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☆ The Supreme Court’s approach on ‘history and tradition’ is irking Amy Coney Barrett
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-19 | by ( Devan Cole | John Fritze | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Though Justice Clarence Thomas’ decision in a major trademark case last week was unanimous, it prompted a sharp debate led by Justice Amy Coney Barrett over the use of history to decide the case. “There definitely is the potential formation here of an alternative or several alternative approaches to history that ultimately draw a majority,” Wolf said. “What we could be seeing is a more nuanced approach to using that history,” said Elizabeth Wydra, president of the progressive Constitutional Accountability Center. But in a striking concurrence that captured support from both liberal and conservative justices, Justice Elena Kagan asserted that the court’s historic analysis need not end with the late-18th century. Barrett’s concurrence said the dispute could have been dealt with based on the court’s past precedent with trademark law and stressed that just leaning on the nation’s trademark history wasn’t good enough.

Persons: Clarence Thomas ’, Amy Coney Barrett, Barrett, Thomas, “, ”, Tom Wolf, Brennan, ” Wolf, Trump, Thomas ’, Antonin Scalia, Elizabeth Wydra, ” Wydra, Ilya Somin, there’s, Bruen, Sonia Sotomayor, … Bruen, –, Elena Kagan, Kagan, Brett Kavanaugh, Sotomayor –, Wolf, Roe, Wade, Vidal, . Elster, Sotomayor, ” Thomas, Kavanaugh, John Roberts, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Ketanji Brown Jackson, Barrett’s Organizations: Washington CNN, Brennan Center for Justice, New York, Trump, George Mason University, “, Inc, CNN, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Locations: New, Bruen, United States

☆ Opinion | Can the Supreme Court’s Liberals Reclaim Judicial Restraint?
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-29 | by ( Linda Greenhouse | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Supreme Court’s recent rescue of an important federal agency from the hands of a hostile lower court was an exercise in the evolving definition of originalism. A mechanism that the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit deemed unconstitutional was clearly known to and accepted by the Constitution’s framers, Justice Thomas concluded. Justice Elena Kagan wrote a concurring opinion to say that while the old history was enlightening and adequate to support the agency’s constitutionality, modern practice supported it as well. “All the flexibility and diversity evident in the founding period,” she wrote, has “continued unabated” when it comes to financing government operations. Notably, two of the court’s conservatives, Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, in addition to Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined Justice Kagan’s endorsement of the significance of later, even contemporary, practice when interpreting the Constitution.

Persons: Clarence Thomas, Thomas, Elena Kagan, ”, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett, Sonia Sotomayor, Kagan’s, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch Organizations: Consumer Financial, United States, Appeals, Fifth Circuit

☆ Opinion: What Alito’s flag controversies say about the Supreme Court
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-23 | by ( Julian Zelizer | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —If Chief Justice John Roberts is really an institutionalist — someone deeply concerned about the integrity of the Supreme Court and public perceptions about it — then he has a big problem on his hands. The discovery also comes at a time when the Supreme Court will be making a decision about Trump’s claims of sweeping presidential immunity, his get-out-of-jail-free card for the federal cases he faces. The notion that the Supreme Court can be trusted to be an arbiter above partisan politics has suffered major blows in recent years. Supreme Court decisions have not been the only issue. The Alito flag controversy is another blow to the image of the court.

Persons: Julian Zelizer, ”, John Roberts, —, Samuel Alito —, Donald Trump, Alito, Alito hasn’t, Trump, SCOTUS, “, Dobbs, Roe, Wade, Clarence Thomas ’, Virginia Thomas, Thomas ’, Roberts, George W Organizations: CNN, Princeton University, Twitter, Supreme, New York Times, Jackson, Health, Annenberg Public, Center, Pew Research Center, Republican Locations: New Jersey, Virginia, Vietnam, Florida

☆ Opinion | The Magic Constitutionalism of Donald Trump
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-02 | by ( David French | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Nor is that an example of “living constitutionalism,” which holds that the Constitution’s meaning can evolve over time, a concept that conservatives deplore. He also promised to pursue “the entire Biden crime family.”We should take Trump’s threats seriously, but neither those threats nor the threats of other politicians to prosecute Biden change the text or structure of the Constitution. Otherwise, presidents should remain subject to the rule of law, and not simply when they’re engaged in private conduct. Ordinarily, I would have considerable confidence that the Supreme Court — dominated as it is by originalists — would rather quickly and decisively reject Trump’s argument. And I’m less alarmed than some other analysts by the content of the justice’s questions at oral argument.

Persons: Trump, That’s, ’, Joe Biden, ”, isn’t, Biden, they’re, —, originalists —, MAGA, Anderson Organizations: Justice, Trump Locations: USA, Colorado, United States

☆ Originalism Isn’t the Key to This Supreme Court. Tradition Is. - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-29 | by ( Marc O. De Girolami | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

It is a sign of the polarizing nature of the current Supreme Court that even knowledgeable critics of its opinions make diametrically opposed arguments. Justice Breyer’s criticism follows on the heels of that of another judge, Kevin Newsom of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit. Such traditions, he warned, “have no demonstrable connection to the original, written text.”The current Supreme Court is the object of considerable controversy and confusion. Justice Breyer is right that the Constitution should be interpreted, in part, in light of practices that persisted after its ratification, but wrong to think that the current court is not doing this. Judge Newsom is right that the current court is doing this, but wrong to think that it should not be.

Persons: Stephen Breyer, ”, Breyer, Kevin Newsom, Judge Newsom, “ Organizations: U.S ., Appeals, Harvard Law School

☆ Stephen Breyer tells CNN to expect ‘more and more and more’ abortion cases at the Supreme Court
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-27 | by ( Hannah Rabinowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —One day after the Supreme Court heard arguments in the first abortion-related case since Roe v. Wade was overturned, retired Justice Stephen Breyer told CNN that the justices will be forced to consider abortion “more and more and more.”In an interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, Breyer chided the conservative majority for believing that the “harmful” Dobbs decision in 2022 would put an end to Supreme Court cases challenging abortion access. “The majority thinks it’s going to turn the whole issue over to the legislatures of states, and we’ll never have to deal with it again,” Breyer said of the landmark decision. “’Oh really,’ we said, ‘is that true?’” Breyer joked, citing the arguments in front of the justices Tuesday over attempts to limit access to mifepristone, the primary drug used for medication abortions. “Yesterday morning, they dealt with a big issue, and there will be more and more and more,” Breyer said. Two years after his retirement from the high court, Breyer released a new book “Reading the Constitution” that explains his approach to the law.

Persons: Roe, Wade, Stephen Breyer, CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, Breyer, ” Dobbs, we’ll, ” Breyer, “, ’, ’ ” Breyer, ”, Bill Clinton, you’re Organizations: CNN

☆ Opinion | There Is a Secret Hamiltonian in the White House
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-10 | by ( Jacob Soll | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

President Biden has been called a lot of things, but Hamiltonian is not usually one of them. In spite of his economic successes, hardly anyone has thought to compare the president to the architect of the American economy. And yet, more than any president in generations, Mr. Biden shares Alexander Hamilton’s fundamental vision for the country: America needs a strong industrial strategy to support its long-term security. Mr. Biden’s CHIPS and Science Act and his Inflation Reduction Act reflect this idea. In spite of this, by all indications, the policies seem to be working, and Republican states are benefiting.

Persons: Biden, Alexander, ”, George Washington, It’s, Hamilton Organizations: Treasury Locations: America, Ohio, South Carolina , Tennessee, Texas

☆ A Conservative Judge’s Critique of the Supreme Court’s Reliance on Tradition
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-26 | by ( Adam Liptak | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Judges who are committed to originalism, which seeks to interpret the Constitution based on what it meant when it was adopted, often say they are guided by “text, history and tradition.” The phrase rolls nicely off the tongue. But one of those things is not like the others, a conservative federal appeals court judge said this month in a lively talk at Harvard Law School that critiqued recent trends at the Supreme Court. And maybe it is indeed all those things. But let’s be clear: It’s not originalism.”The Supreme Court’s blockbuster 2022 decisions eliminating the right to abortion and expanding gun rights both drew on traditions that emerged after the constitutional provisions in question were ratified. The rulings did not turn on their discussion of tradition, but nor were they minor asides.

Persons: ”, Kevin C, Newsom, Donald J Organizations: Harvard Law School, Supreme, U.S ., Appeals, Circuit, Trump

☆ The Wild Legal Theory to Save Jim Harbaugh
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Louise Radnofsky | Andrew Beaton | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Michigan Law professor Daniel Crane was speaking at the Federalist Society’s national lawyers convention last week when the assembled legal wonks kept stopping him to discuss something that wasn’t on the originalism agenda: the explosive sign-stealing scandal engulfing his school’s football team. After Crane’s beloved Wolverines drew the wrath of the college sports world, Crane cooked up a novel theory in their defense. In perhaps the spiciest piece ever to hit the Yale Journal on Regulation, Crane argued that the NCAA bylaw Michigan is accused of violating may be unenforceable—because it violates antitrust law.

Persons: Daniel Crane, wonks, Crane’s, Crane Organizations: Michigan, Federalist Society’s, football, Wolverines, Yale

“But it’s not.”Kammer's course, The Taylor Swift Effect, planned for the spring semester looks to be the first law school class based on the sequined musical icon. After attending a Swift concert in Minneapolis in June, Kammer said he was inspired to develop the writing-intensive class, available to second- and third-year law students. Pop culture-focused law classes are not uncommon, and they can create a public relations buzz for the schools that offer them. Boston University law professor Jessica Silbey, who co-authored a textbook on pop culture and the law, said students tend to be more engaged when they study subjects such as sports, new technology and celebrities. The University of California at Berkeley this week announced an upcoming business course based on Swift’s entrepreneurship.

Persons: Sean Kammer's, Taylor Swift, ”, Kammer, it’s, Taylor, Rick Ross, Jessica Silbey, Swift, ” Kammer, Read, Trayveon Williams, Karen Sloan Organizations: University of South, University of Virginia School of Law, Georgia State University College of Law, Boston University, South Dakota Law, University of California, Stanford, Stanford , New York University, University of Texas, Bengals, Thomson Locations: University of South Dakota, Minneapolis, Berkeley, Stanford ,

☆ Conservative Case Emerges to Disqualify Trump for Role on Jan. 6
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( Adam Liptak | More About Adam Liptak | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Two prominent conservative law professors have concluded that Donald J. Trump is ineligible to be president under a provision of the Constitution that bars people who have engaged in an insurrection from holding government office. The professors are active members of the Federalist Society, the conservative legal group, and proponents of originalism, the method of interpretation that seeks to determine the Constitution’s original meaning. “When we started out, neither of us was sure what the answer was,” Professor Baude said. “People were talking about this provision of the Constitution. We thought: ‘We’re constitutional scholars, and this is an important constitutional question.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, — William Baude, Michael Stokes Paulsen, Thomas —, Baude, ‘, what’s, “ Donald Trump, —, ” Organizations: Federalist Society, University of Chicago, University of St, University of Pennsylvania

☆ Samuel Alito, the Supreme Court’s Plain-Spoken Defender
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-29 | by ( David B. Rivkin Jr. | James Taranto | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com. https://www.wsj.com/articles/samuel-alito-the-supreme-courts-plain-spoken-defender-precedent-ethics-originalism-5e3e9a7

Persons: Dow Jones, samuel, alito

☆ Ramaswamy Looks to Supreme Court in Effort to Appeal to Conservatives
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( Maggie Haberman | More About Maggie Haberman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Vivek Ramsawamy, an entrepreneur running for the Republican presidential nomination, on Monday will release a list of potential choices for the U.S. Supreme Court, in an effort to highlight his conservative credentials to early-state voters who may be skeptical of a candidate without a political background. Mr. Ramaswamy’s list, reported earlier by Axios, includes jurists who have ruled on various aspects of the Republican culture wars, including religious issues, free speech, vaccine mandates and transgender rights. In a statement, Mr. Ramaswamy sought to contrast his approach to that of President Biden, who vowed during his campaign to appoint the first Black woman to the highest court, which he did when he nominated Ketanji Brown Jackson. Mr. Ramaswamy dismissed that move as “purely skin-deep diversity.”“What each of the individuals I would appoint share is their unwavering dedication to the principles of originalism and commitment to a constitutionalist judicial philosophy,” Mr. Ramaswamy said. “Our courts are the last line of defense against an administrative state that rules by fiat, legislates from the bench, stifling freedom and truth.”

Persons: Vivek Ramsawamy, Donald J, Trump, Ramaswamy, Biden, Ketanji Brown Jackson, ” Mr, ” Organizations: Republican, U.S, Supreme Locations: New York

☆ Federal Judge Defends Clarence Thomas in New Book
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Carl Hulse | More About Carl Hulse | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

The book recounts 12 cases in which Justice Thomas, in Judge Thapar’s view, assiduously followed the original intent of the Constitution in siding with the aggrieved. He aims to dispel what he says are gross misconceptions about his book’s subject. “By cherry-picking his opinions or misrepresenting them, Justice Thomas’s critics claim that his originalism favors the rich over the poor, the strong over the weak and corporations over consumers,” the book says. While he promotes the book, he has found himself addressing the current furor over the court as much as Justice Thomas’s record — an unusual position in the ranks of federal judges, who usually steer clear of the media. Judge Thapar did note that he believes judges should stick to the letter of the law in providing required information.

Persons: Thapar, Thomas’s, Thomas, Thapar’s, Judge Thapar, Thomas’s originalism, ” Judge Thapar, Justice Thomas, “, ”

☆ Clarence Thomas: Appellate judge defends justice in new book, rejects 'pot shots' at Supreme Court
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-25 | by ( Ariane De Vogue | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —A federal appeals court judge previously on short lists for the Supreme Court is taking the rare step to broadly and publicly reject allegations that Justice Clarence Thomas has been improperly influenced by lavish gifts provided by a conservative billionaire, dismissing “pot shots” at the Supreme Court in general. Thapar this past week released a new book about Thomas entitled “The People’s Justice,” in which he explores the justice’s favored judicial philosophy of originalism. “You can judge their works, and what they do, against what they’ve done in the past,” Thapar told CNN. Ethics and financial disclosuresThapar rejects suggestions that Thomas should have disclosed the hospitality provided by Crow on annual financial disclosure forms. They have called Justice Thomas ‘the cruelest justice,’ ‘stupid,’ and even an ‘Uncle Tom’ a traitor to his race,” Thapar writes.

Persons: Clarence Thomas, Amul Thapar, Thapar, Thomas, originalism, Thomas ’, Thomas ’ originalism, Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell, Harlan Crow’s, ” Thapar, Ginni, Crow, ” Virginia Canter, ” “, ” Canter, hadn’t, “, –, ”, Thomas’s, Thomas ‘, ’, Tom ’, Elizabeth Wydra, ” Wydra Organizations: CNN, Eastern, Eastern District of, ProPublica, Citizens, Crow, Administrative, Center Locations: Cincinnati, Eastern District, Eastern District of Kentucky, Washington

☆ A federal judge once on the shortlist for the Supreme Court defended Clarence Thomas over the justice's relationship with billionaire Harlan Crow: 'Judges are just like every other human being'
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-25 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Judge Amul Thapar in his new book defended Clarence Thomas' relationship with megadonor Harlan Crow. Thapar told CNN that judges "have a diverse group of friends, and those friends don't influence the way we do our job." "Judges are just like every other human being," Thapar told the network. And while speaking with CNN, Thapar also suggested that media reports about Thomas didn't always offer a clear picture of the longtime Supreme Court justice. "You can judge their works, and what they do, against what they've done in the past," Thapar told the network.

Persons: Amul Thapar, Clarence Thomas, megadonor Harlan Crow, Thapar, Thomas, —, Harlan Crow, Thomas didn't, Crow, Donald Trump —, ProPublica, Harlan, Kathy Crow Organizations: CNN, Crow, Service, United States, Appeals, Sixth Circuit, Judicial Conference Locations: United States

☆ Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dominated oral arguments and challenged conservative thinking in her first months on the Supreme Court, observers say
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( Oma Seddiq | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson has sat on the Supreme Court for a little more than two months. The Supreme Court of the United States on Thursday, Oct. 6, 2022 in Washington, DC. Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court during a formal group photograph at the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. on Friday, Oct. 7, 2022. Some court observers say oral arguments can potentially be an opportunity for justices to sway their colleagues' thinking – though that doesn't happen often. During the three hours of oral arguments, Jackson frequently threw cold water on the idea.

☆ Justice Samuel Alito, who wrote the opinion that overturned Roe v. Wade, says his Catholic faith makes him mindful of 'real world' impact of SCOTUS decisions
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Erin Snodgrass | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Justice Samuel Alito delivered a lecture at the Catholic University of America's law school. The judge discussed how his Catholic faith influences his judicial work, according to Reuters. Alito, who wrote the majority decision overturning Roe v. Wade, did not mention the landmark case. The conservative judge earlier this year penned the majority opinion that overturned Roe v. Wade, effectively gutting the nearly 50-year landmark ruling that legalized abortion across the country. Alito also avoided any of the criticism he's recently flung at vocal opponents of the Roe reversal, focusing his speech primarily on Catholicism and the law, according to Reuters.

☆ 'Barrett is like Jesus' for evangelical voters: Why confirming a new Supreme Court justice before the election mattered more to Republicans than another coronavirus stimulus
▼ + stars: | 2020-10-28 | by ( Oma Seddiq | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

It pales in comparison to getting the Supreme Court justice," an expert told Insider. The federal judge — now a newly minted Supreme Court Justice — is the first nominee in US history to be confirmed this close to an Election Day. McConnell's 'leave no vacancy behind' mindset about the courtsAnd the timing couldn't have been more ideal for the party, experts told Insider. In total, the top Republican has overseen 220 confirmations, including three Supreme Court justices. The Supreme Court offers them a shortcut "to enforce these kinds of values that they're really concerned about."

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