Wednesday round-up

With the release of Justice Breyer™s new book yesterday, coverage of the Court has continued to focus on the book and his appearances to promote it.  In particular, the Justice™s comments in response to a question from George Stephanopoulos, to which Nabiha linked in yesterday™s round-up about whether the First Amendment might protect Qur™an burning have drawn attention.  On the Washington Post™s PostPartisan blog, Charles Lane examines Justice Breyer™s use of the crowded theater analogy coined by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes and ultimately concludes that burning Qur™ans to make a political point . . . is clearly constitutional. The editorial board of the Washington Times agrees, arguing that, Holmes’ clear and present danger™ test doesn’t apply to Koran burning because there is no imminent danger. The world is not a small, dark, crowded room with few exits.  At Concurring Opinions, Gerald Magliocca dismisses the suggestion that burning a Koran in the age of YouTube is akin to shouting fire™ falsely in a crowded theater as absurd, while David Rittgers of Cato @ Liberty also criticizes the Justice™s comments. More generally, NPR™s Fresh Air reprints highlights from Terry Gross™s interview with the Justice.

Briefly:

As the Associated Press reports, Justice Scalia has issued a stay of a Louisiana state court order requiring tobacco companies to pay $270 million for a smoking cessation program.