{"id":249,"date":"2010-10-04T10:25:42","date_gmt":"2010-10-04T14:25:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sidebarforplaintiffs.naomifein.net\/?p=249"},"modified":"2012-02-21T15:58:34","modified_gmt":"2012-02-21T20:58:34","slug":"the-supreme-court%e2%80%99s-new-term","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sidebarforplaintiffs.naomifein.net\/?p=249","title":{"rendered":"The Supreme Court\u2019s New Term"},"content":{"rendered":"

The first Monday in October and the Supreme Court starts hearing cases for this new term.\u00a0 In yesterday’s New York Times, Adam Liptak did a terrific abstract and analysis of some of the important cases coming up this term: Supreme Court Term Offers Hot Issues and Future Hints \u2013 NYTimes.com<\/a>. <\/strong>and a neat graphic at U.S. > Image ><\/a>.<\/p>\n

I love<\/em> reading this stuff. First, I go through the abstracts and make my own decisions. They’re knee-jerk, of course, and simplistic in their purity and passions.<\/p>\n

Then I read Liptak\u2019s legal exegesis of the cases and pull down my knee. A little. Now my brain clicks on and I\u2019m forced to confront, as always, the complex ambiguities of law and life in this country.<\/p>\n

What to think, what to think?<\/p>\n

Given the lousy makeup of the current Court, I fear that some of these case decisions will damage my sense of justice. And Justice Elena Kagan has recused herself from a number of cases because as Solicitor General in the Obama administration she worked on them. So this term could wind up in a lot of 4-4 decisions, thus leaving the lower Circuit Courts\u2019 rulings to stand. Could be good, could be bad. It all depends on the nature of each Circuit Court. (I’m a fan of the 2d Circuit [NY] and the 9th Circuit [CA] – but you knew that.)<\/p>\n

Senator Pat Leahy, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has come up with a terrific idea to break potential stalemates. He\u2019s introduced legislation to \u201callow the court to assign a retired justice to hear cases when an active justice is disqualified.” Great idea, isn’t it? “But the three living retired justices \u2013 John Paul Stevens, David Souter and Sandra Day O\u2019Connor \u2013 are generally considered moderate to liberal…\u201d So, as Liptak points out, this messes up the bill\u2019s chance of passing.<\/p>\n

Take a look at these cases, come up with your own decisions and tell me what you<\/em> think. I want to know.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today the U.S. Supreme Court starts its new term. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[337],"tags":[49,50,51,46,52,47,45],"class_list":["post-249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-legal-news","tag-2d-circuit-court","tag-9th-circuit-court","tag-adam-liptak","tag-new-supreme-court-cases","tag-patrick-leahy","tag-supreme-court-possible-split-decisions","tag-supreme-court-term"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t