Supreme Court

‘I Tawt I Taw… A Judicial Conservative!’

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tweety bird Ruth Bader Ginsburg Justice Ginsburg Above the Law blog.jpgWe’ve been learning all sorts of things about Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg lately. Like her history as a high school cheerleader (which is, by the way, a perilous pursuit).
And now we learn her secret nickname at One First Street. From the Washington Examiner:

Anyone who has seen Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg knows that, although she’s big on law, she’s short on physical stature. Some of the employees who work around her in the Supreme Court Building find her diminutive size rather endearing and have taken to calling her Little Tweety Bird, a moniker they use only within their small circle.

But, lest you think that Ginsburg might rule such a nickname as “out of order,” that same circle insists that it’s a kind nickname, and one meant to reflect the notion that they feel very protective of Ginsburg.

Does that make Justice Scalia into Sylvester the Cat? Probably not. Justices Scalia and Ginsburg are close personal friends. They share a love of opera, and their families sometimes spend New Year’s Eve together.
We nominate Justice Thomas for the role of Sylvester the Cat. In the 1947 cartoon Tweetie Pie, the Sylvester the Cat character went by the name “Thomas.” MEOW!
A nickname for Ginsburg [Washington Examiner / Yeas and Nays]

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Morning Docket: 04.03.07

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* Supreme Court says EPA can regulate greenhouse gases. [U.S. Supreme Court (PDF)]
* Fourth Circuit’s reading of PSD regulations did not comport with Clean Air Act’s limits on judicial review of EPA regulations for validity, so Duke Energy’s summary judgment gets reversed. [U.S. Supreme Court (PDF)]
* More interminable Anna Nicole legal news: Howard K. Stern drops his appeal of using DNA to determine paternity, and some kind of a hearing will be held tomorrow. Apparently Bahamian court rules prevent us from knowing the nature of the hearing. [CNN]
* Bong hits 4 glaucoma in New Mexico. [Jurist]
* DNA evidence to the rescue once again. [CNN]

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An Inconvenient Ruling: Supreme Court Benchslaps the EPA

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Supreme Court Above the Law Legal Gossip Blog.JPGA summary of this morning’s Supreme Court decision in Massachusetts v. EPA, from SCOTUSblog:

Ruling 5-4, the Supreme Court on Monday found that the federal government had the authority to regulate greenhouse gases that may contribute to global warming, and must examine anew the scientific evidence of a link between those gases contained in the exhausts of new cars and trucks and climate change. In the most important environmental ruling in years, the Court rebuffed the Environmental Protection Agency’s claim that regulating those gases was beyond its authority, and the agency’s claim that it need not take action even if it did have the power to do so. Justice John Paul Stevens wrote for the majority.

The benchslap came when the Court ordered the EPA to reevaluate its decision not to regulate carbon dioxide emissions. From the Associated Press:

The court had three questions before it.

– Do states have the right to sue the EPA to challenge its decision?

– Does the Clean Air Act give EPA the authority to regulate tailpipe emissions of greenhouse gases?

– Does EPA have the discretion not to regulate those emissions?

The court said yes to the first two questions. On the third, it ordered EPA to re-evaluate its contention it has the discretion not to regulate tailpipe emissions. The court said the agency has so far provided a “laundry list” of reasons that include foreign policy considerations.

The majority said the agency must tie its rationale more closely to the Clean Air Act.

“EPA has offered no reasoned explanation for its refusal to decide whether greenhouse gases cause or contribute to climate change,” Stevens said.

EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson was also ordered to write “I will not make fun of Al Gore” three hundred times on a blackboard.
Justices: EPA Can Control Car Emissions [AP via Washington Post]
EPA must consider global warming again [SCOTUSblog]
Massachusetts v. EPA (opinion; PDF) [SCOTUSblog]

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Morning Docket: 03.30.07

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* SCOTUS considers whether to open new Gitmo appeals. [New York Times]
* Meanwhile, Secretary of Defense Gates calls for Gitmo closure. [CNN]
* Spears and Federline have reached a divorce settlement, so no crazy litigation for now. [MSNBC]
* Sorority that allegedly kicked out unattractive members sues University for totally being not cool about it. [AP via Dispatch]
Have a good weekend, and Go Buckeyes!

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Arthur Miller Deals Justice Scalia a Reverse Bench-Slap

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Arthur Miller Professor Arthur R Miller Above the Law blog.jpgOh no he didn’t… Oh yes he did! Check out this account of yesterday’s Supreme Court argument, by the AP:

Longtime Harvard law professor Arthur Miller (at right)… was arguing on behalf of shareholders who want to sue companies for fraud. Miller is a frequent television commentator, prolific writer and possibly the inspiration for an abrasive professor in a popular account of life at Harvard.

Justice Antonin Scalia and Miller were contemporaries at Harvard Law School in the late 1950s. Miller graduated in 1958, two years ahead of Scalia.

Scalia clearly was on the side of the companies, chiming in from time to time to make Miller’s difficult task a bit harder.

After one remark, Miller let loose: “Is that because you never met a plaintiff you really liked?”

OUCH. And it must have been ten times better in person:

There was laughter and an “ooh” from spectators. Justices Stephen Breyer and Clarence Thomas laughed for several seconds, even after arguments resumed.

Miller, perhaps sensing he crossed a line, quickly added, “I took a liberty there with the justice.”

You sure did, Professor Miller — but it could have been worse. E.g.: “Yo mama is so stupid, she relies on legislative history!”
Scalia and Harvard Law Professor Trade Barbs in Court [AP via Law.com]

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Justice Breyer: Brilliant at Con Law; Rock Star Hagiography, Not So Much

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Stephen Breyer 4 Stephen G Breyer Above the Law Legal Tabloid Legal Blog.JPGJustice Stephen Breyer recently appeared on NPR’s popular trivia show, Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me. Alas, his performance on the trivia portion of the show — which focused on biographical details about rock stars — was less than illustrious. This led one of the hosts to scold Justice Breyer as follows: “Back to the appeals court for you!”
But the parts of the show in which SGB was interviewed were interesting and sometimes amusing. For example, we didn’t know this:

Answering panelist Paula Poundstone, Breyer revealed his robe never gathers lint. “It’s a synthetic,” he explained, purchased 25 years ago when he was a federal appeals judge in Boston.

Some good riffing from the hosts around this revelation. Mo Rocca asked Justice Breyer, “Why not have Justice Alito just pick the lint off for you?” And also: “Do you ever wear the robe to the supermarket, just to wow people?”
Finally, this was a good quip (although one we think we’ve heard before):

Being the funniest Supreme Court justice, [Breyer] said, “is like being one of the shortest tall people.”

We must quibble, however, with the premise of the question. Justice Breyer drew the most laughs of the nine justices over a fairly short period of time, as noted on the show. But over a longer period of time, which we view as a more reliable indicator, Justice Breyer was only the second-funniest justice on the Court — lagging behind Nino, by far.
Not My Job: Justice Stephen Breyer [NPR / Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me]
Justice Breyer Gets the Rock-Star Treatment [Washington Wire via WSJ Law Blog]
Justice Breyer Goes 0-3 on NPR News Quiz [Associated Press]
So, Guy Walks Up to the Bar, and Scalia Says… [New York Times]

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October Term 2007 Clerk Hiring: Filling in the Blanks

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Supreme Court hallway Above the Law Above the Law Above the Law.JPGOur recent post about Supreme Court clerk hiring for October 2007 generated a wealth of tips — just as we hoped it would. You drew our attention to a number of future clerks whose hirings were not reflected in our last listing.
Like Leslie Kendrick, a former Rhodes scholar and current Wilkinson clerk. We like the story of how Justice Souter offered her a job:

Kendrick was working at her desk on an ordinary Friday afternoon when the call from Souter came though. “I wondered if you were still in the market for a clerkship?” she recalled Souter asking. Of course, the answer was yes.

We believe that we now have the names of all the OT 2007 clerks. Also, Justice Thomas has hired almost all of his OT 2008 clerks, and Justice Alito has hired at least one.
You can check out the complete listing of next Term’s clerks, as well as some OT 2008 info, after the jump.

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Lawyerly Lairs: Justice Alito’s House, Under Contract

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Samuel Alito 3 Justice Samuel A Alito Jr Above the Law blog.JPGAs reported last month by The BLT and Roll Call (subscription), Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr., and his wife, Martha Alito, are selling their million-dollar New Jersey home. Here’s the listing.
But if you were hoping to purchase a piece of history, you’re probably out of luck. The judicial manse appears to be under contract.
That won’t stop us, however, from engaging in a little ogling. Here’s what the listing originally looked like, before the photographs were removed:
Samuel Alito House Samuel A Alito Jr West Caldwell Above the Law blog.GIF
More about this supremely appealing residence, after the jump.

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Bong Hits 4 ATL: A Photo Essay (Part 2)

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On the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court, after his oral argument in Morse v. Frederick, Dean Kenneth W. Starr has an epiphany. He realizes why he decided to take on this case, pro bono.
It’s because his client, petitioner Deborah Morse — a curvaceous, dark-haired beauty — reminded him of a young woman he once loved, many years ago…
Bong Hits 15.JPG

This morning we posted the first half of our photographs from our recent trip to the Supreme Court. The rest of the pictures appear after the jump.

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Bong Hits 4 ATL: A Photo Essay (Part 1)

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Bong Hits 1.JPG
The U.S. Supreme Court building at One First Street, on the morning of Monday, March 19. Like rock star groupies, SCOTUS fans camped out overnight for a chance to breathe the same air as the nine robed ones.
As we previously explained, we didn’t make it in to see the argument in Morse v. Frederick, aka the “Bong Hits 4 Jesus” case, before the Supreme Court on Monday. But our trip wasn’t a complete waste, since we did get some video footage (here, here, here, and here).
Oh wait — you HATED our videos. Well, at least give us credit for mixing things up a little around here. Every now and then, we like to try new things, to keep ATL from getting hidebound. Not every experiment works; but that’s why they call them experiments.
Anyway, hopefully you’ll like our still photography more. We’re post them in two batches. The first set of pictures, of Dean Kenneth Starr and two colleagues, appears after the jump.

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