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June 17, 2010 9:24 pm | By Miranda Blue
Our Questions for Solicitor General Kagan
We’ve said repeatedly that Elena Kagan’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings, which start in two weeks, open up the perfect opportunity to the country to have a real discussion of the meaning of the Constitution and the role of the Supreme…
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June 17, 2010 8:55 pm | By Miranda Blue
The Perils of Obstructionism
Senate obstructionism has so crippled one agency that the Supreme Court has ruled invalid over 500 decisions it made over a two-year period. The National Labor Relations Board, meant to consist of five members, has a statutory quorum of three.…
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June 17, 2010 7:29 pm | By Miranda Blue
Chamber of Commerce Wages “Unprecedented” Campaign Against Lead Paint Lawyer
A few weeks ago, we wrote about the Chamber of Commerce’s campaign to prevent the confirmation of attorney John McConnell to be a Rhode Island district court judge, because of his work as a personal injury lawyer to hold corporations…
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June 17, 2010 2:14 pm | By Miranda Blue
The Freedom to Marry
The American Foundation for Equal Rights has posted a transcript of yesterday's closing arguments in Perry v. Schwarzenegger, the trial challenging the constitutionality of California's ban on same-sex marriage. Theodore B. Olson, the attorney for the couples who are challenging…
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June 16, 2010 10:28 pm | By Miranda Blue
The New Originalism Debate—An Early Roundup of Good Reads
A few weeks ago, former Supreme Court Justice David Souter delivered a call to arms against the misguided theory of “constitutional originalism” that has dominated recent debates on the Supreme Court. “The Constitution is no simple contract,” Souter said, “Not…
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June 16, 2010 9:17 pm | By Rhee-Soo
No-Fly Lists and Rendition
On Monday, the Supreme Court declined to hear a case brought by Maher Arar, a Canadian national who was sent to Syria and tortured after arriving in New York from a vacation.The court did not comment Monday in ending Syrian-born…
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June 16, 2010 12:35 am | By Miranda Blue
Who Will Make Amends to Maher Arar?
Yesterday, the Supreme Court declined to hear the case of Maher Arar, a Canadian citizen who the US detained in 2002 and sent to Syria to be imprisoned and tortured for a year—without ever being charged with a crime.In an…
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June 15, 2010 2:37 pm | By Miranda Blue
“Who cares, it’s done, end of story, will probably be fine”
In a letter to BP CEO Tony Hayward, Reps. Henry Waxman and Bart Stupak have laid out some startling examples of BP’s recklessness in the weeks before the catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. It’s a sad illustration…
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June 14, 2010 8:33 pm | By Miranda Blue
Mississippi is 37% Black; It May Soon Have Its First African American Federal Appeals Court Judge
Last week’s appointment of James E. Graves Jr. to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals didn’t get a lot of attention. But his nomination represents a remarkable milestone. Graves is currently the only African American justice on the Supreme Court…
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June 14, 2010 8:22 pm | By Rhee-Soo
Citizens United panel at America’s Future Now! Conference
Last week at the America’s Future Now! Conference, People For’s Marge Baker participated in a panel called "Changing Citizens United and Fixing the Supreme Court." The panelists explained the negative impact of the Roberts Court’s corporate bias, the Citizens United…
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June 11, 2010 4:56 pm | By Miranda Blue
Recycled Arguments About Recycled Documents
The first paragraph of this Roll Call story tells you everything you have to know about the fit Senators Sessions and Kyl threw over some “troubling” Kagan memos yesterday afternoon:Republicans, hoping to derail the confirmation of Elena Kagan to the…
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June 11, 2010 4:42 pm | By Miranda Blue
Previewing the Right’s Supreme Court Playbook
The Right wing has made it fairly clear that they will use whatever tactics necessary to make Elena Kagan’s Supreme Court confirmation process as noisy and contentious as possible—not because of any substantive objections to Kagan as a nominee, but…
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June 11, 2010 2:33 pm | By Miranda Blue
Dawn Johnsen Speaks Out on the Office of Legal Counsel
Dawn Johnsen, the law professor who was forced in April to withdraw her nomination to head the DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel, has written a forceful op-ed in today’s Washington Post. Johnsen, an exceedingly qualified candidate who was the victim…
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June 10, 2010 3:26 pm | By Miranda Blue
LGBT Candidates Did Well in Tuesday’s Primaries
Not only did Tuesday’s primaries fail to bring about the wave of anti-gay sentiment that some conservatives had hoped for…it was a banner day for openly LGBT candidates. Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, a PAC that endorses “qualified, committed LGBT…
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June 9, 2010 8:47 pm | By Miranda Blue
Progressive Candidate Wins Soundly in Iowa Gay Marriage Battleground
Among the interesting results of lower-profile races in yesterday’s primaries was the victory of progressive incumbent Ako Abdul-Samad over a well-funded socially conservative challenger in Iowa’s 66th House District. The victory is significant because the Des Moines district is at…
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June 9, 2010 4:05 pm | By Miranda Blue
The Roberts Court’s Pro-Corporate Batting Average
The Constitutional Accountability Center has just released a statistical study of the current Supreme Court’s pro-corporate voting patterns. And guess what? The numbers back the trend that’s anecdotally hard to miss. CAC’s statistical study tests empirically the idea that the…
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June 9, 2010 3:24 pm | By People For Blog
Oil Disaster in the Gulf of Mexico: Reflections of Rev. L. Charles Stovall
Editor's note: Rev. L. Charles Stovall, a member of People For's African American Ministers in Action, contributed this post. Rev. Stovall is a pastor at St. Luke United Methodist Church in Dallas, Texas. I met a man recently at a…
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June 9, 2010 2:00 pm | By Miranda Blue
Corporate-funded Calif. Ballot Measures Too Close To Call
Two California ballot measures funded by corporations are still too close to call after Tuesday’s elections. A utility company spent $46 million on a measure to make it harder for municipalities to set up their own utility companies; a car…
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June 8, 2010 6:40 pm | By Miranda Blue
A New Brand of Umpire
In a compelling new piece at Slate, Doug Kendall of the Constitutional Accountability Center and Jim Ryan of the University of Virginia argue that when Elena Kagan faces the Senate Judiciary Committee she shouldn’t ignore or reject strict Constitutionalism—she should…
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June 8, 2010 5:52 pm | By Miranda Blue
Supreme Court Leaves Publicly Funded Arizona Candidates Up a Creek
The Supreme Court ruled today that Arizona candidates who have opted in to the state’s public financing system can’t collect matching funds—the money allotted to candidates who are up against particularly well-funded opponents or interest groups—until the Court has time…