9:46 am: Here is the question before the court, in plain English: Does it violate the Constitution for Congress to require virtually all Americans to obtain health insurance by 2014 or pay a penalty? If the Court's answer is yes, then it has to decide whether just the requirement — the so-called "individual mandate" — is invalid, or whether part … Read More
A Word Of Caution About Today’s ACA Decision from The Supremes
Like Bush v Gore, early out-of-the-box news reports about the decision today are likely to be inaccurate. Not necessarily wrong, but they may not convey the whole truth. There are many aspects to the Affordable Care Act, and the judges may uphold some aspects and reject others. Then there may be disagreements about the remedy, and several opinions from the … Read More
School Did Not Violate Anti-Gay Counselor’s Rights When They Fired Her
A federal judge in Georgia has ruled that Jennifer Keeton’s constitutional rights were not violated when Augusta State University expelled her from its counseling program for her unwillingness to abide by its professional ethics. Keeton insisted that homosexuality is an “immoral personal choice” and refused to affirm a gay client’s behavior as “right or healthy.” The 11th Circuit previously dismissed Keeton’s appeal for a preliminary injunction, … Read More
Judge Posner Sticks It To Scalia
Posner, as you may know, is generally regarded even by people who disagree with him often as one of America's great legal thinkers. He was appointed to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals by none other than Ronald Reagan shortly thereafter, and has been there ever since, where he has usually enlightened and sometimes maddened just about everybody with his … Read More
Fast And Furious Exposed
Forbes, a magazine not known for its liberal leanings, does an old-school journalism investigation of the "Fast and Furious" scandal, and — wait for it — finds it to be little more than Republican hype. The facts that the wingnuts have been presenting — much of it picked up by Fox and even more balanced mainstream media — turns out … Read More
It Doesn’t Matter What The News Is Today…
…the topic will be the Supreme Court's decision on healthcare, in 24 hours. Recent polling has suggested that 61 percent of Americans oppose the individual mandate. But according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, 55 percent of survey respondents said that if the Supreme Court strikes down the mandate, it would “not make much difference either way” to them and their families. … Read More
Campos On Scalia
From Salon, law professor Paul Campos writes about Scalia: Newt Gingrich has been described as a dumb person’s idea of a smart person. I’ve heard the same remark made about Antonin Scalia, and until today I would have said that was unfair. Scalia has always had a taste for over-the-top rhetorical flourishes, as well as an unnecessarily high opinion of … Read More
Scalia “Jumps The Shark”
Justice Scallia raves more against the politicization of the Supreme Court more than any justice in history, and yet, he barely even tries to hide the politics which guide is "objective" legal opinions. It's blatent, as Steve Benen observes: Scalia used the court's ruling on Arizona's anti-immigrant law to condemn President Obama and complain about the administration's enforcement policies. … Read More
Radical Change In U.S. Politics
James Fallows is right: Pick a country and describe a sequence in which: First, a presidential election is decided by five people, who don't even try to explain their choice in normal legal terms. Then the beneficiary of that decision appoints the next two members of the court, who present themselves for consideration as restrained, humble figures who care only … Read More
Obamacare Decision Today?
It's possible, but I suspect not. Anyway, if you're reading this on Monday, June 25 before 10am, the place to be isn't here, but the live blog at SCOTUSBlog. We'll know almost imeediately if they decided on Obamacare. UPDATE: No Obamacare decision today, it looks like. But SCOTUS did reject a Montana case which could have weakened Citizen's United. Unfortunately, … Read More
Corporate Court
A study condicted by the Constitutional Accountability Center came up with a finding which is not altogether surprising, but depressing nevertheless: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is undefeated at the Supreme Court this term, continuing to improve its success in securing business-friendly judgments since Chief Justice John Roberts took the bench in 2005. In other words, when the conservative pro-business … Read More
Quote Of The Day
Publicity hound-lawyer Gloria Allred represents Yovonka Bryant. Bryant is a 27-year-old woman whose boyfriend, Rudy Eugene, ate the face off a homeless man last month in Florida (Eugene was shot and killed by police). Allred organized a press conference because, well, because she can't help it, I guess. Today's quote of the day goes not only to what Allred said in … Read More
Scalia’s So-Called “Originalism” Is A Sham
There was no announcement today from the Supreme Court on the constitutionality of Obamacare, but, as has been written here and elsewhere, it doesn't look good. A neutral observer would have to wonder how even Scalia could strike down Obamacare, given his views of an expansive view of the Commerce Clause, articulated as recently as 2005 in his opinion … Read More
Saddest News Story Of The Day
AP: GLASGOW, Mont. (AP) — A West Virginia man who is hitchhiking across the country and writing a memoir called "The Kindness of America" was injured in a random, drive-by shooting in northeastern Montana, according to authorities.
Where Have You Gone, JPS?
Even though he retired from the bench, former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, 92, is still giving it good. He's an outspoken critic of Citizens United, saying yesterday: "If the First Amendment does not protect the right of a graduate of Harvard Law School to spend his own money to support the candidate of his choice simply because his … Read More