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When asked back in a November primary debate to say what kind of Justice he would want to nominate to the Supreme Court, Barack Obama responded: "I taught constitutional law for 10 years, and . . . when you look at what makes a great Supreme Court justice, it's not just the particular issue and how they rule, but it's their conception of the Court. And part of the role of the Court is that it is going to protect people who may be vulnerable in the political process, the outsider, the minority, those who are vulnerable, those who don't...

A federal court decision approving mandatory public school instruction for children as young as kindergarten in how to be homosexual is being allowed to stand, drawing a description of "despicable" from the parent who unsuccessfully challenged his school district's "gay" advocacy agenda. The U.S. Supreme Court without comment has refused to intervene in a case prompted by the actions of officials at Estabrook Elementary school in Lexington, Mass., who not only were teaching homosexuality to young children, but specifically refused to allow Christian parents to opt their children out of the indoctrination. The case on which WND has reported previously...

Senator Charles Schumer says he feels confident that the Dems will have a super majority - 60 senators - after this election. Let's not allow this to happen! A super majority can stop any judicial picks by John McCain, and IF (horrors) Barack Obama becomes president, his judicial picks would breeze right through. As an example, I just heard a tape on the radio where Senator McCain said that Justice Thomas was a good pick, and Senator Obama said he would not have picked him. Please support the Republicans in the senate race, even if they are not from your...

WASHINGTON—Esquire is backing Democrat Barack Obama for president -- its first endorsement in the magazine's 75-year history. The Illinois senator is "the only possible choice to lead the country," editors wrote in the November issue, on newsstands Oct. 14. They also encouraged people to vote for Obama because the next president will influence the direction of the Supreme Court. "The best argument for the election of Barack Obama as president of the United States is written quite clearly in the peaks and squiggles of John Paul Stevens' EKG," they wrote of the 88-year-old justice. Republican presidential nominee John McCain has...

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday (Oct. 6) begins a new term that so far lacks the controversy of last term's politically explosive cases on gun control, the death penalty and voter-identification laws, but that still is grabbing the attention of states. Stateline.org - infoZine - Of top concern to states - and to the tobacco and pharmaceutical industries - are a pair of cases testing whether federal law trumps state consumer-protection policies that let residents sue cigarette and drug makers over the way their goods are described. The cases, one from Maine and the other from Vermont, could force...

Why are John McCain and his campaign, the RNC, and even 527 groups ignoring the huge elephant in the room? The extremely great possibility that Barack Hussein Obama will get the opportunity to appoint not 1 but 2 Supreme Court Justices during his 4 year term? We have 1 that is near 90 years old and another that is ill. Wih a Democratic House and Senate are we simply ignoring the biggest issue this campaign that nobody seems to be talking about? This one issue is reason enough to get people back to reality and focus on just what in...

PHOENIX—An anti-abortion group has won a long legal fight to force Arizona to issue "choose life" license plates, and the proposed new plates could be available to the group's members within several months. The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday left in place a January ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in favor of the Arizona Life Coalition. With the case resolved, the state license plate commission "will have to meet" to reconsider the application, said Motor Vehicle Division spokeswoman Cydney DeModica. She said she did not immediately know when that would happen. "Special organization plates" such as...

There were not many conspicuous tributes to the legacy of President Bush at last month's Republican National Convention, but there was at least one. It was a campaign button with the words "Thanks, W" across the top and photos of Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. beneath the letters. Conservative legal activists view the two men as remarkable successes in Bush's quest to move the court to the right, and that is part of the reason that, as the court begins its work anew today, public attention is focused less on the cases at...

US Supreme Court rejects new trial for former Black Panther 1 hour, 17 minutes ago The US Supreme Court Monday refused to hear arguments for a new trial for Mumia Abu-Jamal, a former Black Panther accused of killing a police officer who has become an icon for anti-capital punishment campaigners. His lawyer Robert Bryan has already said he will seek to bring a second Supreme Court appeal -- on the grounds of racism -- for the 54-year-old former radio journalist accused of the 1981 murder of Daniel Faulkner. Abu-Jamal's death sentence was overturned in March by a federal court in...

If elected, McCain might well push the court far to the right -- with dramatic consequences for abortion rights, sexual privacy, diversity in schools and more. Yet there is much at stake for the future of the Supreme Court and American constitutional law, and this is one of the areas of clearest difference between John McCain and Barack Obama. McCain has said that he wants to appoint conservative justices like Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Samuel Alito. Obama voted against confirmation of both of those individuals and has said that he would pick liberal justices like Ruth Bader...

When asked back in a November primary debate to say what kind of Justice he would want to nominate to the Supreme Court, Barack Obama responded: I taught constitutional law for 10 years, and . . . when you look at what makes a great Supreme Court justice, it's not just the particular issue and how they rule, but it's their conception of the Court. And part of the role of the Court is that it is going to protect people who may be vulnerable in the political process, the outsider, the minority, those who are vulnerable, those who don't...

On the court since 1993, cast her liberal vote in high-profile cases this term, with 5-4 decisions on the rights of terrorism suspects, the rights of gun owners and the death penalty.

WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline)-The U.S. Supreme Court reconvenes next week for a term that will be conducted under the backdrop of November's presidential election. Among cases to be heard by the high court is whether pharmaceutical companies may be sued for patient injuries, if the Federal Communications Commission may restrict foul language on broadcast television, if the Navy can be barred from using sonar off the California coast and whether local officials can be sued for violations that took place on their watch.

"I repeat so as not to be misunderstood that this Court does have power, which it should exercise, to hold laws unconstitutional where they are forbidden by the Federal Constitution. My point is that there is no provision of the Constitution which either expressly or impliedly vests power in this Court to sit as a supervisory agency over acts of duly constituted legislative bodies and set aside their laws because of the Court's belief that the legislative policies adopted are unreasonable, unwise, arbitrary, capricious or irrational. The adoption of such a loose, flexible, uncontrolled standard for holding laws unconstitutional, if...

Change is an effective mantra in elections following two consecutive terms by one party in office. That is especially the case when the current officeholder is unpopular and the economy is weak. Barack Obama has that as a tremendous advantage in this race and recent polls breaking his way show it, but there are some significant factors that could still lead to his undoing. When you look at the unpopularity of the current administration, the financial crisis that has overshadowed all other issues, the fawning media and the promise of a charismatic young figure offering change, it would appear this...

Less than a week before its October term is set to begin, the US Supreme Court became a spectacle of sound and fury on Wednesday over a landmark decision handed down three months ago declaring that the death penalty for child rapists is cruel and unusual punishment. At issue was whether the high court would revisit the landmark 5-to-4 decision after revelations last summer that contradicted the majority justices' conclusion that a "national consensus" had emerged against the death penalty for the rape of a child. The June 25 decision said only six states had laws authorizing capital punishment for...

Gov. Sarah Palin has a complete open shot here to clean both Biden's and Obama's clocks Thursday night! As a conservative, she is well advised to take it.If we don't oppose this Socialist Democratic corruption on the bailout and CRA/ACORN/FREDDIE/FANNIE, and expose them, and also make a clear distinction between Democrats and Republicans on borders and illegal immigration, we can kiss this election GOOD BYE.These are TWO MAJOR WIN ISSUES FOR THE GOOD GUYS.Moment of truth, folks.Will we get a pit bull? Or an aging basset hound?

The U.S. Supreme Court rejected on Wednesday a request by Louisiana and the Bush administration to revisit its recent ruling that outlawed the death penalty for those convicted of raping a child. The state and the Justice Department had asked the nation's high court to take the rare step of reconsidering its decision because they neglected to tell the court that Congress in 2006 had made child rape a capital offense under U.S. military law. By a 7-2 vote, the court refused to revisit its decision issued at the end of June. Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, his Democratic...

Darwinists Root for Obama Sept 28, 2008 — Ministers in churches are not allowed to promote political candidates, even though they do not take government money.1 Scientists, who often do take federal money in the form of grants, openly take positions on the presidential candidates they feel will further their interests. Is this proper? Both Nature and Science this week did extensive reporting on the presidential and vice-presidential candidates. While the magazines and the organizations behind them do not receive tax money directly, they act as the leading voices of scientists who are largely supported by grants, and thus they...

For the first time in the 35 years, the Supreme Court has been asked to decide whether this statement is biological fact, or mere ideology: “Abortion terminates the life of a human being.” Two U.S. courts disagree over what Roe v. Wade means for this issue, so there are now two Constitutions — one in New Jersey, the other in the Eighth Circuit’s six states. This kind of conflict increases the odds that the United States Supreme Court will step in, and a new case, Acuna v. Turkish, gives it the option to. On September 29, the high Court will...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is no stranger to criticism. He gives as good as he gets. But two recent critiques of his opinion in the landmark decision guaranteeing people the right keep guns at home for self-defense are notable because they come from respected fellow conservative federal judges. The judges, J. Harvie Wilkinson of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., and Richard Posner of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago, take Scalia to task for engaging in the same sort of judicial activism he regularly disdains. Wilkinson was interviewed...

Excerpt - The U.S. Supreme Court today issued a stay of execution for Troy Anthony Davis less than two hours before he was to be put to death by lethal injection. ~ snip ~

Original Intent for All by: Irene Warren, September 17, 2008 Although conservatives generally embrace the original intent of the U.S. Constitution, while liberals see it as a living document, one legal scholar points out that a liberal read of the document constrains both left and right, while an interpretive one lends itself to exploitation by such political factions. “When liberated from the original meaning of the Constitution, both left and right became free to use the courts, both to pursue their political agendas and to obstruct the political agendas of their opponents,” said Randy Barnett, a professor at Georgetown University...

In a brash move defying the US Bishops’ speakers policy, Fordham University’s Stein Center for Law and Ethics announced that proabortion Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer is the 2008 recipient of the Fordham-Stein Ethics Prize. Breyer infamously wrote the majority opinion in Stenberg v. Carhart, which struck down state laws banning the barbaric practice of partial-birth abortion. The Fordham-Stein Ethics Prize is scheduled to be bestowed upon Justice Breyer at a dinner in New York on October 29, 2008. Three weeks ago The Cardinal Newman Society President Patrick J. Reilly wrote to inform Rev. Joseph McShane, S.J., President of...

In some cases, wartime leadership is obviously a President's most enduring legacy. But, in most instances, a President's Supreme Court and other judicial appointments constitute his most lasting effect. President Eisenhower was once asked to identify the biggest mistake he made during his administration. He replied, "two of them and they're both sitting on the Supreme Court." [referring liberal titans Earl Warren and Willian Brennan] As a recent illustration, if John Kerry had been elected we would certainly not have Justices Roberts and Alito. We would have experienced a solid 6 to 3 liberal majority. Also, the appointment of hundreds...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Justice Antonin Scalia is one of the most outspoken jurists on the Supreme Court when it comes to talking about abortion. Scalia repeated the mantra on Monday that he's presented to college students and community forums about how the high court doesn't have the power to declare a right to abortion.During a speech at Utah State University's Taggart Student Center, where 1,700 people came to hear the respected judge tell it like it is, Scalia criticized those jurists who engage in what he called "abstract moralizing."In addition to faulty decisions like Roe v. Wade, Scalia said...

Justice Antonin Scalia is one of the most outspoken jurists on the Supreme Court when it comes to talking about abortion. Scalia repeated the mantra on Monday that he's presented to college students and community forums about how the high court doesn't have the power to declare a right to abortion. During a speech at Utah State University's Taggart Student Center, where 1,700 people came to hear the respected judge tell it like it is, Scalia criticized those jurists who engage in what he called "abstract moralizing." In addition to faulty decisions like Roe v. Wade, Scalia said it results...

Is Sarah Palin’s position on abortion really that extreme? It has been noted ad infinitum in the mainstream press that John McCain’s running mate opposes abortion in all circumstances except to preserve the threatened life of the expectant mother. Her views have raised the eyebrows not only of those committed to preventing the reversal of Roe v. Wade, but also of those who staunchly oppose abortion for birth-control purposes but feel it should be legal in cases where pregnancies occur as a result of sexual assault or molestation. The media would have us believe that Palin’s perception of pregnancy is...

Months ago when John McCain was nominated, I swore I would never vote for the man. I had some real reasons for disliking him. He supported the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform bill which took away 1st amendment rights, gave the Democrats an advantage that led to their Congressional takeover, and does not solve campaign financing problems at all. He supported "Comprehensive Immigration Reform" which was not reform at all. It essentially allows illegal aliens to remain in country forever and gave them a path to amnesty regardless of whether they are truly contributing to our society, willing to adopt our...

Roe v. Wade has been established law for 35 years; the right to choose is now a part of our culture. A decision to overrule it would not only disrupt and polarize the nation; it would also threaten countless doctors, and pregnant women and girls, with jail sentences and criminal fines. As Ginsburg has also urged, Roe v. Wade is now best seen, not only as a case about privacy, but also as involving sex equality. No one should disparage the convictions of those who believe that abortion is an immoral act. But after more than three decades, a decision...

Democrats have often caricatured conservatives' concern with judges as part of what they consider an "obsession" with abortion. In fact, over the last 40 years judicial activism has brought the courts to the center of national policy making in virtually all aspects of life. However, before 9/11, even the most activist judges generally did not attempt to drive the nation's foreign and defense policy. The Constitution reserves such matters to the president and Congress, and constitutional doctrines such as the separation of powers and "political question" were recognized and applied by courts as a means of avoiding much active engagement...

Gov. Sarah Palin is dividing the country. The airwaves are filled with those who can see past McCain's cheap ploy to get his campaign moving. McCain put his desire to be President above the best interests of our country. He deserves to lose. Aside from all the reasons Palin is a danger to the country because of her lack of qualifications remotely relevant to any high national office, from foreign policy to education to the economy to social security to health care, there's her record, her lack of a record, her ties to the radical right, her position on issues,...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas said Tuesday that African-Americans are better served by colorblind programs than affirmative action. Thomas, addressing leaders of historically black colleges, said affirmative action ''has become this mantra and there almost has become this secular religiosity about it. I think it almost trumps thinking.'' A longtime opponent of race-based preferences in hiring and school admissions, Thomas said, ''Just from a constitutional standpoint, I think we're going to run into problems if we say the Constitution says we can consider race sometimes.''

Rasmussen Reports recently conducted a survey of 1,000 likely voters and asked survey respondents the following question: Should the Supreme Court make decisions based on what's written in the Constitution and legal precedents or should it be guided mostly by a sense of fairness and justice? The responses revealed a sharp difference between the views of McCain supporters and the views of Obama supporters: While 82% of voters who support McCain believe the justices should rule on what is in the Constitution, just 29% of Barack Obama’s supporters agree. Just 11% of McCain supporters say judges should rule based on...

One of the most important but most overlooked issues in the political campaign involves the kind of judges the next president will appoint. Those appointments, and this is no exaggeration, may well determine whether our free society survives and flourishes. The kind of judges the next president of the United States appoints will determine whether or not: 1. The U.S. Constitution survives as intended by the Founders. 2. Leftist judges turn all of their radical ideas into law without the consent of the governed and the normal law-making process. They will do that by legislating from the bench, that is,...

“Thanks W!” proclaims the lapel button some delegates to the Republican convention are sporting this week in St. Paul. Smiling from that button: Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Samuel Alito. A group of conservative activists and GOP delegates got together in Minneapolis Tuesday on the sidelines of the convention to focus on the election’s highest stakes — as in the highest court in the land. “Elections do have consequences,” said ex-senator Mike DeWine from Ohio, who was booted from his Senate seat in 2006. Yes, it was a humdrum truism. But the defeated DeWine himself exemplified the fact...

During his acceptance speech last night at the Republican National Convention in Minnesota, John McCain told the audience, “We believe in a strong defense, work, faith, service, a culture of life, personal responsibility, the rule of law, and judges who dispense justice impartially and don't legislate from the bench.” Most American voters (60%) agrees and says the Supreme Court should make decisions based on what is written in the constitution, while 30% say rulings should be guided on the judge’s sense of fairness and justice. The number who agree with McCain is up from 55% in August. While 82% of...

While 82% of voters who support McCain believe the justices should rule on what is in the Constitution, just 29% of Barack Obama’s supporters agree. Just 11% of McCain supporters say judges should rule based on the judge’s sense of fairness, while nearly half (49%) of Obama supporters agree.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Change Basis for Allowing Abortions to Slavery Amdt Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- In an amazing admission, pro-abortion Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg told a feminist group that the basis for legalized abortion should be changed from the so-called right to privacy to the anti-slavery provisions found in the Constitution.

District of Columbia v. Heller was historic, the first Supreme Court decision to clearly hold that the Second Amendment right to arms was an individual one not linked to militia service. But it was historic for another reason: the sheer number of mistakes made in the dissenters' opinions. Given that all four dissenters co-signed the Stevens and Breyer dissenting opinions, this means that the mistakes must have escaped, not only four members of the highest court in the land, but their sixteen research clerks! Case in point: Justice Stevens' dissent claims that he holds true to the Court's earlier, 1939,...

Lawyers who won the historic Second Amendment gun rights case in the Supreme Court — District of Columbia v. Heller (07-290) — on Monday asked a federal judge to award them more than $3.5 million for attorneys’ fees, plus $13,215.30 for expenses and court costs. In a motion and memorandum filed with U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan, the attorneys said that they had achieved “one of the most profound and important victories available under our system of justice.” Their argument also suggested that this was a David vs. Goliath clash, with the attorneys on their far side far outnumbered...

It's just a hunch, mind you, but Hillary, Bill and even Chelsea will be speaking covering two nights at the Democrat Convention, so it seems they are on friendly terms with Obama, so if Hillary wasn't picked as VP running mate, or even on the short list, what else would appease her, but a promise to be the first judicial nominee for the Supreme Court of the United States.

Group also whitewashed MoveOn.org hate speech, published anti-Christian hate video The National Jewish Democratic Council is grasping at straws in its latest effort to smear John McCain. “McCain Picking on Jewish Supreme Court Justices?” (http://njdc.typepad.com/njdcs_blog/2008/08/mccain-picking.html) says, When Pastor Rick Warren asked Senator John McCain to name his least favorite current U.S. Supreme Court justices it seemed that he was picking on the Jewish members of our highest court. A review of the Kelo vs. New London decision, in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that municipalities can collude with private developers to use eminent domain to steal property for private...

UPDATE 5:10 p.m. Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter, in a brief order Wednesday afternoon, turned down a request that would have given an independent candidate in Maine for the U.S. Senate a place on the Nov. 4 ballot for that office. Souter acted without referring the stay application to his colleagues. There was no written opinion, just a simple denial order. The Justice’s action appears to assure the state’s two major party candidates, incumbent Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican, and her Democratic challenger, Rep. Tom Allen, that they will not have to worry about an independent drawing votes away...

Politics: Sen. Obama joins the high-tech lynch mob that still thinks Clarence Thomas is unfit for the Supreme Court. The ex-state legislator with no accomplishments to his name dares to question Thomas' experience.The issue of Supreme Court appointments had faded into the background until Saddleback Church founder Rick Warren at a weekend forum asked the presidential candidates which sitting Supreme Court justice they wouldn't have appointed. What Barack Obama answered should rally the GOP base and scare the rest of middle America. "I would not have nominated Clarence Thomas. I don't think that he was an exp . . ....

San Francisco, CA (AP) -- California's high court has ruled doctors cannot withhold care to gays or lesbians based on religious beliefs.

WSJ Editorial Obama on Clarence Thomas August 18, 2008 Barack Obama likes to portray himself as a centrist politician who wants to unite the country, but occasionally his postpartisan mask slips. That was the case at Saturday night's Saddleback Church forum, when Mr. Obama chose to demean Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Pastor Rick Warren asked each Presidential candidate which Justices he would not have nominated. Mr. McCain said, "with all due respect" the four most liberal sitting Justices because of his different judicial philosophy. Mr. Obama took a lower road, replying first that "that's a good one," and then...

A former law clerk for Clarence Thomas is leading the pack of critics saying Barack Obama’s comments about the Supreme Court justice reveal the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee’s ignorance and misunderstanding of the Constitution. The weekend event at the 22,000-member Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., was meant to give both candidates a chance to address questions of importance to the large evangelical community. Church Pastor Rick Warren, known for his bestselling book “The Purpose-Driven Life,” posed the series of questions to each candidate, which were aimed at getting to their personalities, foibles and leadership styles. During the symposium, Obama...

The Wall Street Journal has an absolutely brilliant editorial today here entitled "Obama on Clarence Thomas". It offers a view into what I and other bloggers have long been saying -- that beneath that well-scripted "post racial" veneer, Obama is a typical left-wing ideologue. When left alone, without a script, these real beliefs seep to the surface, painting a pretty divisive picture. In answering a question on judicial appointees in a Town Hall style debate where he and John McCain appeared together (but not at the same time), Obama took a huge and demeaning swipe at the lone black jurist...

Barack Obama likes to portray himself as a centrist politician who wants to unite the country, but occasionally his postpartisan mask slips...Pastor Rick Warren asked each Presidential candidate which Justices he would not have nominated. Mr. McCain said, "with all due respect" the four most liberal sitting Justices because of his different judicial philosophy.Mr. Obama took a lower road, replying first that "that's a good one," and then adding that "I would not have nominated Clarence Thomas. I don't think that he, I don't think that he was a strong enough jurist or legal thinker at the time for that...