Archive » Supreme Court

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 refusal [...]

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 to stop [...]

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’ validity, and [...]

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 the [...]

Good news just in via Breitbart/Reuters:
A unanimous U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Monday that universities that get federal funds must allow military recruiters on campus, even if their law schools oppose the Pentagon’s policy prohibiting openly gays and lesbians from serving.
The high court upheld as constitutional a federal law dating back to 1994 that allows [...]

***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 party lines.
Chairman [...]

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 Senate.
“I [...]

*AP names Hurricane Katrina its top story of the year. Can’t argue with that. The rest of the top ten:
2: PAPAL TRANSITION: John Paul II’s death marked the passing of the first non-Italian pope in 455 years and ended a 26-year pontificate, third-longest in history. In a remarkable show of affection, many millions attended services [...]

***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 a favorite son [...]

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 momentum, according [...]

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 called it.) Whatever. [...]

I have stayed away from the depressing and divisive subject of Harriet Miers for a few days. It was a healthy little respite. But things have taken yet another grim, embarrassing turn–and it is becoming increasingly difficult to imagine that this nomination will make it to the scheduled Nov. 7 Senate hearing date.
First, if you [...]

***315pm EDT updated below***
John Roberts has been confirmed. The vote (via Confirm Them):
Final vote was 78-22.
55 Republicans and 23 Dems voted yes. 22 Dems voted no.
How the Dems voted below the fold.
Democrats voting Yes:
Max Baucus of Montana
Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico
Robert Byrd of West Virginia
Kent Conrad of North Dakota
Russ Feingold of Wisconsin
Tim Johnson of South [...]

August 17, 2005:
Sen. Patrick Leahy says Supreme Court nominee John Roberts holds “radical” views and has been an “eager, aggressive advocate” for policies of the far right.
While stopping short of announcing his opposition to the appointment, the Vermont Democrat’s written statement Tuesday was by far the most critical he has made since President Bush nominated [...]

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. 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 senators will ask.
Five more [...]

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 when Roberts [...]

Last week there was a brief flurry of interest in the idea of comparable worth – the idea that the law should require that women and men working similar jobs should earn the same salaries. This idea was popular in the 1980s as feminists tried to get legislation passed to erase what they saw as [...]

Tigerhawk examines fallout from NARAL’s aborted smear ad against SCOTUS nominee John Roberts. The group’s communications director has “resigned”, and as Tigerhawk notes:
I find it hard to believe that NARAL’s communication director would quit in the teeth of a nomination battle without having been pushed out. It is a virtually certainty that NARAL gave him [...]

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 Judge [...]

Intense reaction to the N.Y. Times’ journalistic dumpster diving into the sealed adoption records of Supreme Court nominee John Roberts’ two young children continues to pour in. Here’s a sample of the letters I’m getting. Won’t it be interesting to see whether the Times letters page bothers to print as many?
From Reader Jeff K:
I’m sure [...]

On Tuesday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled that the Kamehameha Schools, a private school in Hawaii, can no longer discriminate against students who are not of native Hawaiian descent.
Associated Press reports:
Overturning a Honolulu federal judge’s decision supporting the school, a panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals [...]

The Left’s opposition to John Roberts is getting so ridiculous (see Bench Memos, Power Line, Charmaine Yoest, The Corner, and John Cornyn’s website, among others, for background), that it’s almost beyond spoofing.

John at Wuzzadem takes a stab–and scores.

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 Image [...]

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. Here’s one:

(*Update* [...]

Trust you’ve seen the Drudge flash on fearless Ann Coulter’s comments about John Roberts. Ann’s full piece is up at her website.
It’s titled “Souter in Roberts clothing,” and concludes:
He has given us a Supreme Court nomination that will placate no liberals and should please no conservatives.
Maybe Roberts will contravene the sordid history of “stealth nominees” [...]

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 for the [...]

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, an [...]

***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 court.
Among the women being [...]