Supreme Court

Sotomayor's Problem isn't being Too Latina; It's Having Hung with White Suits Too Long

By Dave Lindorff

I don’t know at this point whether Judge Sonia Sotomayor is a good choice for Supreme Court Justice or a bad one.

She certainly is a lousy judge for writers and other creative
people, having ruled (and been overruled by an appellate court and
then, when that reversal was upheld, by the US Supreme Court in a case
called New York Times Inc. v. Tasini) that the Times and periodical
publishers could reprint, without any additional compensation, any
freelance works they contracted on the basis that they had a general
copyright on each entire issue they publish.

Obama Must Appoint a Progressive to Replace David Souter

Justice David Souter's retirement gives President Obama the opportunity to replace him with a true progressive - the mirror opposite of Scalia, Thomas, Roberts, and Alito.

Sure rightwingers will scream, Republicans will threaten a filibuster, Democratic Corporatists like Ben Nelson will threaten to join them, and The Washington Pundits will insist they are Absolutely Right. But who cares? We elected President Obama, not them. And the majority of Americans support our populist agenda, not their corporatist one.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg is the only progressive now on the Court. As progressives, we must not settle for more Corporatists like Stephen Breyer.

Palin: The Real `American Taliban'

By Dave Lindorff

Back in the early days of the seemingly interminable Afghan
conflict, a young American, trapped in Afghanistan by the US invasion
of that country, was captured along with Taliban fighters and, after a
bit of captivity and “enhanced interrogation” at the tender mercies of
US troops, was transported back for trial in the US, where then
Attorney General John Ashcroft excitedly labeled him the “American
Taliban.”

But John Walker Lindh, railroaded into a 20-year jail sentence and
slapped with a gag order that bars him from talking about how he was
tortured for the entire length of his incarceration in Afghanistan, is
not the real American Taliban. That title surely belongs to our new
Republican vice presidential candidate, Sarah Palin.

Invasion of the Pumpheads!

By Dave Lindorff

Is America at the mercy of an invasion of the pumpheads?

The bizarre behavior of Bill Clinton during this campaign season, which has seen this once smooth-talking and politically uber-sophisticated campaigner repeatedly stick a foot in his mouth and undermine his wife’s struggling campaign, raises the issue of whether he is suffering from postperfusion syndrome—a now recognized cognitive impairment common in patients who have undergone heart bypass surgery.

More Tears For Clarence Thomas

An editorial by Daniel Henninger that appeared in the Wall Street Journal November 8, A Medal For Miss Lee, continues the interminable harangue that U.S. Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas was a victim of a high tech lynching over 16 years ago at his confirmation hearings. http://www.opinionjournal.com/forms/printThis.html?id=110010836

Henninger asks his readers to consider this question regarding Atticus Finch, the fictional attorney in Harper Lee's classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird: "What would Atticus Finch make of the "high-tech lynching" of Clarence Thomas?"

Bush RATS Court Launches Blistering Attacks Against U.S. Constitution Rights

The groundwork was set for the inevitable and predictable anti-U.S. Constitution decisions the minute Samuel Alito procured his lifetime appointment on the U.S. Supreme Court on January 31, 2006. G. W. Bush stated, "Sam Alito is a brilliant and fair-minded judge who strictly interprets the Constitution and laws and does not legislate from the bench. He is a man of deep character and integrity, and he will make all Americans proud as a justice on our highest court."

Replacement for Sen. Thomas does not have to be Republican

Is Governor Freudenthal (D-WY) actually required to pick a Republican to replace Sen. Craig Thomas (R-WY)?

State law says so, but it may violate the U.S. Constitution. So says University of California law professor Vikram Amar writing for findlaw.com. Professor Amar is also a former clerk to Justice Harry Blackmun.

See the arguments, vote in a poll, and participate in the discussion at
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/6/6/71141/06254

You will also find a sample letter there to send to Governor Freudenthal to ask him to consider all of his options.

If The Millstone (GONZALES) Were Around The Other Neck

TELL CONGRESS TO REMOVE GONZALES BY CONSTITUTIONAL FORCE IF NECESSARY

ACTION PAGE: http://www.millionphonemarch.com/impeach_gonzales.php

You can call toll free at 800-828-0498, 800-459-1887 or 800-614-2803 and ask for your own House member and Senators.

For an administration in which utter smirking defiance of law and the will of the American people is the only operational mode, IMPEACHMENT is the only remedy.

How bad can it possibly get before Congress will act? In explosive testimony this week before the Senate, the former number two official in the Justice apartment, James B. Comey, testified that Alberto Gonzales tried to bully a deathly sick John D. Ashcroft into signing off on a secret and massive domestic wiretap scheme which had already been determined to be profoundly illegal. Even the Washington Post was compelled to editorialize on Wednesday as follows:

Bush Court to Women: Drop Dead

NOW's outstanding President Kim Gandy speaks for me:

Today the Supreme Court upheld this nation's first abortion procedure ban—a ban enacted by George W. Bush and conservatives in Congress. Five justices, including Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Samuel Alito—both installed by Bush and a Republican-majority Senate—ruled that the law does not violate a woman's constitutional right to abortion.

Not since Bush v. Gore has the Supreme Court made such a political decision, or one that so completely distorts the law and disregards the U.S. Constitution.

Supreme Court to EPA: Regulate Green House Gases

In a ground-breaking 5-4 decision the Supreme Court ruled today that the Environmental Protection Agency has the power to regulate the polluting emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from vehicles. The decision moves Bush administration further along the path from its former position of complete and aggressive denial of global warming to tepid acknowledgment, now forcing the Bush administration to recognize and regulate carbon dioxide as a pollutant under the Clean Air Act. The court's decision underscores the reality of human activities contributing to global warming.

The Bush Administration had argued that the EPA had no authority to regulate motor vehicle admissions under the Clean Air Act. The Supreme Court’s decision also throws into question the Bush Administration’s rejection of the Kyoto Protocol, further embarrassing the Bush Administration in the world community.