Round-Up
Justice Stevens spoke at the 9th Circuit Judicial Conference in Hawai’i yesterday. A Honolulu Advertiser article, found here, discusses the Justice’s relationship with the state and Hawai’i related Supreme Court cases during Justice Stevens’ tenure. A briefer LA Times article, here, focuses on the Justice’s quote, “I’m blessed by a job where there’s no set retirement age,” and his answers to questions about ‘the increasing number of split decisions” on the Court.
Discussion and debate only continues over the District of Columbia’s decision to challenge the Court of Appeals’ ruling on the District’s gun control law. Here are two opinion pieces on the constitutionality of the law and the District’s decision to take the case to the Supreme Court, one from the Washington Post and the other from the Washington Times.
Here in today’s New York Sun, Joseph Goldstein reports on a case to be heard next term that centers on the question of at what point, according to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the City of New York is responsible for providing private school tuition reimbursement for students with disabilities.
After the Court’s Cunningham v. California decision in January, prisoners across California hoped that their sentences might be reduced, but, following two unanimous decisions by the California Supreme Court, that doesn’t appear likely, as Bob Egelko reports in his article for the San Fransisco Chronicle. Similarly, yesterday the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation released this statement about what is now seen to be the limited impact of the Cunningham decision on California sentencing law.
The Honolulu Advertiser article includes a very interesting quote from Justice Stevens:
“Stevens believes he has a “wonderful job” and he enjoys it, but he does have someone whom he trusts who would tell him when it’s time to retire. He didn’t mention names, but added, “He’s apt to do it when I’m dissenting on one of his decisions.”
So, who is Justice Stevens talking about? The use of “he” means Justice Ginsburg is excluded. The fact that he so frequently dissents with the five members of the conservative majority probably excludes them too. That leaves only Justices Souter or Breyer.
This is really a question for SCOTUS insiders, therefore: Who does Justice Stevens trust so much that he thinks he would be able to tell him when to retire? Or in other words, who is Justice Stevens’ real “friend” in the Court?
Comment by Pedro Soriano Mendiara — July 21, 2007 @ 5:09 am