The Supreme Court was hearing a case that involved the Vice President. At the same time, Justice Scalia was duck hunting with the Vice President. Scalia refused to recuse himself from the case, despite the glaringly obvious conflict of interest.
And how does Scalia feel about this refusal to recuse?
"I think the proudest thing I have done on the bench is not allow myself to be chased off that case."
Dubya's approval numbers continue to fall. This articles lists a whole raft of them, on a number of issues including domestic spying, terrorism, homeland security, Iraq, energy policies, health care, and the economy.
The Supreme Court will consider the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, already struck down in three states. They will, then, most likely uphold it, ushering in the end of abortion rights in the US.
Supreme Court decides that religious drug use, under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, trumps the Dubya administration's desire to stamp it out.
It's always fun to watch Republican laws come around and bite them in the ass.
Scalia claims that "...you would have to be an idiot to believe [in a living Constitution.]"
Instead, he keeps to the actual text of the document, unless it conflicts with his own agenda, like the Ninth Amendment does.
Ann Coulter "jokes" about poisoning Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens.
If you said that about Dubya in public, you'd be in jail right now.
Good commentary on Roe v. Wade, including links to the actual opinion.
It's important to actually read the opinion. It provides background on the right to privacy. What many don't realize is that the opinion is also a compromise between pro-life and pro-choice positions. Pro-life advocates try to paint it as an "anything goes" policy. But it's not. It's a compromise and anyone wanting to overthrow Roe v. Wade isn't interested in anything other than cramming their religious viewpoints down your throat.
In other news, Dubya declared the day "National Sanctity of Human Life Day, 2006." Surely it's just a coincidence.
If you're working for the CIA and they do you wrong, don't bother suing them. They'll just say that the trial would reveal government secrets and the Supreme Court will let them off the hook.
An earlier post contained excepts from a New York Times op-ed piece looking at how often each Supreme Court Justice votes to overturn Congressional laws. The full article is now available online.
Rehnquist spent his early years trying to prevent minorities from voting. Big surprise. He spent his later years doing the same thing.
Those damn activist liberal judges are always overturning the will of the people, as expressed by Congress! Not really. Turns out that the conservative judges overturn Congressional laws more than the liberal ones. And the worst one? Clarence "Coke-Can" Thomas.
Should the Senate consider ideology when advising about and consenting to a Supreme Court nominee? The Right says "no." Here's a collection of links to quotes from both sides, saying "yes."
Overview of tactics surrounding the next nominee to the Supreme Court. Basically, if Gonzales is nominated, should the Dems cave in simply because it could have been someone worse?
Scary run-down of possible picks for O'Connor's replacement. Emphasis is on their positions regarding abortion rights.
Nice run-down of possible nominees to replace O'Connor. Note that they all suck. Hard.
The best that can be said about Sandra Day O'Connor is that she didn't always act as a Republican stooge. (As opposed to Rehnquist and Scalia, who nearly always do.) She's been the swing vote in a number of 5-4 decisions. This site has a run-down of them.
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