Can our public officials arrest and torture American citizens without fear of accountability? The answer is a resounding yes. Yesterday, the Supreme Court denied the petition filed on behalf of Jose Padilla, an American citizen who was arrested by the FBI in 2002 at Chicago O’Hare airport. The U.S. Government designated Padilla as [...]
While reading my first-year Constitutional Law textbook, I noticed a line that made me pause mid-sip from a cup of coffee. I reread the line written by Chief Justice John Roberts, and I stopped, again. No, can’t be. The line comes from a 2007 case called United Haulers Ass’n, Inc. v. Oneida-Herkimer Solid Waste Management [...]
There are innumerable details about the U.S. Supreme Court that many, including practitioners, simply do not think about; mostly, because it just doesn't come up that often. About twice a year, I will receive a call from an attorney who is planning to file for certiorari, but who is waiting on the Court to rule on their motion for [...]
What is Distribution? Very simply, distribution is the process of delivering petition-stage briefing documents to the Justices and their clerks for consideration prior to the conference. Shortly after distribution, a randomly assigned clerk in the Cert Pool (and a clerk for Justice Alito, who does not participate in the Cert Pool) will [...]
Last night, the only female Supreme Court Justices gathered at the Newseum in Washington DC to celebrate the 30-year anniversary of Justice O'Connor's appointment to the Court. Both Mike Sacks at Huffington Post and Tony Mauro at the National Law Journal have coverage. UPDATE: Adam Liptak at the New York Times also has coverage. While the [...]
A new Rasmussen poll finds that 54% of the country believes the Supreme Court will strike down the Affordable Care Act. And the Court's approval rate has bumped up 13 points since the Court held oral arguments in the ACA case. Interesting. You just never know how the public will view the Court and interpret [...]
Professor Orin Kerr at the Volokh Conspiracy draws an interesting comparison between the Supreme Court confronting the constitutionality of President Obama's healthcare law and President Bush's law removing habeas corpus from terror suspects. Professor Kerr writes: If the Court does end up striking down the mandate, this will be the second consecutive presidency in which [...]
If one had listened to the legal academy, outside of Professor Randy Barnett, one would think that the challenge to the Affordable Care Act was not only silly, but frivolous. That is what I repeatedly read over the two years leading up to the Supreme Court's oral arguments (and even after them). As someone who [...]
A few days ago, I wrote on Slate how Marbury v. Madison might be the key to the Affordable Care Act. You can read it here.
In between reading gems, such as first-year law school textbooks, I've been reading David C. Frederick's book, Supreme Court And Appellate Advocacy. The book starts with a historical narrative of the Supreme Court. Surprisingly, the first decades of Supreme Court practice were geared around oral argument, and not written briefs. In fact, there were no written briefs! And [...]