to be specific — we have had a “one person, one vote” which says that state legislative districts must be drawn so they are equal in population. But the Republican asshole legislature in Texas (of course) wanted legislative lines to be drawn based on eligible … Read More
Scalia’s Absence Already Having An Impact
If Scalia was alive, this case would have ended up differently: A case that had the potential to weaken public sector unions across the United States ended with a somewhat unexpected victory for unions on Tuesday, as the Supreme Court divided 4-4 on the question of requiring nonmembers to pay a fee to the public sector union that negotiates the … Read More
Gov McCrory Signs HB2 Into Law
Here’s why he did it: Ordinance defied common sense, allowing men to use women’s bathroom/locker room for instance. That’s why I signed bipartisan bill to stop it — Pat McCrory (@PatMcCroryNC) March 24, 2016 … which kind of reminds me of when Edith Bunker of “All in The Family” couldn’t understand how a man could be in love with another … Read More
Garland
Is it hard to do cartwheels over President Obama’s choice of Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland today. Professor Epstein seems to think he’s a good liberal… … but you always have to question the methodology of these things. Merrick Garland is 63 years old and currently serves as chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of … Read More
Obama’s Three Supreme Court Nominees
They are not as progressive as some might hope. This is a feature, not a bug, of Obama’s choices. He wants to nominate a Supreme Court justice that can’t be dinged for being a radical communist. So who are these guys (and yeah, they’re guys…)? Srinivasan, 49, was born in India and emigrated as a young child with his family … Read More
Footnote on Scalia
Thanks New York Times for casual mention about something that — if Scalia hadn’t died — would go unreported: WASHINGTON — Antonin Scalia was the longest-tenured justice on the current Supreme Court and the country’s most prominent constitutionalist. But another quality also set him apart: Among the court’s members, he was the most frequent traveler, to spots around the globe, … Read More
Now That Scalia’s Body Is Cold….
… let’s get real about this guy. Jeffrey Toobin: Antonin Scalia, who died this month, after nearly three decades on the Supreme Court, devoted his professional life to making the United States a less fair, less tolerant, and less admirable democracy. Fortunately, he mostly failed. Belligerent with his colleagues, dismissive of his critics, nostalgic for a world where outsiders knew … Read More
Hamilton on the Appointment of Justices to the Supreme Court
[The President] shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the … Read More
The Scalia Gambit
Without question, the death of Associate Justice Antonin Scalia has set all sides of the political spectrum into a frenzy. Everybody is weighing, but the stupidest comments are coming from Republicans who say that Obama shouldn’t nominate a justice at all because there is an election coming up. Rand Paul, who supposedly loves the Constitution, says that Obama has a … Read More
Breaking: Scalia Dead at 79
Just coming over the news. Found dead at a West Texas “luxury ranch”, whatever that is. UPDATE: Very quick initial thoughts (I will “eulogies” him later.) The political implications of this are huge. For one thing, this Supreme Court term had many important 5-4 issues in front of the Court, or… what would have been 5-4. Immigration, climate change, even … Read More
Activist Supreme Court Rules On Climate Change
Crazy: In a major setback for President Obama’s climate change agenda, the Supreme Court on Tuesday temporarily blocked the administration’s effort to combat global warming by regulating emissions from coal-fired power plants. The brief order was not the last word on the case, which is most likely to return to the Supreme Court after an appeals court considers an expedited … Read More
How Conservatives Plan To Redistrict In Their Favor
There is a case before the Supreme Court right now called Evenwel v. Abbott, and it is the most important voting rights case since the Court’s conservative majority gutted the Voting Rights Act (VRA) in 2013. The case deals with redistricting — how you draw the lines to determine who votes in what congressional district. What the conservatives want to do … Read More