Litigation

Hawaii Tests Public Financing of Elections

Posted on July 05, 2010
Although a U.S. Supreme Court order has raised questions about the future of some state programs for public financing of elections, Hawaii is proceeding with a test of public financing this year. In June, the Supreme Court issued an emergency order (see Gavel Grab) that blocked release of matching dollars to publicly funded candidates in [...

Citizens United: ?Defining Case? of Term

Posted on July 02, 2010
Almost a year ago, former Solicitor General Ken Starr predicted that Citizens United “has a just claim to be the most important case” of the Supreme Court’s 2009-2010 term (see Gavel Grab), which had not yet begun. In July 2010, judge for yourself...

Kagan Hearings: A Lost Opportunity?

Posted on July 02, 2010
The Senate confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan presented this week a good opportunity for teaching the public about judges interpreting the Constitution–and it was lost, suggests a Pulitzer Prize-winning court reporter. In the Opinionator blog of the New York Times, Linda Greenhouse writes the following about Solicitor General Kagan and the senators [...

Editorial: Elections ?Plunge Judges into Mud Pit?

Posted on July 02, 2010
In the continuing saga of a Wisconsin Supreme Court justice, accused of dishonesty in a campaign ad, a newspaper editorial finds plenty of cause to advocate a switch to merit selection for top state judges. “Pull top Wisconsin judges out of mudpit,”  appeals the headline of the Wisconsin State Journal editorial...

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NRA Opposes Confirming Kagan

Posted on July 01, 2010
The National Rifle Association, an influential lobbying force in Washington, has announced it opposes Elena Kagan’s Supreme Court nomination. In a letter Thursday, NRA officials said Kagan has “repeatedly demonstrated a clear hostility” to gun rights in her career, according to an Associated Press article...

Editorial Alleges ?Judgeship-Buying?

Posted on July 01, 2010
Plaintiffs’ lawyer John “Jack” McConnell of Rhode Island, nominated by President Obama for a federal district judgeship, has come under sharp attack in a newspaper editorial over large political contributions to Democrats. Republican critics have zeroed in on large contributions of nearly $700,00 by McConnell and his wife to Democratic candidates and causes...

Kagan Emerges from Grilling ?Relatively Unscathed?

Posted on July 01, 2010
Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan has steered through a barrage of Republican questioning at her confirmation hearings, and now she gets a break. The U.S. solicitor general and former Harvard Law School dean completed her answering of senators’ questions on Wednesday, as Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee pressed her on social issues and tried [...

WI Supreme Court Split on Gableman Complaint

Posted on July 01, 2010
The Wisconsin Supreme Court, with its two factions issuing dueling opinions, has deadlocked on the merits of an ethics complaint accusing fellow Justice Michael J. Gableman of dishonesty in a campaign ad, and on what should happen next. Three liberal justices wrote an opinion concluding that Justice Gableman had committed misconduct by misrepresenting a fact, [...

Gun Rights Expansion Triggers Debate

Posted on June 30, 2010
The Supreme Court’s ruling this week expanding gun rights (see Gavel Grab) has sparked sharply divided editorial opinion and forecasts of a flood of lawsuits to challenge gun-control rules in numerous states and cities. Given this likely wave of litigation, “it could take years before the practical impact of the ruling is clear,” a Wall [...

Day 3: Kagan Sidesteps Criticizing Court

Posted on June 30, 2010
As her third day of testimony neared an end, Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan sidestepped opportunities to criticize the current court and cautiously fielded questions about likening a justice to an umpire. Democratic senators on the Senate Judiciary Committee “opened a broad attack” on the  court under Chief Justice John Roberts Jr...

Justice Kennedy Seen as ?Court?s True Compass?

Posted on June 30, 2010
A  series of end-of-term snapshots of the Supreme Court offers insight and analysis. Justice Anthony Kennedy (photo at right) is described as “the court’s true compass” in a Wall Street Journal article. The landmark Citizens United ruling “stands at the head of a series of 5-4 decisions that was resolved by the 73-year-old justice appointed [...

WI Gay Marriage Ban Upheld

Posted on June 30, 2010
The Wisconsin Supreme Court unanimously rejected Wednesday a legal challenge to the state’s constitutional ban on gay marriage and civil unions. In a 7-0 opinion, the high court agreed with a lower court ruling that the constitutional amendment was put properly before voters in a referendum in November 2006, according to an Associated Press article...

Republican on Kagan: ?Dancing,? and ?Tough as Nails?

Posted on June 30, 2010
Americans are getting a more multidimensional impression of Elena Kagan as the 50-year-old Supreme Court nominee forges her way through hour after hour of nationally telecast and webcast Senate Judiciary Committee hearings. The U.S. solicitor general was “poised,” “combative,” “somewhat guarded,” and “quick to volley with her own comedic abilities” during a 9 a...

?The Roberts Court,? More than Ever

Posted on June 29, 2010
Only one day after the Supreme Court’s final sitting of its term, veteran court observers are analyzing the year. In a New York Times article, reporter Adam Liptak writes that in the past year, the court’s profile under Chief Justice John Roberts Jr...

Kagan: ?We Had Strong Case? on Citizens United

Posted on June 29, 2010
Solicitor General Elena Kagan backed away today from her earlier advocacy of more candid and specific discussion by Supreme Court nominees on their constitutional views. But she did offer some thoughts on the landmark Citizens United case. In the second day of her confirmation hearings, Kagan was asked by Sen...

?Soft Money? Ban Affirmed by Supreme Court

Posted on June 29, 2010
The Supreme Court has affirmed, with no comment, a lower court ruling that upheld a ban on unlimited contributions to political parties, called “soft money.” The high court issued its order Tuesday, refusing a request by the Republican National Committee to consider ending the ban on unlimited donations by corporations, unions and others to national [...

New Statement Explains Judge?s Exxon Stock Sale

Posted on June 29, 2010
Federal District Judge Martin Feldman of Louisiana says he learned he had Exxon Mobil stock several hours after he heard a case involving the Obama administration’s recent deepwater drilling moratorium, according to an Associated Press article. Judge Feldman, who blocked the moratorium, stated earlier (see Gavel Grab) he sold those shares less than five hours [...

Petition-Privacy Ruling ?More of a Beginning??

Posted on June 29, 2010
When the Supreme Court handed down a major First Amendment decision recently, the lopsided 8-1 ruling was deceptive, according to a Washington Post analysis. In the case from Washington state, the Supreme Court ruled that not all signers of  petitions seeking a public vote on a hot policy issue can expect to keep their identities [...

Second Day: Kagan Defends Justice Marshall

Posted on June 29, 2010
With  Justice Thurgood Marshall and Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. “on trial” at Elena Kagan’s confirmation hearings, as one commentator portrayed it, President Obama’s nominee defended Justice Marshall today. At the outset of the second day of her hearings, Kagan “defended her view of Marshall, for whom she clerked in 1988, telling the committee that [...

Kagan Hearings: Check Here for Updates

Posted on June 28, 2010
Senate hearings begin Monday for Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan. You can get all-day Justice at Stake updates on Twitter, as well as periodic reports on Gavel Grab, Justice at Stake?s daily online journal. If you?re new to Twitter, this is an easy way to get brief hearing updates (all 140 characters or less)...

Kagan Pledges Judicial ?Modesty? if Confirmed

Posted on June 28, 2010
Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan vowed Monday that if confirmed, she would defer properly to Congress and strive to  “consider every case impartially, modestly, with commitment to principle and in accordance with law.” In prepared remarks for her confirmation hearing, which got under way at mid-day, the former Harvard Law School dean said the Supreme [...

When Will Gitmo Be Closed?

Posted on June 28, 2010
In the face of significant political opposition and other pressing priorities, President Obama’s administration has “sidelined efforts to close the Guantanamo prison,” according to a New York Times article. That means that closing of the controversial facility and fulfilling Obama’s pledge would be unlikely before he completes his term, in 2013, the newspaper added...

Difficult Road Seen for Campaign-Spending Disclosure

Posted on June 28, 2010
A campaign-spending disclosure bill recently passed by the House faces rocky going, according to an analysis in The National Journal. Veteran reporter Eliza Newlin Carney wrote of the DISCLOSE Act, as it is called: “The bill, which sets out to shed light on corporate and interest group campaign spending, faces an uphill battle in the [...

Justice Stevens, Retiring, Thanks Colleagues

Posted on June 28, 2010
Justice John Paul Stevens, whose retirement will begin tomorrow, extended thanks to his colleagues in a letter he read from the bench today. He thanked them for  the “warm and enduring friendship” enjoyed with the justices and their spouses...

High Court Expands 2nd Amendment Rights

Posted on June 28, 2010
The Constitutional protection of an individual’s right to bear arms under the Second Amendment extends past federal measures to state and local laws, the Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision Monday. The decision appears to void a Chicago ordinance barring residents from owning handguns, according to a Los Angeles Times article...

Kagan Hearings: Political Battles Behind the Drama

Posted on June 28, 2010
Politics, of course, is the defining backdrop for the confirmation hearings on Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan, which begin today.  And more than one political struggle will unfold. According to a New York Times article, the central drama may actually feature President Obama and Chief Justice John Roberts Jr...

?Essential? for Senate to Pass Disclosure Bill Now

Posted on June 27, 2010
“It is absolutely essential” that the Senate move quickly and pass a campaign-spending disclosure bill just approved by the House, in order to enact new law before November’s elections, a New York Times editorial asserts. The bill was drafted to blunt the impact of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, and it passed narrowly after [...

Martin Ginsburg, Husband of Justice, Dies

Posted on June 27, 2010
Martin D. Ginsburg, a prominent tax law professor and the husband of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, has died at his home in Washington, D.C. Ginsburg, 78,  was a professor at Georgetown University. He and the justice celebrated this month their 56th wedding anniversary, according to a Washington Post article.

?Petition-Signers Ought Not Expect Privacy?

Posted on June 27, 2010
One of the nation’s largest newspapers took a firm stand in support of transparency and accountability in government following a recent Supreme Court decision involving a First Amendment case. The USA Today editorial commented after the Supreme Court ruled that no all signers of  petitions seeking a public vote on a hot policy issue can [...

Kagan Hearings to be Substance, or Theater?

Posted on June 25, 2010
On the eve of Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan?s nomination hearing, her own 1995 critique of the ?hollow charade? and ?ritual dance? of such politically driven proceedings has led to questioning whether this one would be different. A preview article in USA Today underscored Kagan?s writing 15 years ago that a Supreme Court confirmation hearing [...

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