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opinion
2 Judicial Strikes Against Efforts to Keep Trump Off Ballot
Two state courts, the Minnesota Supreme Court and the Michigan Court of Claims, have thrown out the attempts by anti-democratic groups to disqualify former President Donald Trump from the ballot under the 14th Amendment, at least with respect to the presidential primary election. The attempt to take away the ability of voters to make their… -
opinion
Time for Scrutiny of DEI Policies of Administrative Office of US Courts, Judicial Conference
Federal courts have their own administrative state, and that’s a problem. Like many of its executive branch counterparts, the Administrative Office of U.S. Courts came into existence during President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal push to establish supposedly expert administrators. Established in 1939 after FDR’s failed court-packing plan, the “AO” (as it has come to… -
opinion
Harvard Law Professor Forgets Why Judicial Review Exists
G.K. Chesterton, that extraordinary author and philosopher, once told a story about a fence blocking a road. Two people approach it, and the first says, “I don’t see the use of this; let us clear it away.” The second person, however, is smarter and says, “If you don’t see the use of it, I won’t… -
news
18 State AGs Raise Alarm About ‘Dishonest and Divisive Track Record’ of Biden Judicial Nominee
The top law enforcement officials in 18 states sent U.S. Senate leaders a letter opposing the confirmation of Nancy Abudu, a Southern Poverty Law Center attorney whom President Joe Biden nominated to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. "I believe in an independent judiciary," Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador, a Republican and one of… -
opinion
Senate Democrats’ Fickle Love-Hate Relationship With ‘Blue Slips’ on Judicial Nominees
With the 118th Congress underway, the Senate’s process of evaluating President Joe Biden’s judicial nominations has resumed. This means that, joining death and taxes on the certainty list, is pressure for the majority to rig the process by abandoning the “blue slip” process that gives deference to senators in whose state a judicial nominee would… -
opinion
Look Who’s Talking, Justice Kagan
Supreme Court justices return to work next month following a tumultuous last session in which the majority issued some controversial rulings, most notably the overturning of Roe v. Wade.Liberals in general, and Justice Elena Kagan in particular, are upset by the decisions of the conservative majority. Kagan recently spoke at Northwestern University School of Law… -
news
Sen. Josh Hawley Grills Biden Judicial Nominee Over Her Work for Southern Poverty Law Center
Sen. Josh Hawley grilled President Joe Biden’s judicial nominee for the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for her involvement with the Southern Poverty Law Center during her nomination hearing Wednesday. “I have to tell you, I find your answers absolutely extraordinary,” Hawley, R-Mo., said to Nancy Abudu at the hearing. “Absolutely extraordinary. I can’t… -
opinion
What the Confirmation Hearing Told Us About Judge Jackson’s Judicial Philosophy
“I do not have a judicial philosophy, per se,” Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson told the Senate Judiciary Committee last year. This week, the committee held its hearing on her nomination to replace Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, and identifying her judicial philosophy and measuring it against how America’s Founders designed the judiciary is necessary for… -
opinion
A Look at Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Most Noteworthy Judicial Decisions
On March 21, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Supreme Court confirmation hearing will begin. Senators will be scrutinizing her past judicial opinions on critical issues from labor law to illegal immigration to presidential claims of executive privilege. This brief overview of several of those key opinions provides some insight into her general approach to resolving legal… -
opinion
What Senators Must Ask Supreme Court Nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson About Her Record, Judicial Philosophy
President Joe Biden has nominated U.S. Circuit Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer. Who is Jackson? What is her judicial philosophy? And how should senators evaluate her nomination? Here’s what you need to know. Jackson’s rulings and previous comments offer clues as to why Biden nominated her to… -
news
Judicial Philosophies Not Same as Political Parties, Justice Barrett Argues
Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett, saying she worries that the court increasingly is being portrayed to the public as a partisan institution, emphasized that justices must be “hyper-vigilant” that they don't let personal biases affect their work. “My goal today is to convince you that this court is not comprised of a bunch of… -
opinion
Remembering and Appreciating Donald Kagan, Yale Professor, Scholar, and Mentor
Donald Kagan, who taught history and classics at Yale University, and was widely revered as one of the university’s finest teachers and the nation’s greatest scholars, died on Aug. 6. Kagan was the author of many books, and had a wide influence on the understanding of history and hence on the making of U.S. foreign… -
opinion
How ‘Court Packing’ Would Damage Both the Judicial and Legislative Branches
The concept of “court packing” has received a lot of attention recently, and rightly so. That radical move—which Democrats rejected in the 1930s—would permanently damage the independence and impartiality of the judiciary. But it’s even worse than that. The steps necessary to achieve that goal would also permanently weaken the legislative branch. America’s Founders applied… -
opinion
Injunction Against Postal Reforms Is Biased Judicial Overreach
U.S. District Court Judge Stanley Bastian last week issued a nationwide injunction preventing the U.S. Postal Service from implementing reforms to its inefficient and wasteful procedures, which will affect postal operations across the country. The Sept. 17 ruling is the latest in a string of factually challenged attacks on Postmaster General Louis DeJoy. Bastian (who… -
opinion
Judicial Council Rightly Rebukes Judge Lynn Adelman for Law Review Diatribe
Federal district court Judge Lynn Adelman had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day late last month when the Judicial Council of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided to publicly admonish him for his intemperate 35-page article, “The Roberts Court’s Assault on Democracy,” which personally attacked Chief Justice John Roberts, President Donald… -
opinion
Costa Rica Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage Via Judicial Activism
Headlines like a recent one in the New York Post said, “Costa Rica latest country to legalize same-sex marriage.” But it wasn’t really Costa Ricans who made it happen. Instead, Costa Rica became—like the United States five years ago—the victim of a multilayer attack of judicial activism. In an interview with the Family Research Council, Jose L…. -
opinion
Liberals Try to Use COVID-19 Crisis to Halt Judicial Confirmations
The Senate got back to business Monday and, while the coronavirus is still the 800-pound gorilla, senators will also attend to other aspects of the nation’s business. That includes the federal judiciary. Vacancies on life-tenured federal courts around the country are on the rise again, reversing a yearlong downward trend. >>> When can America reopen?… -
news
Kamala Harris, Advocacy Groups Push to Suspend Judicial Confirmations During Impeachment Trial
Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., and a coalition of left-wing advocacy groups are pressing Senate Republicans to suspend consideration of judicial nominations during President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial. Harris, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said it would be “wholly inappropriate” to confirm judges while the Senate considers whether Trump should be removed from office. “The president… -
news
Trump Judicial Adviser Teams Up With Conservative PR Executive in New Initiative
One of the leading voices behind President Donald Trump’s drive to appoint originalist judges to the federal courts is teaming up with an influential public relations executive in the Washington area to launch a new project. Leonard Leo is leaving his post running the Federalist Society, a network of conservatives lawyers, and is partnering with… -
news
Trump Judicial Nominee Is Moved to Tears After a Liberal Interest Group Accuses Him of Bigotry
Lawrence VanDyke, one of President Donald Trump’s nominees for the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, was overcome with emotion before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday as he defended himself against charges that he would treat LGBT litigants unfairly. The American Bar Association issued a scathing review of VanDyke’s nomination on the eve of…
