Category: The Supreme Court

The Doctor is Out (of his mind).

Kowtowing to right-wing unrest following Lawrence v. Texas, Senate Majority Leader Bill “Catkiller” Frist wants to write a gay marriage ban into the Constitution. Where are the true “conservatives” on this question? Surely, most would agree that the doctor and his cronies should not be scribbling their prejudicial rants upon our founding document, no?

The Shape of Things to Come?

The Supreme Court votes 7-2 (Scalia and Thomas dissenting, of course) to reject non-profit exemptions from campaign finance laws. While critics of reform are arguing otherwise, I’d think this bodes very well for McCain-Feingold, which will be taken up in the fall.

Checks and Balances.

While battle lines get drawn over possible Supreme Court vacancies at the end of the month, Timothy Noah makes the case for eliminating the filibuster using Robert Caro’s Masters of the Senate. His logic seems sound, but perhaps it’d be best to wait until at least the fall…

Dollars and Sense.

In the longest and most complicated opinion in its history, the US District Court for DC struck down some of the McCain-Feingold bill yesterday, while still upholding some of its key legal premises. While this convoluted decision opens the door for the rapacious campaign days of yore, it also sets the stage for a definitive Supreme Court decision in the Spring. Looks like Rehnquist and co. will get a chance to atone at least partially for Bush v. Gore.

Kerrying a Torch.

Continuing with his newfound Chris-Rock-in-Head-of-State candor, John Kerry announces he will only appoint pro-choice Supreme Court justices if elected. (He also takes the time to differentiate between political “litmus tests” and the defense of constitutional rights.) Kerry’s really onto something lately with the whole anti-Gore, Straight-Talk-Express bit…let’s hope it continues.

Freedom of the…oh, never mind.

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia accepts a free speech award…while muzzling the press. War or no, the blatant examples of conservative doublethink lately are getting outrageous. In loosely related news, the FBI track down a long-lost copy of the Bill of Rights. Think they could let Ashcroft take a gander before they return it to NC? The Attorney General seems to have gotten caught up somewhere around the Second Amendment.

Trial Balloons.

After the humbling defeat of Election Tuesday, Dem presidential hopefuls start taking tentative steps down a more combative course. First Daschle rightfully questioned the terrorism initiative in the wake of the recent Bin Laden tape, and now Gore is outwardly questioning the Supreme Court for its 2000 election decision. Speaking of which, anyone hoping beyond hope for a “new” Candidate Gore in 2004 should just take note of how loudly the gears are grinding here. The Gores have two books coming out – Joined at the Heart (as a friend of mine noted, a truly awful name that conjures up visions of Chang and Eng) and The Spirit of Family – aimed at resurrecting whatever national goodwill Al managed to muster by “The Kiss” at the Democratic Convention. As usual, Gore‘s making his points ham-fistedly.

Hey, buddy, who asked you?

Dahlia Lithwick surveys Ken Starr‘s recent paean to the Rehnquist Court. “Starr’s ideology seeps into the book in other ways — ways that make him sound like he’s sometimes channeling Ann Coulter. He calls Justices Breyer and Ginsburg ‘Clinton appointees’ three times in three pages, as if by invoking their champion he might tar them as philandering perverts as well. So anxious is Starr about ‘liberals,’ the ‘cultural elites,’ and the ‘New York Times editorial pages,’ that the words are frequently thrown out, Coulter-fashion, to stand as self-explicating negatives.” Ok, thanks Ken…now please crawl back into your hole.