Category Archives: Supreme Court

In Quiet Ceremony, President Obama Takes Oath

  By Pamela Leavey | January 20, 2013 4:34 pm - 4:34 pm | , , , , ,
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In a private ceremony attended by his wife and two daughters, President Obama was sworn into office fpor his second term, at the White House just before noon today. Only Michelle Obama, holding her family Bible, and the couple’s daughters, Malia and Sasha, stood beside Mr. Obama, in the grand Blue Room as he recited the oath specified in the Constitution and again administered to him by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. The chief justice administered the oath faithfully and Mr. Obama repeated it accurately, unlike four years earlier, when Mr. Roberts inverted a few words during the public swearing-in, Mr. Obama echoed the errors, and the oath had to be repeated in private later. The chief justice, who … Continue reading →

First Monday and First Day in October

  By Hart Williams | October 1, 2012 11:49 pm - 11:49 pm | ,
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the Supreme Court has shown a marked propensity for the twisting of plain language, a la the plays of Aristophanes — most specifically, The Frogs and The Clouds — but then if they weren’t supreme rationalizers they wouldn’t be the supreme lawyers (pronounced in the South, properly, as “liars”) of the United States of America. Continue reading →

John Roberts and the Commerce Clause (conclusion)

  By Hart Williams | June 30, 2012 8:00 am - 8:00 am | , ,
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No one ought to misunderstand that John Roberts intentionally and malevolently rationalized his way into the politically advantageous conclusion that the health care mandate was a TAX, and declared it AS such … Continue reading →

John Roberts and the Commerce Clause

  By Hart Williams | June 29, 2012 6:03 pm - 6:03 pm | ,
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The Commerce Clause, it is widely acknowledged, “was the Framers’ response to the central problem that gave rise to the Constitution itself.” Continue reading →

Countdown to SCOTUS Apocalypse

  By Hart Williams | June 20, 2012 12:01 am - 12:01 am | , , ,
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And, now that the “Alter Boys” have formed a stable, if vicious, majority in 5-4 decisions for the past several years, I think we can all see how completely unjustified my alarm was. A religious creed is a very powerful epistem0logical engine, as important to the working of the brain as UNIX, Linux or Windows is to the operation of your computer. Continue reading →

A Streetcar Named Reform

  By Hart Williams | April 3, 2012 9:11 am - 9:11 am | , , ,
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The Supreme Court has (predictably) expanded police powers broadly, ruling broadly in a case involving strip searches and jail visits, to expand all police’s rights to strip searches (including cavity searches) of anyone for just about any violation — including, as Justice Breyer notes in his dissent, a traffic offense:… Continue reading →

Athena and the Jurists

  By Hart Williams | March 27, 2012 3:17 am - 3:17 am | , ,
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They’re already screaming about how their last shreds of freedom are being stripped from them (which is, frankly, immoderate and frightening language virtually guaranteed to overamp some poor lost soul who treasures his Second Amendment rights.) Continue reading →

Dizzy’s Ten Post Round-Up

  By Dizzy Dezzi | April 16, 2008 5:30 am - 5:30 am | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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It’s smells like a pep rally burning out of control, in my front yard.  Today’s Ten Post Round-Up might singe your eyebrows: 1: What a relief! The Cheney sunglasses mystery is solved!… Image In Cheney’s Glasses Actually Bush’s Eternal Soul–CAP News 2: Ahem–Attention American Taxpayers: You are supposed to squander your stimulus check NOT pay bills with it! Putting it away for your own benefit is not why we are sending it to you… Economic Stimulus: Good for individuals or the overall economy, not both–Colorado Confidential 3: On the upside, those stimulus checks might come just in time for you to make the massive going-out-of-business sales, sure to be all the rage this summer… More Economic Pain: Retailing Chains Caught … Continue reading →