There is something utterly hilarious about an 88-year old Supreme Court Justice making the argument that "the F-word, in some formulations, can be very funny." Four years ago, the FCC decided to start cracking down on offensive language on broadcast television. Broadcasters sued to prevent them doing so, and the Supreme Court heard oral arguments ( Read more... )

Via Quizlaw, Dahlia Lithwick reviews yesterday's oral arguments in the lethal injection case. Needless to say, Justice Scalia was unimpressed with the argument that no one should feel pain while being executed (see above). The other major problem with this case is that it hinges on the drugs being administered improperly:
[T]he first drug in the ( Read more... )

The worst part is, I knew what he was referring to before reading Eugene's post. *sigh* It always vaguely surprises me when I encounter a reference to the Watergate, and they're actually just talking about the hotel.

Anyhoo, the Herald is alleging that in addition to the "obscene" gesture (which was not obscene, and is just a gesture of derisivie ( Read more... )

From what I've heard on NPR, and the little I've read online about the hearings, Alito is holding up very well. I was very impressed yesterday with how he fielded the abortion questions:
Senator: Judge Alito, you wrote in 1985 that pro-choice people eat babies. How would you rule on an abortion opinion today ( Read more... )

Via How Appealing, the AP just reported that a basketball sized chunk of marble fell off the façade of the Supreme Court building at 9:30 this morning. No one was squished, but it sounds like it was something of a near-miss.

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With not quite two days left in the auction, the Justice Scalia Bobblehead doll is currently up to $500. There is also a Chief Justice Rehnquist doll currently going for a mere $305. Granted, there are almost five days left on the latter auction, so I'm sure it will fetch more by the end of the week.

Why, a Bobblehead Doll of its biggest rockstar, of course!

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There's been speculation that it might be Third Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Alito, now it looks certain.

Over at SCOTUSblog, there is a Visual Guide for the Terms Leading Cases. It appears that the dissenters are greyed out, the majority are full-color, and the author of the majority opinion is outlined in red.

Justice Sandra Day O'Connor has just announced her retirement. She will be leaving the Court before the start of next October term.