So I’m appearing this morning in court here in Stinking Bakersfield. No one at all is in line for the security screen behind me. There are two security guards and a Kern County sheriff’s deputy. I put my case file,… Continue Reading
Solicitor General Elena Kagan, if confirmed to the Supreme Court, would be the first Justice to sit on the Court since Lewis Powell to have a background that does not include service on an appellate bench. General Kagan’s background is… Continue Reading
Marc Cooper writes in today’s Fish Wrapper that the right pick to the Supreme Court to replace John Paul Stevens would be an open atheist. He confines himself to making some obvious points about how one’s religious beliefs do not… Continue Reading
I’ve been doing a lot of reading and re-reading of the case of Newdow v. Rio Linda Unified School District, the most recent Pledge of Allegiance case from the Ninth Circuit. It is easily the longest opinion I’ve ever read… Continue Reading
Come on. No one should have believed, even for a second, that 55-year-old Chief Justice of the Supreme Court John Roberts was going to resign. While a Democrat is in the White House. What a silly rumor. Even if you… Continue Reading
Plenty of people, myself included, got upset when the Bush Administration reserved for itself the right to unilaterally engage in a warrantless wiretap. I thought it was an affront to the Constitution that the President, acting on his authority alone,… Continue Reading
A year ago, I made some predictions for what would happen in 2009. How’d I do? 1. The United States Federal deficit for calendar year 2009 will exceed $1.5 trillion. Check. 2. A human being will be cloned. Not Yet… Continue Reading
The Establishment Clause case I’ve been keeping my eye on, Salazar v. Buono, will be orally briefed before the Supreme Court today. The case involves a large but not huge Christian cross on a hill located within the Mojave National… Continue Reading
Too frequently, I view the Court system from the inside. I’m fortunate to have the benefit of a world-class education, a quick wit and a mind that can grasp both details and the big picture, training in public speaking and… Continue Reading
It would be wrong to write off Justice Stevens as “just another liberal Justice on the Supreme Court” because he is one of the most creative, original voices to grace our bench in a generation. On hot-button social issues, yes,… Continue Reading