by Gary | Feb 14, 2017 |
I can safely predict that you will be more than sick and tired of originalism / textualism / strict constructionism / original intent / original meaning and judicial activism by the time that Trump’s first Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch, has been dispatched – or not – as the newest member of the Court for Life. Don’t worry, I’m not going to try to persuade you one way or the other with respect to Mr. Gorsuch. And it may come as some surprise to those of you who have rightly identified me as a left leaning, progressive Democrat of the rascal, yeller dog variety, that I believe the prez should be given quite a wide latitude...
by Gary | Jan 4, 2014 |
The words in the title of this post, absent the (un) are inscribed above the main entrance to the Supreme Court building in our nation’s capital. It is a noble sentiment to say the least, and some would say it is the corner stone of our system of jurisprudence, not to mention, our democracy. But it’s not exactly a new idea. The earliest evidence I’ve found appears in Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian Wars wherein in he cites Pericles’ Funeral Oration in 431 BCE; which really wasn’t a funeral oration but a paen to the glory of Athens. Sidebar: I can never see the word Peloponnesian without thinking of the football...
by Gary | Jul 25, 2013 |
As promised, I propose in this posting to bring light to one of the many mysteries of the Court. But first the preliminaries. I am sure that, you know the history and jurisdictional authority of the Supreme Court, so I will only add a thought or two to refresh your memory. Article III, Section 1 says in part, “the judicial power of the United States, shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish….”. It goes on for the next couple of sections to talk about jurisdictional matters. You know the stuff, suits between the states, suits between the states and the...
by Gary | Jul 25, 2013 |
Of course you know that SCOTUS is the operative acronym for the Supreme Court of the United States as POTUS is…well you get the drift. In the last few days of the Court’s term the media and a small, elite group of supreme court watchers are ever on point on whether and how SCOTUS will rule on the cases of the day. Most of us have little idea of the actual substance of the cases and have even less understanding of the often arcane logic that is exercised in reaching their decisions. Count me as one of the non-elite, small group of Supreme Court watchers. I’ve long been fascinated by what they say and why they say it. I’m not without...
by admin | Apr 7, 2012 |
Perhaps I would be safer writing about those other Supremes. You know, the Diana Ross ones, but I’ve never been one to shirk my duty. One might think it presumptuous for me to opine about the holy of holies, the highest court in the land, but I’m no stranger to the Court, the Constitution, or its rulings thereupon. Unlike most of the great unwashed in our land, I’ve actually studied the relationship between our Constitution and the law as interpreted by the Court. For I, you see, took Constitutional Law 101.It was in the spring of 1963 to be exact. Dr. S. was the professor whose job it was to introduce a group of twenty or so mostly reluctant students to...
