Over the weekend, Dahlia Lithwick posted an article on Slate about the lack of courage in today’s political debate. Specifically, she discussed the successful efforts of gay marriage opponents to keep cameras out of the courtroom in the trial over California’s Prop 8 and a recent Supreme Court case regarding whether the state of Washington [...]
Entries Tagged as 'Supreme Court'
Willing to Prevent the Downfall of Civilization, So Long As They Don’t Have to Leave the House
June 21st, 2010 · No Comments · AR, Law and Justice, Politics, Supreme Court
Tags: civil rights·Dahlia Lithwick·gay marriage·gay rights·LGBT rights·Maggie Gallagher·political courage·Prop 8·Slate·Supreme Court·The New Republic·victims
Reason Number 14,538 To Miss John Paul Stevens
May 17th, 2010 · No Comments · AR, Law and Justice, Supreme Court
In his brief (1.5 paragraph) concurrence to today’s ruling that life without parole is an unconstitutional sentence for minors for non-homicide offenses, Stevens gives about as perfect and concise a summary of a liberal view of Constitutional interpretation as one could ask for:
Society changes. Knowledge accumulates. We learn, sometimes, from our mistakes. Punishments that did [...]
Tags: constitutional law·Graham v. Florida·John Paul Stevens·juvenile justice·Supreme Court
She Is A Real American
May 15th, 2010 · No Comments · AR, Law School, Law and Justice, Politics, Supreme Court
I could not support more strongly the idea that we need as much diversity as possible on the Supreme Court, and not just along the race/gender/religion/sexual orientation axes that we normally talk about. I understand that it’s difficult to get a cross-section of America on a nine-member body, but any time the president has an [...]
Tags: Bill O'Reilly·Dahlia Lithwick·diversity·Elena Kagan·Ivy League·Kathleen Parker·Paul Waldman·real America·Ruth Bader Ginsburg·Supreme Court·Tea Parties·white men
Better Late Than . . . Once, 14 Years Ago
February 17th, 2010 · No Comments · AS, Law School, Law and Justice, Supreme Court
Weirdly enough, a new challenge to Proposition 209 is underway in federal court. Prop two-oh-what, you say? Yes, Ward Connerly’s hilarious parody “civil rights” initiative of 1996, which prohibited public institutions in California from considering race, sex, and ethnicity EVER (except when they do, constantly), is being called unconstitutional. It’s like some law student was [...]
Tags: 1990s·affirmative action·Beverly Hills 90210·civil rights·Doritos·ethnicity·Garth Brooks·George Washington·Grutter v. Bollinger·I Love The 90s·John Roberts·Ninth Circuit·Potomac·Proposition 209·race·Ricci·Samuel Alito·sex·Supreme Court·The Coyote·The Road Runner·UCLA·UCLA Law·Ward Connerly
The Sad, Untriumphant Return of Lying to Make Friends
January 23rd, 2010 · No Comments · AR, Arts and Entertainment, Law School, Politics, Supreme Court
Due to a combination of final papers, holidays, cross-country and cross-state travel, the start of a new semester, and good old-fashioned laziness, Lying to Make Friends has been silent for the past month. That silence has been extended for the past week because all of the top stories in the news, with the exception of [...]
Tags: bone-crushing depression·corporations·crisis of democracy·David Letterman·Haiti·health care·health care reform·John Edwards·laziness·Scott Brown·Supreme Court
New Haven’s Firefighter Test (Imagined)
June 30th, 2009 · 3 Comments · AS, Arts and Entertainment, Supreme Court
Was I the only one disappointed to discover the Ricci opinion doesn’t include any of the actual promotion test questions that managed to weed out almost all minority candidates from possible promotion to fire lieutenant and captain positions in New Haven?
It came out in oral argument that one question asked firefighters whether fire equipment should [...]
Tags: Bruce Springsteen·firefighters·New Haven·racism·Ricci·Supreme Court·white men·yachts
In Less Glamorous Supreme Court News
June 29th, 2009 · No Comments · AS, Law and Justice, Supreme Court
While the headline today is Ricci, where the Court made great strides in quelling the tide of discrimination against white men (it’s a hard knock life for white guys in Connecticut!), I thought I would take a moment to call your attention to a case that barely made the news. On Friday the Court decided [...]
Tags: Confrontation Clause·Evidence·Melendez-Diaz·Paul Bergman·proof·Ricci·Supreme Court·white men
Bury the rag deep in your face. . .
June 19th, 2009 · 1 Comment · AR, Law and Justice, Supreme Court
. . . for now’s the time for your tears.
Tags: conservative logic·criminal justice·DNA testing·Supreme Court