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23 Jan 2011 21:50

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Politics: Supreme Court justices may skip this year’s State of the Union

  • last year Obama gave the Supreme Court a piece of his mind during his State of the Union speech, making the justices collectively uncomfortable as he ripped them for hurting campaign finance reform.
  • this year The big statement that the justices could make is whether or not to sit out. Samuel Alito is staying home. John Roberts is undecided but has questioned whether justices should attend anymore. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 Jan 2011 22:42

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Politics: Antonin Scalia: Hates deep-dish, likes helping the Tea Party

  • On the plus side, nobody’s talking about Ginni Thomas anymore. So, Michele Bachmann has convinced our boy Antonin Scalia to have a fireside chat with incoming GOP members of Congress to remind them of the finer points of the constitution. Now, obviously, this is kind of a bad idea because it makes Scalia look like he’s in bed with the Tea Party and conservatives in Congress. But, who cares? This is the guy who’s so traditionalist that he complains about pizza that isn’t made New York-style. Sure, it’s bad judgment, but he doesn’t like deep dish pizza, so his judgment is worthless anyway. (photo by Stephen Masker) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 Dec 2010 10:34

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Biz, U.S.: Supreme Court takes up massive labor suit against Wal-Mart

  • What’s bigger than a breadbox, involves a lot of women, and could give Wal-Mart some major fits? If you answered Wal-Mart Stores v. Dukes, a very large class-action discrimination suit that’s about to hit the Supreme Court. The case revolves around whether the class action suit is too large to be treated as a class-action suit. If it is, Wal-Mart wins because it won’t be forced to pay, because the cases will have to be treated individually. If it isn’t, Wal-Mart could be forced to pay out an epic settlement. We like watching Supreme Court cases where a lot is at stake, so, really, we win either way. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

29 Nov 2010 11:02

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U.S.: RIAA lawsuits’ last stand: SCOTUS won’t hear downloader’s appeal

  • good The recording industry has moved away from suing the crap out of copyright infringers. About time; who did that help, anyway?
  • bad One of the people sued in such a fashion, Whitney Harper, lost her case – and the Supreme Court wouldn’t hear her appeal. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Nov 2010 15:25

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U.S.: Supreme Court: “Don’t ask” stays put in the military for now

  • sigh … “Don’t ask, don’t tell” was blocked in a lower court, only to be temporarily allowed again by a federal appeals court.
  • … sigh It was appealed to the Supreme Court, where they kept the ban intact while the lower courts duke it out. Wait it out, kids. source
  • » What happens next: The policy will stay in place until at least mid-March, when a federal appeals court decides what happens next. A lot suggests it won’t hold water – for example, a Defense Department panel recently found that the policy could be reversed with little to no negative effect on troops, which goes against most arguments being made by opponents of “don’t ask.”
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

05 Nov 2010 21:08

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U.S.: Preliminary “Don’t Ask” ruling winds its way to Supreme Court

  • federal A federal judge in California ruled the military’s controversial “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy unconstitutional; Obama then appeals.
  • appeals After the appeal was filed, the 9th Circuit ruled that the policy should stay in place while the case goes to trial – a win for the Pentagon.
  • supreme The Log Cabin Republicans have now appealed that decision to the Supreme Court in hopes of getting it overturned again. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

22 Oct 2010 13:59

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Politics: Clarence Thomas’ ex-girlfriend: Anita Hill was telling the truth

  • He was always actively watching the women he worked with to see if they could be potential partners. It was a hobby of his.
  • Clarence Thomas’ former girlfriend, Lillian McEwen • Suggesting that the Supreme Court justice perjured himself on the stand during his contentious 1991 Senate hearing. McEwen stayed quiet throughout her career, because she was afraid that coming forward would hurt her professionally. But now she’s retired. And now she has a memoir she’s shopping to publishers about her successful career and her relationship with Thomas. She stayed mum about her relationship with Thomas, but the whole thing about Thomas’ wife Virginia cold-calling Anita Hill convinced her to speak out. Among the highlights was an admission that “he was obsessed with porn.” Why is all this crazy Clarence Thomas stuff coming out 19 years after he became a justice? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

19 Oct 2010 21:26

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U.S.: Clarence Thomas’ crazy wife randomly calls Anita Hill

  • 1991 During Clarence Thomas’ Supreme Court Senate nomination hearing, Anita Bryant testifies that Thomas sexually harassed her. Thomas denies the claims.
  • 2007 Thomas releases his autobiography. During a related interview, his wife Virginia says this: “I hope she once day calls up and apologizes and I look forward to forgiving her.”
  • 2010 Hill, now a professor at Brandeis University, receives a message from Virginia fishing for an apology. Hill, ticked off at the tone, doesn’t have one to offer. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 Oct 2010 11:13

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U.S.: Wrongful detainment suit against John Ashcroft goes to Supreme Court

  • Is John Ashcroft in trouble? It appears that the Obama Administration will have to go to bat in the Supreme Court for the controversial former attorney general, who’s facing a suit from a former college football player detained without cause for 16 days. He was held under what some critics call a radical reinterpretation of the “material witness” law. Abdullah al-Kidd, who once was a running back at the University of Idaho, claimed he was held naked at times and shackled at other times. Now al-Kidd wants to personally sue Ashcroft. If the Supreme Court favors al-Kidd, who’s already won a in a lower court, let the lawsuits begin. (Photo by Gage Skidmore) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Oct 2010 11:47

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Politics: Three reasons Clarence Thomas’ wife is bad for Clarence Thomas

  • one Virginia Thomas works at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank that suggested appointees for Bush while the 2000 election was contested.
  • two She’s already a well-known figure among conservative activists, and now heads a new Tea-Partyish, anti-Obama nonprofit called Liberty Central.
  • three There’s no word on where the sizable funding for the organization, which she hopes “will be bigger than the Tea Party movement,” has come from. source
  • » What this means for Clarence Thomas: He may have to recuse himself from a number of politically-oriented cases because of his wife’s extracurricular activities, which, as a private citizen, she’s totally allowed to do. If Liberty Central were to take off, it could be a glaring conflict of interest for the court’s most conservative judge.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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