The Judiciary

Fascinating story in this week’s National Journal raises the specter of Barack Obama cutting a deal with Hillary Clinton that would have him name her to the Supreme Court if he is elected president.

Frankly, that makes a lot more sense than selecting her as vice president, and it puts her out to pasture (politically speaking) for the duration. As a Supreme Court justice, she would be formidable. She would galvanize the left, and if she were on the court, it would be mighty difficult to overturn Roe v. Wade. Read more...

Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) speech today at Wake Forest in North Carolina represents a real attempt by the Republican presidential hopeful to outline a judicial philosophy that will appeal to the sometimes skeptical conservatives who make up an important part of the GOP base and to contrast his views with those of Obama and Clinton.

Those who haven’t read it should. It is a serious attempt to lay out the candidate’s thinking on a crucial issue, and while some are characterizing it as merely an attempt to “woo” the right, if he means what he says, it has to be taken as much more than that. It doesn’t answer every question or concern conservatives have raised about McCain on the issue of the role of the courts, how he would go about selecting nominees and his willingness to accept the fact that fair-minded judges who read and understand the Constitution might decide differently than he would — but it answers a lot of them. Read more...

“In whatever arena of life one may meet the challenge of courage, whatever may be the sacrifices he faces if he follows his conscience — the loss of his friends, his fortune, his contentment, even the esteem of his fellow men — each man must decide for himself the course he will follow.”
— John F. Kennedy

J. Dennis Hastert, the longest-serving Republican Speaker in the history of the House, followed his conscience when he rushed in to defend the House as an institution against an out-of-control Justice Department.

The man he was defending, Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.), was not of his party. Most people assumed he was guilty, because he was found with $90,000 of cold cash in the freezer of his house. Jefferson’s own party leadership, fearing political retribution, did little to defend him. Read more...

The new term has begun for a bitterly divided court in a dangerously divided nation, and the most visible event was a Supreme Court justice using the court's return as a book promotion to remind the world of his enemies, demons, biases and vendettas.

This is extraordinary and unprecedented.

Justice Clarence Thomas should now recuse himself from any cases involving any litigants who opposed his confirmation, because his attacks on them destroy any pretense of judicial impartiality. Read more...

Life has been good to Clarence Thomas.

After a rough start, he got into good Catholic schools. He graduated from Yale Law School, thanks to affirmative action. He got a good job with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. He’s now on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Yet Clarence Thomas is still a bitter, angry man. And he spews nothing but bile in his memoir, comparing opponents of his nomination back in 1991 to members of the Ku Klux Klan. In other words, he implies, they didn’t want him on the court because he was black. Read more...

An interesting ruling on abortion occurred in the high courts of Trenton, N.J., recently. There was a unanimous decision that a doctor has no duty to tell a woman considering an abortion that her embryo is an “existing human being.” What makes this ruling interesting is that it actually cuts both ways. As a Christian and someone who respects all life, it seemed at first like this story was aimed against people who believe that way, but the reason for the ruling is quite fascinating.  Read more...

There is an old joke about the brilliant psychiatrist who dies suddenly. When he gets to the Pearly Gates, he berates St. Peter.

"Why did you take me away so early?" he exclaims.

"Well, we have a problem with God," St. Peter responds. "He thinks he's a federal judge."  Read more...