Before they charged out of Washington, D.C., for their August recess, the House and Senate passed a temporary (six-month) fix to the ridiculousness which has become FISA. Recently a federal FISA judge ruled that communications between two foreign, non-U.S. persons, that merely pass through a piece of electronic equipment in the United States require a […]
There's good news and stupid news today on the judges front -- and both include Democrats. First, the good news, Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California bucked the insane left and voted to send the nomination of Leslie Southwick to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to the full Senate. Feinstein said she decided to break […]
Chief Justice John Roberts had a "benign ideopathic seizure" today -- whatever that is. And of course the nutroots goes from straight into hoping for his death. Patterico points to supposedly kinda mainstream "Wonkette." Chief Justice John Roberts has died in his summer home in Maine. No, not really, but we know you have your […]
At least, that's apparently what New York Sen. Chuck Schumer believes. New York Sen. Charles E. Schumer, a powerful member of the Democratic leadership, said Friday the Senate should not confirm another U.S. Supreme Court nominee under President Bush “except in extraordinary circumstances.” “We should reverse the presumption of confirmation,” Schumer told the American Constitution […]
I generally like Canadians, if you know what I'm talking aboot. But this is just silly. Threatening someone with a gun may be enough to warrant being charged with a firearms offence, even if one isn't being carried, Canada's top court ruled Friday. In a unanimous ruling, the nine-member Supreme Court of Canada upheld a […]
Usually I agree with Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz on Israel and nothing else. Well, now Dershowitz and I agree on the fate of Lewis Libby too. This was entirely a political case from beginning to end. Libby's actions were political. The decision to appoint a special prosecutor was political. The trial judges' rulings were […]
Ed Whelan over at National Review's Bench Memos blog takes a little slam at the Wall Street Journal editorial page. Et Tu, WSJ? [Ed Whelan] In the course of an otherwise intelligent discussion of the Supreme Court’s just-ended term, this house editorial in the weekend edition of the Wall Street Journal states: “In outlawing a […]
The Supreme Court ended its term today with a decision in a couple of closely watched cases involving public primary schools' efforts to achieve diversity. The Court ruled, 5-4, that having a goal of a "diverse student body" isn't sufficient reason to discriminate based on race. Of course, that's not how much of the media […]
Yesterday, the Supreme Court handed down two decisions with implications for free speech. In each case, the Court seemed to make its decision not based on any constitutional principles, but on getting the right outcome. The first case is the famous "Bong Hits for Jesus" case. A Juneau, Alaska, high school student unfurled a banner […]
That's really the big question. That's the divide that we have in the nation's political and legal landscape. It's the difference between Rudy Giuliani and John Edwards. It's the difference between the bases of the GOP and Democrat parties. And it's an issue that's dividing the judiciary. You've got judges who say President Bush can't […]