Oh, hey, look: it’s December 12. Season’s greetings. December 12 is, among a very elite few, one of the worst days in and for American democracy. On this date, 25 years ago, the Supreme Court decided a presidential election, baldly and openly on partisan lines and with partisan aims. Funny enough, it was also the first election in which I was able to participate. Yay me. Bush v. Gore was a weird case. For background, the 2000 presidential election came down to the counting in Florida, all the other states having completed their counts and announced their...
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What even is the law now
You’re watching a soccer game: It’s USA versus Germany, World Cup knockout round. It’s early in the match, about 13 or so minutes in, and Germany are awarded a corner kick. Pretty normal stuff. Well, there’s some tussling and janking around in the box, a pretty normal big mess. But the referee blows his whistle—normal enough, and then the stadium announces that VAR is going to take a look. VAR, or Video Assistant Referee, is the name of a technology and procedure for looking at contested calls on the field. In a box, several referees look over...
Continue reading...What’s up with all the Obamacare/court things today?
You may be aware that there’s been some Obamacare news today. At issue is some imprecise language in the law as passed. You see, the Affordable Care Act set up the idea of exchanges, or marketplaces where a consumer could compare and buy health insurance. It was expected that each state would run their own exchange, but if a state couldn’t or wouldn’t, then the federal government would step in an run an exchange. Another part of the law set up a system of subsidies, so that if a customer couldn’t afford health insurance, then the federal government would assist financially....
Continue reading...Same-sex marriages in California possible on August 18
U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker, the judge who ruled that the state’s ban on same-sex marriage is constitutional, lifted the stay on his decision as of Wednesday, August 18, at 5pm PST. The evidence presented at trial and the position of the representatives of the State of California show that an injunction against enforcement of Proposition 8 is in the public’s interest. Accordingly, the court concludes that the public interest counsels against entry of the stay proponents seek. Of course, that’s assuming that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals stays out of it. That’s not likely. Proponents...
Continue reading...63-37
Just moments ago, I watched the Senate finish voting to confirm Solicitor General Elena Kagan by a vote of 63-37. You’ll note that I made a silly bet with Lady Blaga that the vote would be 60-40. So, I’m paying the lady her Hamilton. Sen. Ben Nelson was the only Democrat to vote nay, while Republican Senators Lindsay Graham, Susan Collins, Olympia Snow, Judd Gregg and Richard Lugar voted yea. Scott Brown, as I expected, voted nay and released a statement to that effect, citing her lack of judicial experience. That said, Ben Nelson is the first...
Continue reading...I win!
Ok, I slightly overestimated the vote count, but as of a few minutes ago, Elena Kagan has been confirmed to the United States Supreme Court in a vote of 63-37. Ben Nelson was the only Dem to vote no, while 5 Republicans voted yes: Susan Collins, Lindsey Graham, Richard Lugar, Olympia Snowe, and Judd Gregg. Congratulations to now-Justice Kagan! Hurray for 3 women on the Court for the first time ever. And yay to me for decisively proving how much smarter I am than Poplicola (ha). I look forward to collecting on my substantial winnings.
Continue reading...I'm getting closer….maybe? Lamar says no to Kagan
Sure, I’m not doing so well in my bet with Lady Blaga, but, it might be skewing my way a little. Lamar Alexander, one of the nine Republicans who supported Sotomayor’s nomination to the Supreme Court, is no fan of Elana Kagan’s: In a statement, Alexander focused on Kagan’s role in limiting military recruiters’ access to Harvard Law School’s career services office while she was dean. “In denying military recruiters equal access to Harvard Law students, Ms. Kagan ignored Harvard’s obligations under federal law. Instead, she acted based upon what she thought the law should be,” Alexander...
Continue reading...In defense of an admittedly terrible argument
As you probably already heard from this post, Lady Blaga and I have a little wager going on concerning how many votes Elena Kagan’s nomination manages to wrangle in the Senate. Based on some pretty terrible and Friday-night-related maths, I predicted she’d be confirmed, and that it would be by the slimmest of margins: 60 votes. No more, no less. Of course, I didn’t quite expect Lindsey Graham to pull a…Lindsey Graham and not be a hypocrite. So, I’m changing my prediction to 63-64 (Lady Blaga predicts 65), but I do hold to my word and will...
Continue reading...Lindsey Graham's Mavericky Vote for Kagan
Today the Senate Judiciary Committee voted on Elena Kagan’s nomination, approving it in a 13-6 vote. Predictably, the vote went along party lines, with one notable exception. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham not only voted for Kagan, he explained at length why he did so, espousing his view of how the confirmation process ought to work: No one spent more time trying to beat President Obama than I did…But I understood we lost. President Obama won and I’ve got a lot of opportunity to disagree with him. But the Constitution in my view puts a requirement on me...
Continue reading...Lead-up to Kagan's Confirmation Vote
Within the next few weeks, if things go as scheduled, Elena Kagan’s SC nomination will be up for a vote in the full Senate. Who cares, right? Her whole confirmation process has been a snoozefest, and it’s basically a given that she’ll be confirmed. So how to make it more interesting? Put money on it, clearly. Poplicola and I were chatting the other day, and he opined quite forcefully that while Kagan will indeed be confirmed, it will be with exactly 60 votes, predicting all the Dems and only a single Republican will vote for her. I...
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