CRS report – Supreme Court Appointment Process: President’s Selection of a Nominee – Barry J. McMillion, Analyst on the Federal Judiciary. April 1, 2016. “The appointment of a Supreme Court Justice is an event of major significance in American politics. Each appointment is of consequence because of the enormous judicial power the Supreme Court exercises… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Courts
Justices Reject Conservatives’ Challenge on ‘1 Person 1 Vote’
Supreme Court Rejects Challenge to ‘One Person One Vote’ by Adam Liptak, New York Times – “The Supreme Court on Monday unanimously ruled that states may count all residents, whether or not they are eligible to vote, in drawing election districts. The decision was a major statement on the meaning of a fundamental principle of… Continue Reading
The Power Canons
Heinzerling, Lisa, The Power Canons (March 31, 2016). William & Mary Law Review, Vol. 58, Forthcoming. Available for download at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2757770 With three recent decisions – UARG v. EPA, King v. Burwell, and Michigan v. EPA – the Supreme Court has embraced a new trio of canons of statutory interpretation. When an agency charged… Continue Reading
Map Shows How Apple-FBI Fight Was About Much More Than One Phone
Via ACLU – “The government insisted that its effort to force Apple to help break into an iPhone as part of the investigation into the 2015 San Bernardino shootings was just about that one case. Even though the FBI no longer needs Apple’s help in that case, the FBI’s request was part of a sustained… Continue Reading
Garland Nomination to Supreme Court Gets Positive Reception From Public
Pew Research Center: “Although Merrick Garland’s nomination to the Supreme Court faces an uncertain fate in the Senate, more Americans say they favor (46%) than oppose (30%) Garland’s confirmation to the high court. About a quarter (24%) offer no opinion. Before President Obama nominated Garland on March 16, Senate Republican leaders had vowed to not… Continue Reading
CRS – Vacancy on the Supreme Court
Via FAS – Vacancy on the Supreme Court: CRS Products, CRS Legal Sidebar, March 21, 2016: “On February 13, 2016, Justice Antonin Scalia unexpectedly passed away at the age of 79, vacating a seat on the Supreme Court that he had held for nearly 30 years. A little over a month later, on March 16,… Continue Reading
International Criminal Court – What are War Crimes?
“War crimes” include grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions and other serious violations of the laws and customs applicable in international armed conflict and in conflicts “not of an international character” listed in the Rome Statute, when they are committed as part of a plan or policy or on a large scale. These prohibited acts… Continue Reading
IRS Criminal Enforcement Slides
Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse – “As Congress continues to reduce its overall support of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the chances that the IRS will at some point recommend a taxpayer for criminal prosecution have significantly declined — from 13.3 per million population in FY 2013 to 9.2 per million in FY 2015. This level… Continue Reading
Only One Fourth of New Immigration Court Cases Involve Mexicans
“The number of individuals from Mexico whose removal is sought by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) continues to steadily decrease, according to the latest data on deportation filings from the Immigration Courts. As of the end of February 2016, there have been 63,420 new Immigration Court filings in FY 2016. Of these, 15,821 involve… Continue Reading
Nominations to Supreme Court During Presidential Election Years (1900-Present)
CRS Brief via FAS – Nominations to Supreme Court During Presidential Election Years (1900-Present) “This CRS Insight provides data and analysis related to nominations made to the Supreme Court during presidential election years from 1900 to the present. As of this writing, there have been eight such nominations since 1900—six to fill actual vacancies that… Continue Reading
Ruth Bader Ginsburg will publish her first book since joining Supreme Court in 1993
“Simon & Schuster announced [March 10, 2016] that it will publish Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s My Own Words, which is her first book since becoming a Supreme Court Justice in 1993…My Own Words will be a selection of writings and speeches by Justice Ginsburg on wide-ranging topics, including gender equality, the workways of the Supreme… Continue Reading
Testing Positivity Theory: What Roles do Politicization and Legal Realism Play in Shaping U.S. Supreme Court Legitimacy?
Gibson, James L. and Nelson, Michael J., Testing Positivity Theory: What Roles do Politicization and Legal Realism Play in Shaping U.S. Supreme Court Legitimacy? (March 9, 2016). Available for download at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2745236 “Perhaps the most widely accepted view of how the Supreme Court acquires and maintains its legitimacy is Positivity Theory, which claims that… Continue Reading
