The Political Court: How Did We Get Here?

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Thursday April 12, 2012 · 9:00 AM PDT

2012/04/12 · 09:00

If it seemed to you as though certain Supreme Court justices were injecting politics into their questions during last month's high-stakes oral arguments in the Obamacare case, you're not alone... and that should worry you.

A new poll shows that half of Americans think the justices will make their decisions based on partisan politics rather than the Constitution or the text of the law.

By all accounts, the scene last month did indeed feature highly-charged political elements as certain conservative justices parroted Republican talking points on the law, while barely touching on precedents, merits, or facts. Coming a mere two years after the Court's infamous Citizens United decision, last month's proceedings seemed all the more political.

But even taken together, those comments and that decision don't fully explain why the American public is so seemingly willing to believe that politics have invaded the once-inviolate halls of the nation's most important legal institution. Even some of the most contentious decisions going back to Bush v. Gore only hint at the full scope of the Supreme Court's integrity crisis. The problem goes beyond the Court’s decisions.

NanAron

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Monday November 21, 2011 · 7:43 AM PST

2011/11/21 · 07:43

Now that the Supreme Court is set to hear the legal challenge to the Affordable Care Act, talk of recusal is in the air. There have been calls for Justices Clarence Thomas and Elena Kagan to step aside – Thomas due to perceived bias and his wife’s lucrative anti-healthcare work and Kagan due to her previous role as the Obama administration’s solicitor general.

Should either justice step aside? That’s a matter for debate. But what isn’t debatable is the destructive nature of the process by which the ultimate recusal decisions will be made. It’s a process that threatens the legitimacy of the Court, the justices, and the decisions they render.

NanAron

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Tuesday November 01, 2011 · 7:45 AM PDT

2011/11/01 · 07:45

The Code of Conduct for U.S. Judges lays out ethical guidelines to protect the integrity of our judicial system, and its rules bind every federal judge... except nine. Can you guess which?

That's right... the Code of Conduct for U.S. Judges applies to every federal judge except the nine justices of the Supreme Court.

NanAron

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Wednesday September 07, 2011 · 12:38 PM PDT

2011/09/07 · 12:38

Nonprofit organizations have a vital role to play in public policy. Think tanks shape political opinion, public charities help revitalize neighborhoods, and advocacy groups tackle some of our society’s toughest problems.

For one reason or another, that good work often seems to place a target on nonprofit groups.

NanAron

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Thursday July 21, 2011 · 1:39 PM PDT

2011/07/21 · 13:39

The judicial vacancy crisis is worsening, and Republican obstruction is returning.

There are more current and future vacancies today (115) than there were at the beginning of the year (114). That's more than 1 in 7 seats on the federal bench.

NanAron

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Friday July 15, 2011 · 12:31 PM PDT

2011/07/15 · 12:31

Earlier this week, the Washington Post declared that Darrell Issa, now chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, “isn’t what either side expected.”

That’s not exactly true.

NanAron

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Friday July 15, 2011 · 8:42 AM PDT

2011/07/15 · 08:42

When a subcommittee chairman accuses a witness of “making this up,” it’s a serious charge, even when the subject at hand is something as noncontroversial as a scheduling snafu.

And yet, when Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) leveled that accusation at Elizabeth Warren, she responded calmly and clearly, just as she had throughout her testimony before the Subcommittee on TARP and Financial Services on May 24. She offered to take additional questions in writing and submit answers for the record. She even said she would make herself available to the committee for future hearings.

NanAron

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Thursday June 16, 2011 · 4:05 PM PDT

2011/06/16 · 16:05

It’s not hard to see the march of corporate power in this country. The Supreme Court under Chief Justice John Roberts has gone out of its way to accept cases that have given it the opportunity to hand victory after victory to powerful corporate interests. Corporate profits are soaring while families struggle to pay the bills. And newly-elected governors like Scott Walker are moving to dismantle worker protections and give employers more opportunities to take advantage of their employees.

Now those same powerful corporate interests have found a new target in the National Labor Relations Board, the agency charged with upholding and enforcing the country’s labor laws.

NanAron

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Wednesday May 18, 2011 · 8:51 AM PDT

2011/05/18 · 08:51

Goodwin Liu is exactly the kind of judge who should be seated on the federal bench, and if it wasn’t for the constant threat of a Republican filibuster, he would be there already.

Liu was nominated by President Obama for a seat on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in February 2010, and re-nominated twice more during a year of unremitting obstruction. For 400 days and two confirmation hearings, Liu has cooled his heels while Republicans have distorted his record, condemned his mainstream positions, and done everything in their power to keep him from becoming a federal judge.

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The Political Court: How Did We Get Here?

Q: Who decides if Clarence Thomas recuses? A: Clarence Thomas.

To Uphold the Law, All Judges Must Follow the Rules

Looking for their next ACORN

Judicial vacancies are now higher than at beginning of the year

Darrell Issa’s Emerging Pattern

Elizabeth Warren Returns for Another Committee Hearing

Politics vs. Justice: Enforcing the Law

Four hundred days of obstruction is enough