A study condicted by the Constitutional Accountability Center came up with a finding which is not altogether surprising, but depressing nevertheless: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is undefeated at the Supreme Court this term, continuing to improve its success in securing business-friendly judgments since Chief Justice John Roberts took the bench in 2005. In other words, when the conservative pro-business … Read More
Scalia’s So-Called “Originalism” Is A Sham
There was no announcement today from the Supreme Court on the constitutionality of Obamacare, but, as has been written here and elsewhere, it doesn't look good. A neutral observer would have to wonder how even Scalia could strike down Obamacare, given his views of an expansive view of the Commerce Clause, articulated as recently as 2005 in his opinion … Read More
Where Have You Gone, JPS?
Even though he retired from the bench, former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, 92, is still giving it good. He's an outspoken critic of Citizens United, saying yesterday: "If the First Amendment does not protect the right of a graduate of Harvard Law School to spend his own money to support the candidate of his choice simply because his … Read More
The Crazy Conservatives On The Supreme Court Have No Sense Whatsoever
Okay. Imagine this. You are a 35 year old man. One March day, you are a passenger in your family's SUV. Your pregnant wife is driving, and your 4-year-old son is in the back seat. You are driving to a Sunday dinner. Suddenly, you're stopped by a New Jersey state trooper. Since you are the vehicle's registered owner, the officer runs … Read More
Who Has Got The Heavy Burden?
In the most recent New Yorker, Jeffrey Toobin takes Supreme Court Justice Kennedy to task: It’s well known by now that Donald Verrilli, Jr., the Solicitor General, had an off day at the Supreme Court last Tuesday, when he was called on to defend the constitutionality of the individual mandate, the part of the Affordable Care Act which requires people … Read More
THIS Is Why The Supreme Court Is Reluctant To Broadcast The Arguments
Because some douchebag might come along and manipulate them for political gain, misprepresenting what actually happened in court. Like this ad from the RNC: As it turns out, the RNC's new ad is about as honest as the RNC's attacks on the health care law itself. A Republican Party web-based advertisement uses altered audio from U.S. Supreme Court oral arguments to attack … Read More
So What If The Mandate Fails
If the Supreme Court decides it doesn't like the individual mandate, what happens to the rest of Obamacare? The Supreme Court can go three ways: (1) If the mandate falls, the rest of the law stands. The outcome: The narrowest ruling the Supreme Court could issue would be one where the individual mandate falls by itself but leaves the rest of … Read More
What’s Being Argued Today — A Summary for Layman
At the heart of health care reform lies the individual mandate, which makes it so that individuals must purchase health insurance or else face a fine assessed by the government. The question before the Court will be whether Congress has the power under the Commerce Clause to require that individuals purchase health insurance. The Commerce Clause states that “the Congress shall have … Read More
Supreme Court Starts Hearing Arguments in the “Obamacare” Case
Is the Affordable Care Act consitutional? The lower courts are divided, and today the Supreme Court beings three days of oral arguments on the matter. Somewhat oddly, the most controversial part of the legislation — the individual mandate which requires everyone to purchase health insurance (or pay a fine if they don't) — is only slotted for 90 minutes of … Read More
Warrants Needed For GPS Monitoring
It's kind of tough translating a 200+ year old document like the Constitution to modern-day technology. Conservatives would rather we don't do it at all, sticking to the letter of the document (i.e., "if the Constitution was silent about privacy, then privacy is not protected"). But once in a while, the Supreme Court gets it right: The Supreme Court ruled … Read More
U.S. Supreme Court Refuses To Hear Forsyth County Prayer Case
Good local First Amendment news: WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from a North Carolina county commission over the mostly Christian prayers offered at the beginning of its public meetings. The justices on Tuesday left in place a federal appeals court ruling that held that the predominantly Christian prayers at the start of Forsyth County commission meetings violated … Read More
The Supreme Court Healthcare Challenge… in Plain English
Kudos to Amy Howe at SCOTUSBLOG, for summarizing "in plain English" where we stand with the legal challenges to Obamacare. Saved me a whole afternoon. I reprint it here in full. The health care grants: In Plain English On Monday morning, at exactly ten o’clock, the Court released its list of orders resulting from the Justices’ private Conference at the … Read More
What Citizens United Hath Wrought
Last year's Citizens United case was, for most court watchers, one of the worst-decided case in Supreme Court history. Worse even, some say, than Bush v Gore. That case allowed corporations and unions to spend unlimited amounts on political advocacy (but mostly corporations since they had the $$$$). What we have now is a huge infusion of money into politics, and … Read More
Sucks To Be Clarence Thomas
Imagine what it must be like to be Clarence Thomas right now. As opposed to 19 years ago. Nineteen years ago, Anita Hill, an employee of yours, testifies at your Senate confirmation hearings that you would make all kinds of off-color remarks when you were head of the EEOC. Stuff like public hairs on Coke cans. And obsession with porno. … Read More
Olive Branch Fail
From CNN: Anita Hill, whose accusations of sexual harassment almost derailed Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ high court nomination, has no plans to apologize for the charges she made nearly two decades ago. The response from Hill, now a law professor at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, comes after a message left for her over the weekend by Thomas’ wife, Virginia, … Read More