Now that the term is over, what can we make of it? Was it really as bad for Justices Breyer, Kagan, and Sotomayor as some make it out to be? In some sense definitely. They were in dissent together in the biggest cases of the term — New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc….
Month: June 2022
Justice Breyer: Just the Facts
With Justice Breyer’s retirement tomorrow here are some facts about the justice and his career on and before joining the Court: He was the 22nd longest serving justice at 28 years on the Court (Douglas was longest serving at 36 years). Was nominated at 55 by President Clinton in 1994 Had a well-qualified rating from…
What will the Roberts Court’s most lasting legacy be?
After the Court overruled Roe v. Wade with the Dobbs decision many people would likely answer that the Roberts Court’s lasting legacy will be doing away with a constitutional right to an abortion. Looking at individual decisions though, the Roberts Court has structurally changed quite a bit of policy with landmark decisions in areas such…
Comparing The Draft and Final Opinions in Dobbs
The official opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health was released this morning. According to Jake Truscott it was the third-longest Supreme Court opinion since 1946 and the longest of this term by over 10,000 words (the second-longest so far was the NY Rifle opinion released two days prior). When Politico released the draft opinion…
Supreme Court End of Term Cheat Sheet
As the Supreme Court completes the final leg of the 2022 Term here is what we know and what we can expect as the justices grapple with cases surrounding several topics important to many Americans. This morning CNN released an article delving into these topics. (1) Here are the decisions released so far this month…
Ten Decisions (and One DIG) in June
Gorsuch and the Liberals The Supreme Court released five decisions on Monday with five more (and a DIG) coming out on Wednesday. These did not include the highly publicized decisions on guns, abortion, or border policy. The decision in Denezpi v. United States struck me as interesting based on the composition of the dissent with…
The Importance of Egbert v. Boule
The Court’s latest decision came on Wednesday when the justices ruled in Egbert v. Boule. 29 decisions remain before the end of the term. Why is this decision important? The case has quite far reaching implications by further limiting the scope of Bivens claims (this Court has already constrained Bivens application in previous decisions) against…
Is the Roberts Court the Least Productive Court of All Time?
The Supreme Court was not always the powerful institution is it today. The original lack of power was part of the Court’s institutional design. Alexander Hamilton wrote in Federal Paper #78, “…the judiciary is beyond comparison the weakest of the three departments of power; that it can never attack with success either of the other…
Ruling on the Second Amendment
Why is the Court’s 2nd Amendment decision this term such a huge deal? This would be the fourth time the Court reviews the constitutionality of a law under the Second Amendment since 1900 and the fifth time ever. Three of those four decisions including the present one will take place under the Roberts Court. The…
Empirical SCOTUS 