Douglas W. Kmiec, a high profile lawyer in the Reagan and Poppy Bush administrations, lays out what he thinks is the solution to this gay marriage mess.
Essentially, get the government out of the business of religious marriage, and instead create civil unions for all that are legally recognized by the government. That way you have [...]

Well, they ruled on it once this year and looks like they’ll have to do it again thanks to the passage of Prop 8.
From AP:
The California Supreme Court on Wednesday accepted three lawsuits seeking to overturn Proposition 8. The amendment passed this month with 52 percent of the vote. The court did not elaborate on [...]

Jeezus, they’re really trying to kill this thing…
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Six Alaska lawmakers filed an emergency appeal Friday asking the state’s Supreme Court to halt an investigation into abuse-of-power allegations against Gov. Sarah Palin before the findings are released next week.
The independent investigator conducting the probe plans to turn over his conclusions by next [...]

No video yet, but here’s the transcript…
COURIC: Why, in your view, is Roe v. Wade a bad decision?
PALIN: I think it should be a states issue not a federal government-mandated, mandating yes or no on such an important issue. I’m, in that sense, a federalist, where I believe that states should have more say in [...]

Apparently it has to do with her knowledge of Supreme Court decisions…
Of concern to McCain’s campaign, however, is a remaining and still-undisclosed clip from Palin’s interview with Couric last week that has the political world buzzing.
The Palin aide, after first noting how “infuriating” it was for CBS to purportedly leak word about the gaffe, [...]

I wrote about Hillary supporter Debra Bartoshevich back in June when she decided to break from her party and support McCain instead.
So what made her so special? Well, she was as an elected delegate to the Democratic National Convention at the time. Understandably, she was quickly booted.
Now she has popped up in a new [...]

After watching the Saddleback Forum this weekend, did you find it a bit disingenuous that McCain said he wouldn’t vote to confirm Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, David Souter or John Paul Stevens to the court?
Because as many of us are already know, he voted to confirm Ginsburg, Breyer and Souter. He wasn’t able [...]

A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.
To the question of whether or not the 2nd amendment guarantees gun rights for all or just members of state militias…it’s not even close.

And even among people who don’t [...]

The decision was 5-4, and I would have hoped that this wouldn’t be so evenly split because I think most people in this country acknowledge that the 2nd Amendment grants people at least the baseline right to arms themselves. I mean, we’re talking about owning a gun in your home without having to put a [...]

Three years ago, in the famous Kelo decision, the U.S. Supreme Court expanded the power of the “takings clause” in the Constitution to allow municipalities to condemn private property and give it over to private developers so long as the action provided appreciable benefits to the community. Thanks to Kelo, if a city argues that [...]

George Will takes issue with John McCain’s statement that the recent Supreme Court decision on Guantanamo detainees was one of the “worst decisions in history.”
Will’s complaint is as much about McCain’s hyperbole as it is about McCain’s opposition to the ruling. As Will notes, this is not a clear-cut matter and people of good will [...]

A new Rasmussen poll reveals that 60% of Americans believe the Supreme Court justices have political agendas. The sentiment is at about the same percent regardless of party affiliation. Only 31% of respondents said the court is doing a good or excellent job.
I’m not surprised by this poll at all. After decades of politicizing the [...]

Big, big news.
The Supreme Court restored habeas rights for enemy combatants, and thereby acknowledged that the “War on Terrorism” has no discernible end and so detainees should be able to challenge indefinite detention.
More from AP:
In its third rebuke of the Bush administration’s treatment of prisoners, the court ruled 5-4 that the government is violating [...]

Yesterday, the Supreme Court ruled in Baze v. Rees that carrying out the death penalty with the current lethal injection method is constitutional. The case came out of Kentucky but had led to a death penalty moratorium across the nation.
The ruling ended up 7-2 which is pretty decisive for the current court when dealing with [...]

I am very anti-death penalty because any system that puts innocent people to death is simply broken and unethical.
However…if states feel they absolutely must have it, I think lethal injection is the most humane way to kill people…and the highest court in the land overwhelmingly agrees.
From NY Times:
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday [...]

Based on the justice’s demeanors and questions during today’s 2nd Amendment Supreme Court case, early guesses have the court overturning the DC handgun ban. There also looks to be a 5-4 split with the four most liberal justices bowing to the “common defense” interpretation of the amendment which focuses on the “militia” aspect as grounds [...]

One of the most important Supreme Court cases in recent years will come before the court tomorrow as the 2nd Amendment is put on trial. This is one of the few shadowy corners of our Constitution, having received very little High Court interpretation. As such, the justices will have to determine the meaning of the [...]

The historical legacy of Dick Cheney and this administration will be a permanently weaker executive branch, constrained by shackles applied by the judiciary and the legislature, precipitated precisely by and in reaction to the overreach of Dick Cheney in pursuit of a stronger executive branch.

It was bound to happen.

All you have to do is decide whether or not to suspend the student for the message shown. I unfairly suspended one student and let one slide that I could have suspended.
How’d you do?

I posted about Giuliani’s liberal judge problem here on March 1st, and now the LA Times picks up the meme.
From the west comes this about the easterner…
One judge approved by Giuliani, Rosalyn Richter, had been executive director of a gay rights organization, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, before being named to the bench. After [...]