Quote of the Day
“Bush v. Gore: Great Supreme Court decision or the greatest Supreme Court decision?”
–Stephen Colbert, interviewing Justice Stevens. (Boy, Justice Stevens is a good sport!)
Monthly Archives: January 2012
More CU Anniversary Posts and Views
James Kwak, Kent Greenfield [more to come]
Celebrating and Cursing the Second Anniverary of Citizens United
Eric Brown rounds up much of the commentary. In addition, Peter Overby reports for NPR; Fred Wertheimer laments; Mark Schmitt strategizes; the Sunlight Foundation makes a movie; Liz Kennedy blogs; Demos releases a top ten list… Continue reading
“A New View One-Person, One-Vote?”
Lyle: “In its second ruling Friday on courts’ power to draw new election districts, the Supreme Court in a West Virginia case raised doubts about the authority of federal District Courts to require states to achieve absolute equality of… Continue reading
“Appeals court upholds Washington state’s open primary system”
The LA Times offers this report, with the subhead: “The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals panel’s decision may signal affirmation for California’s open primary system, in which the top two vote-getters advance to the general election regardless of… Continue reading
First Texas Decision Story Roundup
MORE SCOTUS Breaking News: West Virginia Maps on Hold
SCOTUSBlog: “Two hours after issuing its ruling on Texas’ redistricting dispute, the Supreme Court put on hold a lower court’s decision striking down the West Virginia legislature’s new plan for electing that state’s three members of the House of… Continue reading
Splitting Hairs and Ducking Issues: The Supreme Court’s Texas Case, Likelihood of Success, and Reasonable Probability
When a court needs to give interim relief (such as issuing a preliminary injunction or granting a stay of a lower court order), it is acting where there is a risk of error. For this reason, the standards for determining… Continue reading
The Texas Redistricting Decision
Today’s Supreme Court decision in the Texas redistricting case is largely a win for the State of Texas, for reasons I explained in advance of the decision. But the Court forged a “compromise” solution that was not raised or discussed… Continue reading
Dept. of Understatement
“In addition, experience has shown the difficulty of defining neutral legal principles in this area, for redistricting ordinarily involves criteria and standards that have been weighed and evaluated by the elected branches in the exercise of their political judgment.”
—Supreme… Continue reading
Breaking News: Supreme Court Decides Texas Redistricting Case, Reverses Lower Court
In a unanimous per curiam opinion, the Supreme Court (with Justice Thomas concurring separately in the judgment) has reversed the maps drawn by the three judge court and remanded to draw new maps under new standards.
The Court’s plan… Continue reading
“The Semantics and Statistics of Santorum’s Win in Iowa”
Nate Silver writes for the New York Times.
Scheduled to Be on Madeline Brand Tomorrow Around 9 Am Pacific Talking Super PACs
Listen here.
“The Obillionaire candidate; The president may spend twice as much as he did in the 2008 general election”
Thomas Schaller has written this piece for Salon.