The President called Senator Orrin Hatch today and filled him in on the timing and tenor of his new SCOTUS nominee. Here’s more from Politico: Hatch raised concerns initially that Obama was using “buzz words” for a liberal activist justice by suggesting he wanted someone who had “empathy” for the country’s problems. But Obama told [...]

That’s the speculation from NPR, but it’s definitely not as big a shakeup as if a conservative justice would have announced. Because even though Souter was appointed by the elder Bush, he has been long considered one of the more liberal Justices. Here’s more… So far as anyone knows, he is in good health. But [...]

Are we really ready to do this to kids? And the important part here is that the student in question was on the honor roll and they were searching her for prescription-strength ibuprofen pills. Yes, ibuprofen. From Wash Post… An important case at the Supreme Court sometimes informs as much about the justices as the [...]

Today, the Supreme Court heard an important case that could greatly affect the McCain-Feingold campaign laws. It involves a movie highly critical of Hillary Clinton which was originally scheduled for release during the Democratic primaries but was stopped by judges concerned with its legality. This case illustrates the inherent problems with McCain-Feingold. Namely, it forces [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]