5 Judges Obama Never Considered

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama named Sonia Sotomayor his Supreme Court pick this morning, the AP reports, setting the 54-year-old appeals court judge up to be the high court’s first Hispanic justice. Obama noted that she'd "worked at almost every level of our judicial system," saying she had more experience than any current justice had when nominated. He also emphasized that she was first appointed to the bench by a Republican, George H.W. Bush, and promoted by Bill Clinton. More»

Republican upset over president's Supreme Court comments

(NEWSER) - Sen. Charles Grassley is in hot water today after a tweet Saturday in which the Iowa Republican called President Obama stupid. "Constituents askd why i am not outraged at PresO attack on supreme court independence. Bcause Am ppl r not stupid as this x prof of con law," Grassley tweeted . CNN notes that Grassley has long been quite vocal in his criticism of Obama, and this time around he was apparently upset at Obama's comments on the possibility of the "unelected" Supreme Court overturning ObamaCare. Obama's senior campaign strategist David Axelrod was quick to respond. More»

Peggy Noonan says Republicans who once trusted him no longer do so

(NEWSER) - Peggy Noonan thinks a lot of Republicans who once liked President Obama personally, if not politically, are having serious second thoughts. "What is happening is that the president is coming across more and more as a trimmer, as an operator who's not operating in good faith," she writes in the Wall Street Journal . "This is hardening positions and leading to increased political bitterness," and she thinks Obama himself is to blame. More»

Op-ed: Activists angry over same-sex ruling are going too far

(NEWSER) - Throughout US history, “no matter how controversial the case, no state or federal judge has been impeached for an opinion issued from the bench,” writes Bert Brandenburg in the Washington Post . But now, activists in Iowa want to impeach the justices who voted to allow same-sex marriage in the state—and the campaign has dangerous implications for the country. More»

Kagan may not recuse herself from cases involving health reform

(AP) - The Supreme Court has turned down the first preliminary challenge to President Barack Obama's health care overhaul. The decision to reject an appeal from a former Republican state lawmaker in California was no surprise because a federal appeals court has yet to consider the case. The high court almost never reviews cases before the issues have been aired in lower courts. Of more significance is the sign that all the justices took part in rejecting the appeal. More»