The NYT would like to say that Clarence Thomas's anger disqualifies from hearing some cases. Isn't it insanely obvious that if a liberal black judge harbored anger for the way he was treated over the years, the NYT wou…
Howard Bashman has the links. I'll update soon with more detail. UPDATE #1: Erickson v. Pardus is a per curiam opinion that rejects the too-strict pleading requirements the Sixth Tenth Circuit imposed on a pro se prisone…
Linda Greenhouse is highlighting Justice Ginsburg's decision to read two of her dissenting opinions from the bench this year. In both, Ginsburg spoke for herself and the other three liberal Justices (Stephens, Souter, and Br…
Strolling around the grounds of the Texas Capitol, I looked for the Ten Commandments monument, the one that was the subject of the Supreme Court case -- Van Orden -- two years ago. Here it is: Here's how Chief Justice Rehnqu…
Linda Greenhouse has a theory about yesterday's cert. denial in Guantanamo detainees cases (Boumediene v. Bush and Al Odah v. United States). Noting that Justice Stevens declined to vote along with Justices Souter, Ginsburg,…
David Lat gets antsy when an interview with Justice Breyer is insufficiently confessional. Why can't he be more like Justice Scalia (or Judge Posner or Judge Kozinski)? Is there some reason the conservative judicial stars ar…
The AP reports: Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer said Tuesday the high court has more discussion and debate behind closed doors with its two new members. Breyer, though, said the court "seems to be running very well"…
Justice Kennedy, writing for the majority in Roper v. Simmons , justifies the use of "international opinion" in constitutional decisionmaking: It is proper that we acknowledge the overwhelming weight of international op…
The U.S. is seeking Supreme Court review of a Tenth Circuit case that relied on the Religious Freedom Restoration Act to bar the federal government from enforcing drug laws against Centro Espirita Beneficiente Uniao do Vegetal. …
The first report looks good for the federal government on this, as Justice Souter seems dubious about the plaintiffs' argument: Backers of California's law seem to think "everybody is going to get it from a friend o…
So writes Justice O'Connor , concurring and providing the fifth vote, in today's Supreme Court opinion, Yarborough v. Alvarado. The Court leaves in place a state court conviction and reverses the opinion of the Ninth Circ…
Only one slope is slippery. Justice Breyer was concerned at oral argument, in Locke v. Davey , about the implications of deciding in favor of the college student who asserted a Free Exercise Right. (See previous post.) But what …
What motivated the Court in Locke v. Davey? I said two posts ago that the Court's opinion today did not reveal the real pressure that I think led the Court to reject a clear rule barring discriminating based on religion. Her…