Choosing a Supreme Court justice has become a deplorably dishonest process that hides ideological disputes behind petty and often personal matters. Nominees pretend to have no opinion about controversial issues such as abortion, when everyone listening knows they certainly do. Politicians pretend to worry about nothing except judicial qualifications, temperament and balance.
It is a summer Read More
The U.S. Supreme Court has announced that it's going to review the New York case about the constitutionality of the judicial selection process. (Judicial candidates currently get the endorsement of a major party not by running in primaries, but in judicial conventions. More on the initial case here.) In addition to making it Read More
A state federal court of appeals just upheld Judge Gleeson's ruling that judicial conventions in New York are unconstitutional because they're controlled by party bosses. Gleeson's ruling came out earlier this year, but was set to go into affect next year pending this appeal. As a reader, who passed on today's ruling, noted, "the defendants Read More
Whatever else may be said about the august legislators of South Dakota, who have arrogated unto themselves the decision of every woman in that state as to whether to continue a pregnancy, they have accomplished something that could prove important to the entire country. Long before the repercussions reach the U.S. Supreme Court, their law Read More
Whatever else may be said about the august legislators of South Dakota, who have arrogated unto themselves the decision of every woman in that state as to whether to continue a pregnancy, they have accomplished something that could prove important to the entire country. Long before the repercussions reach the U.S. Supreme Court, their law Read More
Russ Feingold, heading into the Gore-space on Hillary's left, is also making his way onto her New York turf this Sunday with an address on the Patriot Act. According to the release, the address will be at "Cardoza Law School." By which the Judiciary Committee member presumably means Cardozo, which is named after Read More
Assessing the philosophy, character and fitness of Samuel Alito to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court will require more than eliciting vague and unresponsive answers about whether he will remain faithful to Roe v. Wade, the precedent that protects abortion rights in America. It means that Senators should take the time to closely examine his Read More
Beneath a photo of Judge Samuel Alito in Princeton University’s 1972 yearbook, one line prophesied a rich future for the 22-year-old public-policy major: “Sam intends to go to law school and eventually warm a seat on the Supreme Court.” Thirty-three years later, it seems, that cheeky line said more about Mr. Alito’s dearest ambitions than Read More
Assessing the philosophy, character and fitness of Samuel Alito to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court will require more than eliciting vague and unresponsive answers about whether he will remain faithful to Roe v. Wade, the precedent that protects abortion rights in America. It means that Senators should take the time to closely examine his Read More
Beneath a photo of Judge Samuel Alito in Princeton University’s 1972 yearbook, one line prophesied a rich future for the 22-year-old public-policy major: “Sam intends to go to law school and eventually warm a seat on the Supreme Court.”
Thirty-three years later, it seems, that cheeky line said more about Mr. Alito’s dearest ambitions than Read MoreIt's not exactly SCOTUS, but the New York City Bar Association is out with its judicial recommendations, and there's another round of bad news for the Brooklyn Democratic Party. Three of their favored judicial candidates, including Richard Velasquez, a protege of party leader Vito Lopez, got the "not approved" rating. Of course, that never Read More
It's noon and Mike hasn't gone after Bush's SCOTUS nomination yet, which must mean that he's feeling pretty confident, or that his pollsters are reassured that the Republican line of attack isn't working. Freddy, meanwhile, seems downright giddy: "It's appropriate that this nomination was announced on Halloween, because it's scary." He wants Mike to "admit Read More
Well, that didn't take long. As I started to write an item on New York's senior Senator and the new SCOTUS nominee, Judge Samuel Alito, the following popped up from Chuck:
"It is sad that the President felt he had to pick a nominee likely to divide America instead of choosing a nominee in Read More
My first reaction after President George W. Bush nominated White House counsel Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court was: Ohmigod. My second was: Why do we care so much? Begin with ohmigod. I don’t want to be here, and I resent Mr. Bush for putting me here. If the Miers announcement had been a computer, Read More
A bright yellow Lamborghini—the prize in a raffle to benefit the Columbus Citizens Foundation—illuminated the stage of the Waldorf-Astoria Grand Ballroom on Saturday night; in an ode to one of the night’s honorees, Associate Justice Antonin Scalia, an imitation façade of the U.S. Supreme Court Building had been erected there, too. Or was it the Read More
