Supreme Dicta: Federal Judiciary

Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Federal Judiciary Blogs

OR PHONE (866) 635-1838 for Bankruptcy Help, (866) 635-6190 for Divorce,
(866) 635-2689 for Personal Injury or (866) 635-9402 for Criminal Defense

Find a Local Lawyer

Bankruptcy (866) 635-1838
Divorce (866) 635-6190
Personal Injury (866) 635-2689
Criminal Defense (866) 635-9402

Federal Judiciary

Supreme Dicta

An eccentric look at law, politics, and the Supreme Court.

Post Frequency: 0.9/day

Last Entry: June 26, 2009 at 14:23:00

Is Barack Obama the first black president?

Posted on January 23, 2009
According to one law professor, the answer may be no...Ken Katkin of the Salmon P. Chase School of Law at Northern Kentucky University tells the Washington City Paper that for one minute, Condoleeza Rice was acting president. Here's a sketch of his argument:(1) The 20th Amendment provides that ?[t]he terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January...

MLK 4TW!

Posted on January 22, 2009
My one little bit of seriousness about the inauguration. Check out this 1964 interview with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in which he predicts the election of an African American president in 25 years or less.OK, I promise that tomorrow I will bring back the funny...

Dusting off the old blawg...

Posted on January 21, 2009
Sorry for the lapse in posting. Those of you who know me in real life understand why blogging has been on the back burner lately. But hopefully this is the first of many (regular) posts to come.Q. How many former editors of the Harvard Law Review does it take to administer the presidential oath of office? A...

This explains a lot...

Posted on December 22, 2008
a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aOLIaSHRM_I/SU-nu2PN-9I/AAAAAAAAAFw/mvzWNOQwpqo/s1600-h/oh-c.jpg"img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2...

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

This explains a lot...

Posted on December 22, 2008
Via Courtoons.

I love me some recounts!

Posted on December 19, 2008
Think that election law can't be hilarious? Think again. From today's Minneapolis Star-Tribune (which has done a fantastic job covering the Coleman/Franken recount):br /blockquoteThe board clipped along at a rapid pace in its review of challenged ballots, aided by the withdrawal of challenges, but more time was needed for the study a handful of quizzical ballots, leading to some lighter moments...

I love me some recounts!

Posted on December 19, 2008
Think that election law can't be hilarious? Think again. From today's Minneapolis Star-Tribune (which has done a fantastic job covering the Coleman/Franken recount):The board clipped along at a rapid pace in its review of challenged ballots, aided by the withdrawal of challenges, but more time was needed for the study a handful of quizzical ballots, leading to some lighter moments...

Glenn Beck, noted constitutional law scholar

Posted on December 16, 2008
How is it possible to be dumber than Joe the Plumber? Glenn Beck finds a way... (skip to the 1:30 mark)I don't know whether to sigh in frustration or laugh with contempt. Maybe both.

A Sad Day

Posted on December 12, 2008
The Infield Fly Rule is neither a rule of law nor one of equity; it is a rule of baseball. Since the 1890's it has been a part of the body of the official rules of baseball. In its inquiry into the common law origins of the rule, this Aside does not seek to find a predecessor to the rule in seventeenth-century England...

God Save the Commonwealth of Kentucky! (because the government doesn't intend to)

Posted on December 11, 2008
Here's the most outrageous headline of last week: "Atheists sue to take God out of state's terrorism law" (from the December 2 Lexington Herald-Leader). WTF, you might ask? Here the details:An atheists-rights group is suing the Kentucky Office of Homeland Security because state law requires the agency to stress "dependence on Almighty God as being vital to the security of the Commonwealth...

Learned Hand? Meet Learned Foote.

Posted on December 10, 2008
As many of you may know, I am mildly obsessed with Judge Learned Hand, arguably the greatest jurist never to win a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court.Which is why I nearly fell out of my chair laughing reading this post over at the Wall Street Journal's excellent Law Blog...

Happy Repeal Day!

Posted on December 05, 2008
It's time to raise a glass and toast...the U.S. Constitution! It was on this date 75 years ago that the 21st Amendment was ratified. For a more thorough look at this historic occasion (and a list of suggested toasts), please go here.

God Bless the Onion

Posted on December 02, 2008

Justice Thomas is NOT a Vibrator.

Posted on November 19, 2008
I'm not sure what else to take away from last week's Slate article on the Court's oral argument in Pleasant Grove v. SUMMUM. Poor Dahlia! She's left trying to make sense out of what seems to be a policy-preference hash. In my free speech seminar this semester, there are no less than THREE (of twelve) students attempting to parse some or all of the Court's religious speech doctrine...

Justice Kennedy and "grabastic pieces of amphibian s#$@"

Posted on November 13, 2008
Sorry, I don't mean to beat a dead horse, but I felt compelled to put up one more post about the obscenity case recently heard by the Supreme Court. Enjoy!

Quote of the day

Posted on November 10, 2008
A footnote to a recent post...Roberts: "The reason these words shock is because of the association." Scalia: "And that's why we don't use the word jolly-woggle instead of the F-word."Am I the only one that finds the term "jolly-woggle" to be much creepier than the F-word?!? Gross!

Reason #157 why judicial elections make no sense

Posted on November 07, 2008
From yesterday's Houston Chronicle (seriously):The straight-party Democratic voting that ushered in a new batch of civil and criminal district judges in Harris County was not the biggest surprise. But the fact that four Republican judges survived Democratic challenges left courthouse observers to speculate how they did it...

Justice Stevens Proposes the Rule of Hilarity

Posted on November 06, 2008
For those of you swept up in election fever this week (including me), the rest of the country was still operating as usual, including an important oral argument at the Supreme Court in the case Fcc v. Fox Television Stations.Here is the background on the case from Oyez:During the [2002 and 2003 Billboard Music Awards aired on Fox], one musician used an explicative in his acceptance speech, and a presenter used two expletives...

One for the History Books

Posted on November 05, 2008
There is one historical footnote to yesterday's elections that I think is deeply moving. As a Virginian, I was very proud to see my state go blue last night for the first time since 1964. But as an American, I was even more proud of the results in one particular part of Virginia...

Vote, Damnit!!!

Posted on November 04, 2008
Unless you have been living in a cave (by which I mean Canada), you should know today is Election Day. So here's some inspiration to get you to "exercise" your civic duty.

Law Firm Basketball Team Uses a Ringer

Posted on October 24, 2008
One of my favorite West Wing episodes was the one where President Bartlett puts Rodney Grant (a character played by former NBA star Juwan Howard) on his pick-up basketball team.What I never expected was that someone would actually use this tactic in real life...

Vote Terry Tate for Office Linebacker on Nov. 4

Posted on October 21, 2008

"Not Enough."

Posted on October 21, 2008
Morocco has a law that, to American ears, sounds quite jarring. In order to adopt a Moroccan baby, would-be parents have to convert to Islam. That seems kinda strange, but it appears that Moroccan authorities are satisfied with some sort of pro forma conversion...

Chief Justice Joe Friday Roberts

Posted on October 20, 2008
Good gumshoe investigative reporting, Mr. Liptak.From the Bench, a Flair for Hard-Boiled Crime WritingBy ADAM LIPTAKWASHINGTON ? Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. has a playful side, and it is steeped in pop culture. In June, he cited Bob Dylan. On Tuesday, in a dissent from the Supreme Court?s decision not to hear an interesting criminal case, he described a street-corner drug deal in South Philadelphia in two paragraphs of clipped, hard-boiled sentences that owed something to Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler...

Stupid is as stupid does

Posted on October 10, 2008
Man I loves me some good ol' fashion public shaming. It is part of the rich history and tradition of American criminal justice, beginning with pillories and stocks. Schadenfreude might be a German word, but it's an American value.Here's a more 21st century, post-modern approach to humiliation, in a case from Wisconsin:A judge gives a man a choice: Spend time in jail or hold a sign saying "I was stupid...

A long way from Mayberry

Posted on October 08, 2008
The Supremes are back! The New York Times reported on a humorous exchange at oral argument earlier this week on a Fourth Amendment exclusionary rule case. The first case concerned an Alabama man named Bennie Dean Herring, who was arrested, searched and found with methamphetamines and a pistol...

McCain and Obama SCOTUS Short Lists

Posted on October 07, 2008
God bless the Daily Show. They are practitioners of cutting-edge journalism. They are the ONLY news source that has obtained short lists of Supreme Court nominees from both candidates. Enjoy:McCain:Justice Janet Rogers Brown: George W. Bush managed to appoint Brown to the United States Court of Appeals despite significant Democratic opposition...

Happy First Monday!

Posted on October 06, 2008
Oyez! Oyez! Oyez! All persons having business before the Honorable, the Supreme Court of the United States, are admonished to draw near and give their attention, for the Court is now sitting. God save the United States and this Honorable Court!OK I know this photo is old, but suck on it...

Want to geek out?

Posted on October 03, 2008
Obama, McCain, and Palin...as Shakespearean characters. Good stuff.

Video Du Jour

Posted on October 01, 2008
Skip ahead to the 1:00 mark. Fantastic stuff...

Previous | Next

Related Law Bulletins

Mount Laurel Township v. MiPro Homes Petition Sent to United States Supreme Court
As a follow up to previous posts regarding the case of Mount Laure...

BREAKING NEWS - NJ Supreme Court's Decision in Mt. Laurel v. MiPro
Today, the New Jersey Supreme Court issued a decision in Mount Lau...

Supreme Court's Abortion Decision and Catholic Justices Discussed
Rick Garnett has an interesting posting this morning on PrawfsBlaw...

U.S. Supreme Court Deals Blow to Lawsuits Against Defective Products
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that private lawsuits agai...

State Supreme Court to hear gay marriage challenge
State Supreme Court to hear gay marriage challenge DAVID KRAVETS A...