The US Senate voted 70-30 on Wednesday to confirm Merrick Garland to be attorney general. Twenty Republicans joined all 50 Democrats in confirming the nomination. Garland was a federal prosecutor involved in the Oklahoma City Bombing investigation before being appointed to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit where he has [...]
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Accountability in the Administrative State: The Role of SCOTUS
The modern Administrative State “wields vast power and touches almost every aspect of daily life.” Ensuring accountability for the officials who exercise this vast power is no simple task. But the Supreme Court has the opportunity to improve what Madison called the “chain of dependence”—so that “those who are employed in the execution of the law will be [...]
The Fake Filibuster: A Clear and Present Danger to Democracy
Judging by much of the debate over the Senate filibuster rule, you’d think it was some honorable tradition worth keeping — “an elegant weapon of a more civilized age,” as Obi-Wan Kenobi described the lightsaber to Luke Skywalker in the original Star Wars. Not so. The filibuster is a dangerous relic with a deeply destructive [...]
Biden to choose Merrick Garland as Attorney General: reports
US President-elect Joe Biden will appoint Merrick Garland as Attorney General, according to reports Wednesday. Garland is a judge on the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Then-president Barrack Obama had nominated Garland to the Supreme Court following the vacancy created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. Despite the nomination, [...]
As a rabbi who has not attended an indoor prayer service since March, I still would have been happy if the Supreme Court had held that draconian restrictions on indoor religious services are unconstitutional. However, what the Court’s liberal and conservative justices actually evaluated in Roman Catholic Diocese v. Cuomo was whether New York’s coronavirus [...]
Senate Judiciary Committee wraps up questioning of Supreme Court nominee Barrett
Judge Amy Coney Barrett faced the US Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday for the third day of Supreme Court confirmation hearings. Senator Lindsey Graham, the Judiciary Committee Chair, began Wednesday’s hearing by praising Barrett for her commitment to a pro-life ideology and for “embracing her faith without apology.” He stated that Barrett’s nomination is a [...]
In the present confirmation hearings, I would like someone to ask Judge Barrett a question left unanswered by Justice Scalia, her mentor: 1. What influence does the fact that many of the founders and framers were slave owners have on your originalist views? And then I would like to ask a follow-up: 2. What is [...]
Supreme Court hears arguments on pharmaceutical regulation, no-fly list
US Supreme Court heard rescheduled oral arguments by phone on Tuesday for the second day of the 2020 term. The first case before the court, Rutledge v. Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, looked at a 2015 Arkansas law, Act 900. The Act regulates Pharmacy Benefits Managers (PBMs), the intermediaries between health insurance plans and pharmacies, to [...]
Trump nominates Amy Coney Barrett to fill Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Supreme Court seat
President Donald Trump Saturday announced Amy Coney Barrett as his nominee to the US Supreme Court seat left vacant by the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. During the announcement in the White House Rose Garden, Barrett promised that “should I be confirmed, I will be mindful who came before me,” and added that “the flag [...]
Postponing Confirmation Hearings for the Benefit of the Supreme Court and the Nation
The tumultuous controversy about whether President Trump and the Senate should try to fill the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s seat before the upcoming election presents high stake political and constitutional risks for both Republicans and Democrats. It also presents risks for long-term public confidence in the integrity of the Supreme Court. Republicans can hardly [...]