Slate‘s William Saletan, author of Bearing Right, writes on “Elena Kagan’s partial-birth abortion scandal,” concluding (as I did) that the events uncovered impugn the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists more than Kagan. But he also thinks there is a broader lesson to be learned here. He writes: Kagan, who was then an associate White […]
Author Archive | Jonathan H. Adler
Sunday Song Lyric
Growing up in Philadelphia, it was probably inevitable that I’d prefer “God Bless America” over the “Star Spangled Banner.” The former became the de facto national anthem for the Philadelphia Flyers after their Stanley Cup championships of 1974 and 1975, at which the song was sung by Kate Smith. That it was written by Irving […]
Making Sense of the Supreme Court
Tom Goldstein has a nice post on SCOTUSBlog explaining why almost everythign you read about the Supreme Court is wrong. I say “almost” because many of his points have been made on this blog repeatedly (see, e.g., here and here). Among other things, he notes that ideological partisans overstate the degree to which the Court […]
Goldsmith Gives It to the Judiciary Committee
Harvard law professor Jack Goldsmith testified in support of Elena Kagan’s confirmation to the Supreme Court today. No doubt one reason he was asked to testify is because he is a noted conservative and former Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel in the Bush Administration, and it’s always convenient to have a […]
Further Reactions to the Kagan Hearings
The Washington Post has posted my comments on today’s hearings in their online “Topic A” feature. Comments from others are sure to follow. Among other things, I note that Elena Kagan has effectively avoided giving substantive answers that could disclose her views on any legal issue, old or new. She wouldn’t name any justice she […]
Kagan, ACOG and the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban
By Jonathan H. Adler on June 29, 2010 11:26 pm in Judicial Nominations, Kagan Nomination, Politicizing Science
Was “language purporting to be the judgment of an independent body of medical experts devoted to the care and treatment of pregnant women and their children” actually “nothing more than the political scrawling” of then Clinton White House staffer Elena Kagan? That’s the charge made by former deputy Assistant Attorney General Shannen Coffin in this […]
Superfund Is Constitutional
This morning the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit rejected General Electric’s constitutional challenge to the Environmental Protection Agency’s use of administrative orders under the Comprehensive Emergency Response Cleanup and Liability Act (aka “Superfund”). Here is how the opinion begins: In this case, appellant challenges the constitutionality of a statutory scheme that authorizes […]
Kagan Endorses Estrada
It may not be worth much now, but Elena Kagan just told the Senate Judiciary Committee that Miguel Estrada is “qualified to sit as an appellate judge” and “qualified to sit as a Supreme Court justice” (and then she told Senator Graham she would put this in writing).
One More 5-4 Decision
This morning, with its end-of-term orders, the Supreme Court issued a 5-4 per curiam opinion in Sears v. Upton, a capital habeas case in which five justices voted to grant the petition of ceriorari, summarily vacate the decision below, and remand for further proceedings. According to the brief per curiam opinion, after determining that Sears […]
Early Reactions to the Kagan Hearings
I’ve contributed some initial reactions to the Washington Post‘s online “Topic A” feature on the Kagan nomination hearings. The general thrust of my remarks is that the Kagan hearings, thus far, are much like what we’ve come to expect in that she’s dutifully avoided revealing much about her personal legal views, despite her 1995 essay […]
Only One “Qualified Justice” for a Case
Today’s order list had this interesting item: 09-1318 — HENDERSON, GLENN C. V. SONY PICTURES, ET AL. Because the Court lacks a quorum, 28 U. S. C. §1, and since the only qualified Justice is of the opinion that the case cannot be heard and determined at the next Term of Court, the judgment is […]
Live-Blogging the Kagan Hearings
Various folks have been, and will be, live-blogging the Kagan confirmation hearings. Among those who live-blogged today’s opening statements are SCOTUSBlog, NRO, and TPM.
Sen. Franken’s Bad Environmental History
Senator Franken used his opening statement at the Senate Judiciary Committee’s confirmation hearing for Elena Kagan to argue that the current Supreme Court is an activist, pro-business court. I’ve addressed such allegations before (see, e.g., here, here, and here), and won’t do so here. What I found interesting was his attempt to argue that if […]
Thoughts on Free Enterprise Fund v. PCAOB
In Free Enterprise Fund v. PCAOB, a five-justice majority found a provision of the Sarbanes-Oxley law unconstitutional, yet left the SarbOx regulatory structure largely intact. With almost surgical precision, the Court erased the limitations on removal of members of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), thereby granting petitioners a victory on their constitutional claim […]
Today’s Opinions
The crush of patent lawyers seeking to learn the outcome in Bilski appears to have overwhelmed SCOTUSBlog‘s servers — at least for those who weren’t among the first 6,000 or so to load the post with the CoverItLive plug-in. For the rest of us, here’s what I can tell you: The Supreme Court holds in […]