A NEW HOPE FOR MERRICK | A Legend With A Legacy | RBG’S Opera Debut
October 24, 2016
A NEW HOPE
|For CNN, Joan Biskupic explains what key factors could lead HILLARY CLINTON (if elected) to put JUDGE MERRICK GARLAND on the Supreme Court bench. She says, there’s hope yet.
NEW YEAR, NEW SCOTUS
|“The new Supreme Court calendar suggests that the remaining eight justices are altering their workload in case they have a new colleague on the bench in January.” In The Washington Post, Juliet Eilperin and Robert Barnes report on the prospect of there being a new Supreme Court justice come 2017.
LESS POWERFUL, MORE INFLUENTIAL
|A happy anniversary is owed to JUSTICE CLARENCE THOMAS who, as of this week, has just entered his second quarter-century on the Supreme Court. USA Today’s Richard Wolf writes that Thomas may end his career just as it started — in dissent. “Gone is his ideological soulmate, the late ANTONIN SCALIA. Ahead, pending next month’s election, may be the court’s first liberal majority in nearly 50 years. That could make Thomas — a happy legal warrior among friends and allies, yet to the public an enigmatic loner — less powerful but more influential for the remainder of his career. And quite a career it could turn out to be: Having joined the court at 43, he would be the longest-serving justice in history before turning 80.”
I'M A LEGEND WITH A LEGACY
|CNN’s Ariane de Vogue also takes a look at the life and times of JUSTICE CLARENCE THOMAS and his Supreme Court legacy that endures, because as his confidantes will tell you, he’s in it for the long haul.
THREE'S A CROWD
|Over at Constitution Daily, Lyle Denniston reports on the three cases that have been stymied by the SCOTUS vacancy and how the justices linger in scheduling limbo. “Three times in the Supreme Court’s current term, the Justices and their staffs have put together schedules for hearings, and three times they have intentionally chosen to bypass three of the cases waiting the longest to be argued.” Why? They aren’t willing to split the difference and take a gamble on a 4-4 outcome.
WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING
|“A war crimes case of a kind that the Supreme Court has not seen in a decade is due to reach the Justices on November 1, and may soon be followed by the second. One or both cases could pose significant challenges to the troubled system of war crimes courts run by the U.S. military at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.” Because we can’t get enough, here’s another piece from Lyle Denniston reporting on two war cases we can expect to reach the high court this Fall.
MIND THE GAP
|In The National Law Journal, Joan C. Williams and Marina Multhaup review a partners report that reveals women may not be getting fair credit for the business they bring in to their firms, and what the partner pay gap tells us about gender bias in the workplace.
ED BOARD OVERTURE
|“Although the death penalty is still considered constitutional by the Supreme Court, Americans’ appetite for this barbaric practice diminishes with each passing year. The signs of capital punishment’s impending demise are all around.” The Editorial Board of The New York Times addresses the death penalty as it slow dances in a burning room.
WELCOMING TO THE STAGE
|On November 12, JUSTICE RUTH BADER GINSBURG will make her official opera debut at the Washington National Opera where she will play the role of Duchess of Krakenthorp on opening night of “The Daughter of the Regiment.” She won’t be singing, though she does have spoken lines. Unfortunately for us, RBG plans to be a one hit wonder in this role, not returning for future performances.
OTHER NEWS
The candidates and the Constitution
Reuters“I thought of the Steinberg map when I heard presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton talk about the U.S. Supreme Court at Wednesday night’s debate. The discussion was dominated by just two issues, guns and abortion rights, as if the rest of the court’s business – now and in history – were no more than a blur in the distance. As depicted by the candidates, the U.S. Constitution exists mainly to protect the rights of gun owners and the Supreme Court’s primary task is to decide whether women ought to be allowed to terminate pregnancies.”
Executions Fall to Lowest Level in Decades in U.S.
The Wall Street Journal“The nation is on pace to execute the fewest inmates since 1991, as the death penalty’s prevalence continues to slide. State authorities executed 17 people since Jan. 1, a 32% drop from the 25 executions in the first 10 months of 2015, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.”
Why doesn't Clarence Thomas get his due? He's a black man who challenged liberal orthodoxy.
The Washington Post“He emerged dignified from an undignified Senate confirmation and went on to produce a body of jurisprudence that has been praised by constitutional scholars across the ideological spectrum. But because he’s a black man who challenges liberal orthodoxy, his legacy has often been minimized.”