ANALYSIS
With liberal bloc aging, McCain could boost conservative leaning
Boston Globe Jun 27, 08 3:41 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Recent Supreme Court decisions that broke 5-4 underlined the impact the next president could have on top US judicial body, the Boston Globe notes. The liberal bloc—including John Paul Stevens (age 88) and Ruth Bader Ginsburg (75)—is more likely to lose members during the next administration, so a President McCain could greatly change the Court's bent by replacing them with conservative Justices.
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analysis
First female Supreme Court justice's legacy uncertain
USA Today Jun 10, 08 4:15 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Even as Sandra Day O’Connor public profile as an advocate for Alzheimer’s disease research grows, the legal imprint of the first woman Supreme Court justice is fading, USA Today reports. Since her departure, the Roberts court has shifted course on abortion and retreated from positions supported by her swing vote on affirmative action and campaign finance.
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Justices will hand down 26 of the most contentious opinions beginning today
USA Today Jun 9, 08 8:49 AM CDT
(Newser)
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The Supreme Court is poised to begin unveiling decisions today in some of the year's most heated cases, reports USA Today . As the term winds down, the 26 final opinions will be released on select days in June, and include clashes over Guantanamo detainees, DC's handgun ban, and the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.
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Lashes out at judicial activists, Obama
CNN May 6, 08 5:27 PM CDT
(Newser)
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John McCain reached out to conservatives today, saying he would follow George Bush's lead in appointing judges, CNN reports. McCain drew sharp contrasts between his legal philosophy and that of both Democratic hopefuls before an audience in North Carolina. He specifically criticized Obama for voting against the confirmation of John Roberts and Samuel Alito, saying Obama favored "activist" judges who do not respect the constitution.
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Blacks wrongly blocked from jury in case compared to OJ
Washington Post Mar 20, 08 5:09 AM CDT
(Newser)
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The Supreme Court has ordered a new trial for a former Marine awaiting execution on Louisiana's death row. Allen Snyder, an African-American, was convicted of fatally stabbing his estranged wife and her boyfriend, but the court ruled 7-2 that prosecutors acted improperly by using its challenges to seat an all-white jury, reports the Washington Post .
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Supreme Court left deadlocked by recusals amid calls to divest
Bloomberg Mar 7, 08 7:35 PM CST
(Newser)
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The stock portfolios of Supreme Court justices have become a flash point this term, in which six cases could be affected by justices recusing themselves because they own financial stakes in companies involved. Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Samuel Alito, and Justice Stephen Bryer have bowed out of cases involving Pfizer, Exxon and Cisco, respectively—apparently because of stock holdings, Bloomberg reports.
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Italian-Americans' real story overshadowed, complains justice
Associated Press Feb 14, 08 11:19 AM CST
(Newser)
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US Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito isn't going to fuhgeddabout all the negative stereotypes concerning Italian-Americans spread by shows like The Sopranos. "You have a trifecta—gangsters, Italian-Americans, New Jersey—wedded in the popular American imagination" and overshadowing the true stories, the New Jersey native complained yesterday to an audience at Rutgers University.
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Right-moving bench will rule on lethal injection, Gitmo prisoner rights
Reuters Sep 30, 07 4:14 PM CDT
(Newser)
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The Supreme Court enters its second session with Bush appointees John Roberts and Samuel Alito tomorrow, which means it will likely resume last session’s rightward slant, Reuters says. Before the court will be big cases on Guantanamo inmates’ right to habeas corpus, the legality of the lethal injection death penalty, and a variety of cases weighing civil liberties against security.
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Slate says GOP is perversely partisan
Slate Sep 18, 07 7:37 PM CDT
(Newser)
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The GOP is uneasy with Bush’s choice for attorney general, but only because liberals don't despise him, says Slate ’s Dahlia Lithwick. Unlike Roberts and Alito, Michael Mukasey doesn’t know “all 17 twists in the Federalist Society's secret handshake”—leaving open the chance that he might be (gasp!) an independent thinker. Yet Mukasey is no "renegade outside-the-Beltway badass" either.
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in 5-4 reversal, court rules 'issue ads' don't count as endorsements
Washington Post Jun 25, 07 2:30 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Conservatives on the Supreme Court weakened one of the major strictures of the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Law today, relaxing the definition of prohibited ads in the run-up to federal elections. An increasingly familiar 5-4 majority declared that "issue ads," which stump for political platforms without explicitly endorsing a candidate, are protected speech.
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Alito, Roberts may reverse ban on "issue ads" during campaign
Legal Times Apr 26, 07 7:37 AM CDT
(Newser)
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The Supreme Court looks poised to pull an about face on the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law by striking down its strictures on "issue ads"—pre-election commentary that mentions candidates by name. Sandra Day O'Connor joined a majority in upholding the ban in 2003; Alito and Roberts may provide critical mass to strike it down.
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Justices cite moral corcerns, worry about mother's regrets
New York Times Apr 19, 07 6:43 AM CDT
(Newser)
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The Supreme Court's decision to uphold a ban partial-birth abortions is a gauntlet thrown down by the Roberts court, reports Linda Greenhouse in the Times . Samuel Alito, the newest justice, was the deciding factor in the 5-4 turnaround. While it will affect a small subset of abortion procedures, the focus on "ethical and moral concerns" signals a major shift.
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A Supreme Court case weighs student's right to "glorify" drug use
New York Times Mar 20, 07 10:51 AM CDT
(Newser)
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A student glorifying illegal drug use shouldn't be protected by the First Amendment, Ken Starr argued before the Supreme Court yesterday in the case of a high school student suspended for displaying a banner reading "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" during the Winter Olympics Torch Relay in Juneau, Alaska in 2002.
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