Archive » Supreme Court

Open-borders majority.

Eminent domain imminent? Try a yes on 98. PLUS: Eminent domain v. illegal aliens–which do conservatives support?

Order in the court.

Victory.

Clarence Thomas speaks.

Update: The Left gloats.

Dems play the “dupe” card. Plus: A Bobby Byrd flashback and a reminder of the SCOTUS hearing circus.

Summer of speculation.

If any of you followed my work at the Seattle Times, you know how closely I covered the battle against government racial preferences in Washington state. You may remember that Washington passed Initiative 200 to ban government racial preferences in public hiring and education. Despite massive establishment opposition (led by my then-publisher), the measure was [...]

Decisions, decisions, decisions: Builders prevail in endangered species lawsuit; Bush wins on faith-based initiatives; Bongs Hit 4 Jesus kid loses; political speech wins, McCain-Feingold weakened…

Rebuffed by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the NYTimes puts out a desperate editorial this morning asking someone, anyone–paging Nancy Pelosi!–to help protect them from accountability for protecting illegal leakers and reporters accused of tipping off terrorist charities: A journalist’s ability to protect the identity of confidential sources has been further eroded by the Supreme Court’s [...]

I noted the NYTimes’ attempt this weekend to seek protection from Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg for two accused blabbermouth reporters, whom the feds believe tipped off two Muslim charities fronting for terror. Well, wonders never cease. The Times reports this afternoon that the court rebuffed the leak-dependent paper: The United States Supreme Court refused today [...]

Salim Hamdan, Osama’s driver: Why is this man smiling? ***latest update 1120am Eastern…opinions have been posted…flashback: A jihadi gets his day in court…*** ***update: breaking…1014am Eastern…Ruling is delivered…5-3…”Bush overstepped authority”…Lyle Denniston at SCOTUS Blog: “The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that Congress did not take away the Court’s authority to rule on the military commissions’ [...]

Lyle Deniston at SCOTUSblog reports this morning: The Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear the appeal of Jose Padilla, a U.S. citizen held for more than three years as an “enemy combatant.” The Court, however, declined to dismiss the case as moot, as the Bush Administration had urged. Only three Justices voted to hear [...]

***update – Alito passes the committee on a party-line vote – 10-8*** The Dems are gearing up on a party-line vote against SCOTUS nominee Samuel Alito. Here’s the latest from AP: The Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to approve the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Samuel Alito Tuesday, with the vote expected to be along [...]

Nebraska’s Ben Nelson announces his vote for SCOTUS nominee Sam Alito. Via Reuters: Ben Nelson of Nebraska, a moderate voice in the U.S. Congress, on Tuesday became the first Senate Democrat to announce his support for conservative Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito, who is expected to be confirmed later this month by the full Republican-led [...]

***scroll for updates…1030am EDT appearance with GOP Sens…1110am Schumer exploits Rosa Parks…gross…video at The Political Teen*** Via Breitbart/AP, we have a nominee: Samuel A. Alito, Jr. White House will make official announcement at 8am EDT. Details from USNews: Nicknamed “Scalito” for views resembling those of conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, Samuel Alito Jr. is [...]

Fox News reporting tonight that the White House will announce its SCOTUS pick tomorrow. Washington Post, A1 for Monday: President Bush appears poised to announce a new Supreme Court nomination today, moving quickly after a weekend of consultations to put forward a replacement for the ill-fated choice of Harriet Miers in hopes of recapturing political [...]

What a relief. Sad, pensive, what-a-waste relief. Not happy-joy-joy relief. First Breitbart/AP dispatch 858am EDT: Harriet Miers withdrew her nomination to be a Supreme Court justice Thursday in the face of stiff opposition and mounting criticism about her qualifications. Exit strategy hinged on refusal to release privileged White House documents. (Ed Morrissey and Charles Krauthammer [...]

Ankle Biting Pundits has a statistical analysis of senatorial bloviation and a recap of yesterday’s SCOTUS nomination hearing. Excerpt: Everyone knows Senators love to hear their own voices and that the confirmation hearings are supposed to be about John Roberts’s views, not theirs. But of course that’s not the case. A little experiment proved that. [...]

The SCOTUS nomination hearings for John Roberts begin today. This will not surprise you: GOP U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe have indicated support for Supreme Court nominee John Roberts, but both have yet to come out and say they would definitely vote for him. Here’s a handy SCOTUS vocabulary guide. 10 likely questions [...]

Washington’s gearing up for SCOTUS nominee John Roberts’ hearings on Tuesday. A few handy links: – Bush nominates Roberts to fill Rehnquist’s shoes. The president met with Roberts in the private residence of the White House for about 35 to 40 minutes on Sunday evening, then officially offered him the job at 7:15 a.m. Monday [...]

In Opinion Journal this morning, Manuel Miranda nails loony NARAL for its inexcusable attack ad against SCOTUS nominee John Roberts: The ladies who gave Plato’s “noble lie” new uses in the hearings of Clarence Thomas are at it again. NARAL is using the image of the abortion clinic bombing by Eric Rudolph to suggest that [...]

Time and again, Washington Post Style reporter Robin Givhan hides behind fashion snarking and culture reporting to savage conservatives. She did it with Katherine Harris and Dick Cheney and John Bolton–and I’m sure you can remember many more examples of partisan mockery. Well, today’s conservative-bashing Style commentary sinks to the lowest low. The piece, “An [...]

So, last night during the SCOTUS press conference, you may have noticed the facial expressions of President Bush and John Roberts’ wife. Glenn Reynolds did. So did the readers at Daily Kos. Why the faces? Because John Roberts’ adorable little son decided to break dance during the momentous event. Dirty Harry has the hilarious photos. [...]

On the left, the NYTimes editorial board warns that if it doesn’t get a Sandra Day O’Connor clone, we will all end up breathing dirty air, working in salt mines, and handing over our children to do slave labor! Mark Coffey reacts to the NYT’s editorial here. Meanwhile, Manuel Miranda, who launches a SCOTUS column [...]

Tony Mauro of the Legal Times reported in February 2005 that SCOTUS nominee John Roberts’ votes “have mainly fallen on the conservative side, but not always:” Last December, in United States v. Mellen, Roberts ruled in favor of a criminal defendant who challenged his sentence in a fraud case. Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson — yes, [...]

***See update: John Roberts*** So, it’s not Clement. Then who? The others: There was early speculation about Judge Edith Clement of the U.S. Court of Appeals in New Orleans, but Republicans indicated later she was not the nominee. Another female candidate thought to be under consideration was Edith Hollan Jones, who serves on the same [...]

WaPo says an announcement may come as early as this afternoon. The Supreme Court Nomination Blog has all the lowdown on rumored frontrunner Edith Clement. (Update: Rolling list of Clement’s noteworthy opinions.) Jonathan Adler comments on lefty Nan Aron’s wishes. Christopher Flannery likes Justice Alice Batchelder. ProLife Blogs takes a look at the two Ediths. [...]

The Hill’s report that Alberto Gonzales will not be the next Supreme Court nominee has many conservatives breathing easier. Tom Goldstein at The Supreme Court Nomination Blog stands by his prediction that the pick will be Priscilla Owens. Matthew Franck at Bench Memos notes a Fox News report that Sen. Robert Byrd is getting pre-approval [...]