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Full-Court Press
The Judiciary
Source: flickr/ bootbearwdc
SCOTUS And Sexually Dangerous Criminals
The Supreme Court ruled today that "sexually dangerous" offenders may be incarcerated indefinitely, even after their prison terms are complete. Justice Stephen Breyer: "The statute is a 'necessary and proper' means of exercising the federal authority that permits Congress to create federal criminal laws, to punish their violation, to imprison violators, to provide appropriately for those imprisoned and to maintain the security of those who are not imprisoned by who may be affected by the federal imprisonment of others." [MSNBC]
Posted 3:29 PM | Monday, May 17th, 2010 | Permalink
SCOTUS Rules
Today, the Supreme Court ruled that if teenagers haven't killed anyone, they cannot legally be locked up for life without chance of parole. By a 5-4 vote, the court says the Constitution requires that young people serving life sentences must be considered for release. The court ruled in the case of Terrance Graham, who was implicated in armed robberies when he was a teenager. Graham, now 22, is in prison in Florida, which holds more than 70 percent of juvenile defendants locked up for life for crimes other than homicide. [Raw Story]
Posted 10:51 AM | Monday, May 17th, 2010 | Permalink
Source: flickr/ bootbearwdc
Cornyn v. Cornyn
- Sen. John Cornyn (R., TX), on Elena Kagan's SCOTUS nomination, 05/10/10: "Ms. Kagan is likewise a surprising choice because she lacks judicial experience. Most Americans believe that prior judicial experience is a necessary credential for a Supreme Court Justice."
- Sen. John Cornyn (R., TX) on Harriet Miers's SCOTUS nomination, 10/27/05: "One reason I felt so strongly about Harriet Miers's qualifications is I thought she would fill some very important gaps in the Supreme Court. Because right now you have people who've been federal judges, circuit judges most of their lives, or academicians. And what you see is a lack of grounding in reality and common sense that I think would be very beneficial." [Political Wire]
Posted 6:28 PM | Tuesday, May 11th, 2010 | Permalink
Supreme Task
The Obama Administration is gearing up to tackle to next Supreme Court nomination fight. Senate leadership, including respective heads of the Senate Judiciary Committee, will meet with the President tomorrow to discuss the outlines and timing of the upcoming nomination and confirmation process. Let's get ready to rumble! [Huffington Post]
Posted 4:52 PM | Tuesday, April 20th, 2010 | Permalink
Animal Cruelty
By an 8 to 1 vote, the Supreme Court struck down a ban on animal cruelty videos as an unconstitutional restriction on speech. The law was put into place in 1999 to limit Internet sales of "crush videos," that shows women crushing to death small animals with their bare feet or high-heeled shoes. As the lone dissenting vote, Justice Samuel Alito said the harm animals suffer in dogfights is enough to sustain the law. [USA T]
Posted 12:29 PM | Tuesday, April 20th, 2010 | Permalink
Sexy SCOTUS
The Supreme Court today heard the case of the cops who thought their boss invaded their privacy by reading the sexting they sent using official accounts, and it appears the Court is going to side with employers. Justice Stephen Breyer said he didn't see ''anything, quite honestly, unreasonable about that.'' Justice John Paul Stevens agreed, saying, "I mean, wouldn't you just assume that that whole universe of conversations by SWAT officers who were on duty 24/7 might well have to be reviewed by some member of the public or some of their superiors?" And, in our favorite exchange, Justices Roberts and Scalia wrestled with how it all works, with Roberts saying, "I thought, you know, you push a button; it goes right to the other thing," to which Scalia responded, "You mean it doesn't go right to the other thing?" Whether or not you think the Internet is a set of tubes going to the other thing, one thing is pretty clear. Keep your dirty texts on your own time, on your own equipment. Big Brother is definitely reading. [AP]
Posted 6:11 PM | Monday, April 19th, 2010 | Permalink
Stepping Down
Justice John Paul Stevens announced Friday that he is retiring. Stevens said he would step down when the court finishes its work for the summer in late June or early July. On an increasingly conservative Supreme Court, Stevens came to be known as the liberal voice. He said he hopes his successor is confirmed "well in advance of the commencement of the court's next term." [Politico]
Posted 12:10 PM | Friday, April 9th, 2010 | Permalink
Net Neutrality
On Tuesday, a federal appeals court ruled that the FCC "lacked the authority to require broadband providers to give equal treatment to all Internet traffic flowing over their networks." The ruling is considered a big victory for Comcast, which had challenged the FCC's authority to impose so-called "net neutrality" obligations on broadband providers. Comcast is currently the nation's largest cable company. [CBS News]
Posted 11:57 AM | Tuesday, April 6th, 2010 | Permalink
Source: flickr/bootbearwdc
SCOTUS Watch
“You can say I will retire within the next three years. I’m sure of that.” Asked about President Obama, Stevens added, “I have a great admiration for him, and certainly think he’s capable of picking successfully, you know, doing a good job of filling vacancies.” --Justice John Paul Stevens, who will turn 90 soon. [New Yorker]
Posted 9:11 AM | Monday, March 15th, 2010 | Permalink
Source: flickr/kevindooley
In God We Trust
Plus we've already memorized the thing...: A federal appeals court in San Francisco said it's fine to say "under God" in the Pledge and to keep "In God We Trust" on our money because, honestly, at this point "the phrase is ceremonial and patriotic, not religious" and thus doesn't violate the separation of church and state. [San Francisco Chronicle]
Posted 7:38 PM | Thursday, March 11th, 2010 | Permalink
Source: flickr/sebastienb
When Scotus Met Phelps
Court Watch
The U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday said they would hear the case over whether hate-monger "Rev." Fred Phelps has a First Amendment right to disrupt funerals of fallen U.S. troops with signs like "God Hates Fags" and "Thank God For Dead Soldiers." Oral arguments for the next Court term begin in October. [ABC News]
Posted 10:57 PM | Tuesday, March 9th, 2010 | Permalink
Source: www.flickr.com/bootbearwdc/
A Supreme Mess
Posted 3:34 PM | Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010 | Permalink
Source: flickr/danhollisterduck
First Amendment Zombies
A Minneapolis, MN appeals court Wednesday found that zombies have the same right to free speech as the rest of us. Seven peaceful protesters dressed like zombies to protest consumerism in 2006 were arrested by cops for disorderly conduct after lurching "stiff-legged through the halls of the mall urging shoppers to 'get your brains here.'" The appeals court found the Minneapolis cops detained the zombies without probable cause. [StarTribune]
Posted 10:17 PM | Thursday, February 25th, 2010 | Permalink
Booing the Supreme Court
The latest Washington Post/ ABC News survey finds that 8 in 10 Americans disapprove of the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision. Quick refresher: the decision overturned the provision of McCain-Feingold barring corporations and unions from paying for political ads just before an election. The poll also found that 72% want Congress to act on it in order to preserve campaign finance laws. Interestingly, the poll reveals relatively little difference of opinion on the issue among Democrats (85% opposed), Republicans (76%) and independents (81%).[Washington Post]
Posted 3:25 PM | Wednesday, February 17th, 2010 | Permalink
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