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Justice Kagan's Had Just About Enough Of The Conservative Majority

#overit

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Senate Confirmation Hearings For Elena Kagan Continue

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Because the majority begins with some law-chambers history, I do too—though fair warning: My discussion is no more relevant than the majority’s to the issue before us (citations omitted). Not surprisingly, neither of the parties to this small and legally mundane case thought it a suitable occasion for a from-Blackstone-onward theory of habeas practice. Yet the majority, unprompted, embarks on that project, perhaps hoping that the seeds it sows now will yield more succulent fruit in cases to come.

—Justice Elena Kagan in her dissent in today’s Brown v. Davenport Supreme Court decision. As commenters have noted, the decision marks a turn in tone for the justice, who seems less interested in playing nice with her Republican colleagues, than in calling out their political strategy.

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