The Supreme Court Gets Political in Arizona v. United States

When the Supreme Court heard oral argument in the healthcare cases last month, the overtly political tone of several justices’ questioning caused widespread consternation about whether the Court would be deciding the case based on the law or based on their own ideological preferences and policy judgments.This week, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in the federal government’s challenge to Arizona’s draconian immigration law. Court observers were surprised by certain justices’ willingness once again to lay bare their partisan beliefs, which, of course, should be quite irrelevant to the outcome...

Read more »

This Week in Judicial Selection

var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-2327420-4']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); Following on the confirmation of Brian Wimes to the Eastern and Western District Court of...

Read more »

One Year Later: The Consequences of AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion

Douglas Bellows was illegally harassed by a debt collector, but he will never have his day in court. Lourdes Cruz was charged fees for unwanted services by AT&T, but she will never have her day in court. Mack Green was cheated out of wages and benefits by his employer, but he will never have his day in court. Nor will the numerous other individuals with legitimate claims that Bellows, Cruz, and Green each sought to represent. All thanks to the Supreme Court’s decision AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion, which was issued one year ago today. On April 27, 2011, the Court’s decision brought one...

Read more »

Wimes Confirmed to the District Court

Monday, by a 92-1 vote, the Senate confirmed Judge Brian Wimes to the United States District Court for the Eastern and Western Districts of Missouri. Wimes, a state circuit court judge for the 16th Judicial Circuit Court of Jackson, Missouri, is a graduate of the University of Kansas and of the Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University.  His background includes service as Drug Court Commissioner for the 16th Judicial Circuit, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney for the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office, and Attorney Advisor in the Litigation Branch for the Federal Bureau...

Read more »

Equal Pay Day

- by Corbin McVeighApril 17 marked Equal Pay Day, when women and men across America joined to demand their representatives in Congress bring an end to the practice of paying unequal and unfair wages.The day of action began with a briefing in the U.S. Senate from organizations that constitute the Fair Pay Coalition. Some of the groups present for the briefing include the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, the American Association of University Women, the National Women’s Law Center, and the American Civil Liberties Union. The panelists spoke about the history and effects of unfair pay that...

Read more »

A Question of Integrity Screening at Catholic University

Tuesday, Alliance for Justice screened “A Question of Integrity: Politics, Ethics and the Supreme Court” at Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of Law in Washington, D.C.  The screening hosted by the law school’s America Constitution Society chapter was enthusiastically received by over 70 law students eager to know more about the Code Conduct for U.S. Judges and why the Court is not required to follow it, as well as the Ethics in Government Act and the current process for recusal.AFJ’s Dorot Fellow Ashley Smith led the discussion period fielding thoughtful, challenging questions...

Read more »

The Myth of the Thurmond Rule

In recent presidential election years, senators from the political party that does not hold the presidency have threatened to slow or halt the pace of non-consensus judicial confirmations. Over time, this practice has come to be known as the “Thurmond Rule,” named after Senator Strom Thurmond, who opposed President Johnson’s nomination of Abe Fortas to be Chief Justice of the Supreme Court during the summer of 1968.The Thurmond Rule is not a formal Senate procedure or a bipartisan agreement, nor has its meaning or parameters been clearly articulated. In fact, as shown below, over the last 30...

Read more »

What’s at Stake in Arizona v. United States

Guest post by Professor Angela BanksArizona’s SB 1070 jeopardizes the existence of nationally uniform immigration laws and policies.  The Supreme Court has the opportunity to prevent the balkanization of immigration law and policy in the United States by holding that federal law preempts SB 1070.The Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution states that the Constitution and federal law made pursuant to the Constitution are the supreme law of the land.  If there is a conflict between federal law and state law, the federal law controls because it is supreme and the state law is...

Read more »

Two Years After Spill, Troubles Remain for Gulf Coast Residents

Two years ago today, an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig killed eleven people and resulted the release of massive amounts of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico. In the months that followed, 1.84 million gallons of chemical dispersants were also pumped into Gulf waters as part of the cleanup effort.At the time, many people raised significant concerns about the short and long-term environmental impact of the oil and chemicals flooding the ecosystem, and of the damage that could occur both to the livelihoods of Gulf residents and to the health and well-being of clean-up workers. Others...

Read more »

Five Judicial Nominees Reported Out of Committee

This morning the Senate Judiciary Committee reported five judicial nominees to the Senate floor:William Kayatta, Jr., nominated to the First Circuit Court of AppealsJohn Fowlkes, Jr., nominated to the Western District of TennesseeKevin McNulty, nominated to the District of New JerseyMichael Shipp, nominated to the District of New JerseyStephanie Rose, nominated to the Southern District of IowaThe nominees were reported on a voice vote; Ranking Member Chuck Grassley (R-IA) stated that Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL), who did not attend the meeting, wished to go on record with a vote of “no” against...

Read more »

Supreme Court Rejects Organizational Liability for Torture

Today the Supreme Court issued its decision (.pdf download) in Mohamad v. Palestinian Authority, holding that the Torture Victim Protection Act of 1991 (“TVPA”) provides for liability only of natural persons, not organizations or corporations.In this case, the family of a U.S. citizen, who was tortured and killed by intelligence officers of the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization, sued under the 1991 Torture Victim Protection Act (“TVPA”). The TVPA provides a cause of action against “[a]n individual” for torture or extrajudicial killing committed under authority or...

Read more »

Thacker Confirmed to Fourth Circuit

Yesterday the Senate confirmed Stephanie Dawn Thacker by an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 91-3 to a seat on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. The only "no" votes came from Republican Senators Mike Lee, Jim DeMint, and David Vitter, who have made it their habit to vote against all of President Obama's nominees, regardless of merit or circumstance.Thacker is the first woman from West Virginia to sit on the Fourth Circuit, the federal appellate bench that covers Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina in addition to West Virginia; her confirmation will create a bench where four...

Read more »

Fourth Circuit Nominee to Receive Vote on Monday

A confirmation vote on Stephanie Thacker, nominee to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, is scheduled to take place on Monday, April 16 when the Senate returns from recess. Ms. Thacker, a West Virginia native, is a partner at Guthrie & Thomas PLLC in Charleston, where she specializes in complex litigation, environmental and toxic tort litigation, and criminal defense. A graduate of Marshall University and West Virginia University College of Law, her legal background includes time in both public and private practice. She has been at Guthrie & Thomas since 2006, and has four additional...

Read more »

Inviting Delays So Corporations Can Weigh In

It seems as though bills stripping away protections for everyday Americans are all the rage on Capitol Hill these days. After pushing ahead with a measure to keep the government from enforcing health and safety regulations on businesses, House Republicans are moving forward with a more subtle – but potentially more dangerous – assault on Americans’ Constitutional rights.The House Judiciary Committee recently reported out HR 3862, known as the Sunshine for Regulatory Decrees and Settlements Act.  Sponsored by Rep. Ben Quayle (R-AZ), HR 3862 purports to shine some sun on the “bevy” of settlement...

Read more »

Supreme Court Hears Overtime Pay Case

On Monday, April 16, the Supreme Court will hear argument in the case of Christopher v. SmithKline Beecham Corp. At stake in this case is the ability of employees to get time-and-a-half pay for overtime work, as guaranteed under federal law.This case arose from a dispute between Michael Shane Christopher and his employer, SmithKline Beecham, a drug company. As a “pharmaceutical representative,” Christopher’s work consisted mainly of visiting doctors’ offices and encouraging doctors to prescribe appropriate SmithKline drugs to patients. He sometimes worked more than 40 hours per week, but did...

Read more »

Next Week: More (Slow) Movement on Judicial Nominations

When the Senate returns from recess on April 16, one of its first scheduled votes will be on the nomination of Stephanie Thacker to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. The vote on Thacker is part of the March 14 agreement reached by Senators Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell to allow the Senate vote on the confirmations of 14 judicial nominees by May 7. Thacker will mark the eighth vote of this agreement, and will be only the second circuit court nominee to receive a vote in the Senate this year. On April 19, the Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to consider five judicial nominees at...

Read more »

Nan Aron on MSNBC's Up with Chris Hayes

var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-2327420-4']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); AFJ President Nan Aron appeared this morning on MSNBC's "Up with Chris Hayes" to discuss...

Read more »

25 Years After Bork

On Wednesday, AFJ President Nan Aron joined a panel hosted by American University Washington College of Law on the topic “The Judicial Confirmation Process 25 Years After Bork."  She, along with former U.S. Senator Arlen Specter; Charles Cooper, a former director in President Reagan’s Office of Legal Counsel; Michael Gerhardt, Professor of Constitutional Law at University of North Carolina School of Law; and David Savage of the Los Angeles Times shared perspectives on the impact of the Robert Bork Supreme Court confirmation hearings in 1987. Responding to charges from Cooper that the Bork...

Read more »

Supreme Court Okays Strip Search of Arrestees without Reasonable Suspicion

On Monday, the Supreme Court issued a 5-4 decision (.pdf download) in Florence v. Board of Chosen Freeholders of County of Burlington, holding that corrections officials can strip search an individual who has been arrested before admitting him or her to a jail’s general population, regardless of how minor the charge and whether or not the officials reasonably believe that the arrestee is concealing contraband.While riding in his car with his wife and young son, Albert Florence was stopped by a state trooper in Burlington County, New Jersey.  The trooper erroneously arrested Florence on a...

Read more »