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Friday, August 26, 2005
Blog Round-Up - Friday, August 26th
09:17 AM | Liz Aloi | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
PrawfsBlawg has this response to Dahlia Lithwick's recent article on the "living" Constitution and this post on a speech Justice Stevens recently gave, profiled by the New York Times here.
The Right Coast also comments on Justice Stevens' speech here.
Legal Theory Blog has this post discussing "The wisdom of Hercules", a short piece in the Economist on modeling and analysis of Supreme Court decisions and their citation networks.
Election Law Blog has this post discussing a letter Senator Specter, chairman of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary sent to Judge Roberts indicating that Senator Specter intended to ask Judge Roberts about his views on the Supreme Court's recent federalism case, Tennessee v. Lane. According to Rick Hasen, the vitality of Tennessee v. Lane is very relevant to the question of congressional power to uphold a renewed section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. A letter Hasen has written to Specter notes that Judge Roberts' past writings on the Voting Rights Act give special reason for concern that he would not follow Justice O'Connor's position in Tennessee v. Lane as precedent for upholding a renewed section 5.
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
Blog Round-Up - Wednesday, August 24th
02:50 PM | Liz Aloi | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
The Volokh Conspiracy has this post discussing this Wall Street Journal article on Justice Stephen Breyer's new 161-page book to be released in a few weeks: "Active Liberty: Interpreting Our Democratic Constitution."
The Legal Affairs Debate Club asks, "Is Assisted Suicide Legal?" This October, in Gonzales v. Oregon, the Supreme Court will hear a challenge to Oregon's "Death with Dignity Act" which allows terminally ill patients told they have six months to live the right to commit suicide with the aid of a doctor. Debating the issue is Jonathan Adler, visiting professor at George Mason University and Wesley J. Smith, an attorney and the author of Culture of Death: The Assault on Medical Ethics in America.
Dahlia Lithwick asks, "Does Anyone Believe in a Living Constitution Anymore?"
ACSBlog has posted this analysis of Justice Ginsburg's confirmation hearings titled,"The Confirmation Hearings of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Answering Questions While Maintaining Judicial Impartiality."
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Change to SCOTUSblog Comment Feature
08:30 AM | Amy Howe | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
SCOTUSblog commenters will notice that, beginning today, they will be required to register in order to post comments on the blog. We very much appreciate the many interesting and thought-provoking comments that we have received over the past few years and hope that they will continue; we implemented the registration feature because the comments have recently been flooded (literally to the tune of several hundred per day) with invitations to play online poker, refinance our mortgage, and buy various medications online. They're attractive offers and all, but we simply couldn't keep up with the onslaught. More importantly, we suspect that in the tedium of deleting all of the spam, we may have accidently deleted legitimate comments (and, if so, we apologize). Thanks for your patience during this transition, and please keep those comments coming!
Monday, August 22, 2005
No second-guess on Kelo
03:29 PM | Lyle Denniston | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
The Supreme Court on Monday refused -- as it was expected to do -- to reconsider its controversial ruling expanding the power of local governments to seize private property for economic development. The action came as the Justices issued several routine orders while the Court remains in its summer recess. (The case was Kelo v. City of New London, 04-108; the Court divided 5-4 in that decision.).
The Court's rules make it exceedingly difficult for a party to gain a rehearing of a decided case. Even so, property rights advocates had tried that maneuver as part of an energetic campaign to keep the issue alive and thriving. Efforts are being made in a number of state legislatures and in Congress to curb the use of the power of "eminent domain," even though the Court had enhanced that authority if local officials opt to use it.
Monday's list of orders indicated that Justice Sandra Day O'Connor was continuing to participate in the Court's work over the summer. One of the orders -- a denial of rehearing -- indicated that she had disqualified herself from that particular action, a sign that she had taken part in all of the other orders. Forty-four cases were denied rehearing, including Kelo.
O'Connor has said she would continue to serve until her successor is qualified. That is expected to occur early in the new Term that opens Oct. 3.
Among Monday's orders, the Court agreed to allow the Solicitor General to join in arguing for the federal government in 04-698, Schaffer v. Weast, a test of whether parents or public school officials have the burden of proof in a dispute over the educational placement of a disabled child. The case is scheduled for oral argument on Wednesday, Oct. 5.
Upcoming Event: The Jurisprudence of Justice Stevens
10:17 AM | Amy Howe | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
In honor of Justice Stevens's thirtieth year on the Court, Fordham University School of Law has organized a two-day conference, The Jurisprudence of Justice Stevens. The conference will be held on September 30 and October 1 and will feature scholars from around the country, as well as remarks by Justice Stevens himself. The event is free and open to the public; you can view the schedule here
and register here.