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01 May 2010 09:20

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U.S.: Elena Kagan could be the rare SCOTUS justice who wasn’t a judge

  • 1972 the last time a new justice wasn’t a judge source
  • » The nature of nominees: Many Supreme Court justices, beyond being judges already, tend to be East Coast, Ivy League, and largely have careers in government. Kagan, the current Solicitor General and a leading candidate for the Supreme Court post, fits that bill, too. She was nominated for a judicial post in 1999 but had her nomination stalled, does share other things in common with Supreme Court judges. Her career path is very similar to that of Chief Justice John Roberts, minus, you know, the judging.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 Apr 2010 20:03

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Politics: People like today’s Supreme Court ruling on dogfighting

  • The ruling struck down a law barring the distribution of animal cruelty videos. Today’s Supreme Court decision may be the strongest across-the-board decision they’ve made in a while, finding in favor of documentary producer Robert Stevens, who sold dogfighting videos that violated a 1999 law (and was jailed for the practice). In this case, free speech won, but by the way everyone’s talking, you’d think both sides won:
  • Free-speech fans A lawyer for the Cato Institute, which filed a brief in the case, said it was a win for free speech, no matter what kind: “The government’s effort to remove any area of public expression from the First Amendment’s protection would have been highly troubling.”
  • Animal Cruelty fighters The U.S. Humane Society saw silver lining in the court’s 8-1 decision: “The Supreme Court’s decision gives us a clear pathway to enact a narrower ban on the sale of videos depicting malicious acts of cruelty, including animal crush videos and dogfighting.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Apr 2010 21:18

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Politics: Is Hillary Clinton REALLY a Supreme Court candidate?

  • NO Orrin Hatch was just pulling
    our collective leg source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Apr 2010 16:40

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U.S.: Obama’s gonna have fun filling John Paul Stevens’ shoes

  • 35 number of years John Paul Stevens served on the Supreme Court; Obama says “he leaves at the top of his game”
  • ten the number of names on
    Obama’s replacement list (we hope one is John Paul Jones, just for spits and giggles) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Jul 2009 20:31

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U.S.: Sonia Sotomayor: Running through hoops like Sonic the Hedgehog

  • When I worked hard at trying to convince my colleagues of something after listening to them, they’ll often try it for a while. I mean, we’ll have to talk together. We’ll have to figure out that issue together.
  • Supreme Court justice candidate Sonia Sotomayor • On dealing with her potential fellow justices on issues of politics and hashing out disagreements. Sotomayor’s been putting on quite a show during her Senate hearings the last two days with the wording of her answers. She’s willing to be a critic of herself, correcting things she’d said that have been turned back on her, and overall keeping her composure in a situation that would knock others flat. No matter your political persuasion, she’ll probably be a good justice for these aspects alone. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

05 Jul 2009 12:14

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Politics: Sonia Sotomayor is giving the GOP major spin troubles

  • Republicans appear to have given up fighting her nomination. The Supreme Court nominee, who goes up against the Senate next week, appears – much like the guy that nominated her, Barack Obama – to be a tough cookie to crack. She’s a minority and a woman – two groups the party struggles with – and worse, Sen. Jeff Sessions, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, has fought off allegations of racism in the past. Plus, the GOP has just 40 votes in the Senate. Which sure makes it seem like they’ve given up on fighting back, doesn’t it? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Jul 2009 10:59

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U.S.: The Supreme Court’s rightward lean leaned further right this term

The Supreme Court took a right-leaning turn this term, with the five conservative-leaning justices getting their way most of the time. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 3 Comments • Permalink
 

09 Jun 2009 21:37

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Biz, U.S.: SCOTUS uses super-tight language to allow the Chrysler sale

  • Our assessment of the stay factors here is based on the record and proceedings in this case alone.
  • Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg • In her four-paragraph decision in “Indiana State Police Pension Trust v. Chrysler LLC,” which was the main roadblock in the way of the Chrysler-Fiat sale. Why the wording? It’s likely they didn’t want to set a standard for any sort of GM sale. The decision, by the way, hinged on whether Chrysler was being discriminatory towards the pension program in its actions, which it wasn’t. Everyone’s getting screwed the same way. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Jun 2009 17:03

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Biz, U.S.: The Supreme Court blocks the Chrysler/Fiat sale. Whoa!

  • Wow. That was unexpected. The one thing that could stop the Chrysler/Fiat sale just happened. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg delayed the sale “pending further order.” Three Indiana state pension and construction funds were among the foremost opponents of the sale, which they felt left them financially out of the loop. The final sale, which the bankrupt company was counting on, could be delayed for weeks while the court makes a decision. Stay tuned to this Spidey-station. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

29 May 2009 13:20

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Politics, U.S.: People seem to generally like Sonia Sotomayor, a poll sez

  • 54% of those polled say that Obama’s justice pick is the bee’s knees source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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