Richard Shugrue

On Constitutional Amendments

Published by Derek Noehren on Wed, 07/21/2021 - 12:00am

If your political ox has been gored recently, you’ll probably want to join the march to amend the U.S. Constitution.

You may even be one of those people who think that a new constitutional convention is just the vehicle to get rid of the Electoral College or repeal the Second Amendment or put term limits on the Supreme Court.

McConnell Already Planning to Block Hypothetical Biden Supreme Court Nomination

Published by Derek Noehren on Tue, 06/29/2021 - 12:00am

You can say this for Sen. Mitch McConnell: He’s consistent.

He promised to torpedo the nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court following the death of Antonin Scalia, and he did. That stunt left the nation’s highest court with only eight members for more than a year and deprived President Barack Obama of the opportunity to replace a conservative Republican with a more liberal Democrat.

Court Watchers Awaiting Rulings in Blockbuster Cases

Published by Derek Noehren on Wed, 06/09/2021 - 12:00am

As the Supreme Court enters its final month of the October 2020 term, court watchers are still awaiting rulings in the blockbuster cases.

But last week’s decisions were newsworthy and included a refusal to take up Johnson & Johnson appeal over the $2.5 billion verdict in the case involving the company’s talcum powder as a causer of cancer.

Court Watchers Have Plenty to Track Midway Through Term

Published by Scott Stewart on Wed, 05/26/2021 - 12:00am

About halfway through the October 2020 term’s list of cases, the U.S. Supreme Court is still speaking with each other and the partisan divide the press is fond of writing about is not quite so partisan.

Nebraska’s Merit Plan for Judicial Selection Has Worked Well

Published by Nikki Ratay on Wed, 05/12/2021 - 12:00am

It’s almost 60 years since Nebraska adopted the Merit Plan for Judicial Selection in 1962.

By and large, the system designed to take “hard politics” out of the choice and retention of judges at all levels has worked well. The state has had 10 governors since the constitutional amendment was adopted. Four chief justices have been chosen under the merit plan, two from each political party.

Picking the Top Supremes … and How Many There Are

Published by Nikki Ratay on Wed, 04/28/2021 - 12:00am

Did you vote for the greatest justice of them all in the SCOTUSblog version of March Madness, which just picked Earl Warren for the top honors?

Breyer’s Warning in Scalia Lecture Worth Hearing, Even If You Disagree

Published by Nikki Ratay on Wed, 04/14/2021 - 12:00am

The annual Scalia Lecture at the Harvard Law School is mind-bending and provocative — like its namesake, the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

Judiciary Starting to Be Shaped By Biden and the Democrats

Published by Scott Stewart on Wed, 03/31/2021 - 12:00am

The next few days will show whether President Joe Biden has dropped the ball on the critical issue of appointing judges.

As a matter of fact, by the time you read this, he may have redeemed himself with antsy Democrats who have been waiting since January for the first nominations.

Supreme Court Hard at Work on Interesting Docket This Term

Published by Nikki Ratay on Wed, 03/24/2021 - 12:00am

While you have been distracted by the passage of the COVID-19 relief bill, the reopening of the economy in many states, the nip by President Joe Biden’s dog and “The Interview” by Oprah of Meghan and Harry, the Supreme Court has been hard at work dealing with a very interesting docket.

California Case Offers Puzzler on Fourth Amendment Rights

Published by Nikki Ratay on Wed, 03/03/2021 - 12:00am

There are more exceptions to the Fourth Amendment’s warrant requirement than you can count on the fingers of both hands. There are consent searches and open fields searches, there are automobile searches and plain view ones, and there are hot pursuit searches.

You often think of a hot pursuit when a cop chases a gun-toting robber from a bank and follows him directly into his hideout. That’s an easy one.

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