As we prepare for another Supreme Court confirmation drama brace yourself for the endless repetition of the notion (popularized by Chief Justice during his 2005 confirmation hearing) of a judge as a passive umpire mechanically calling balls and strikes. This is annoyingly vapid. Yes, judges do call balls and strikes, but more importantly they define the strike zone. They're able to call balls and strikes precisely because they unilaterally determine what constitutes the strike zone. They have a lot of discretion and latitude in determining the strike zone. Our statutes are like the baseball rule book. They don't have to invent new rules out of whole cloth to have significant impact.
Why is the strike zone so narrow or so wide? How do you maintain consistency given the varying heights and girths of the different ball players? How could the pitch into the dirt be a strike? Those are more interesting questions.
Showing posts with label Supreme Court. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Supreme Court. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Monday, April 12, 2010
Dawn Johnsen for the Supreme Court
Over the past year it's become an unofficial olympic sport for liberals and progressives to lament about being tossed under the bus due to the actions and inactions of the Obama administration. One such example was the lack of movement on the nomination of Prof. Dawn Johnsen to head the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) at the Justice Department.
Last Friday Prof. Johnsen withdrew her name from further consideration for the OLC position, news that would have made major waves on the left of the blogosphere had it not been somewhat overshadowed by the announced retirement of Associate Justice John Paul Stevens.
Was this a coincidence? What if President Obama is planning to nominate Prof. Johnsen to the Supreme Court? It'll certainly motivate and reassure the progressive base (for a few weeks, at least) and drive the wingnuts even crazier.
Dawn Johnsen has stints at the ACLU and NARAL Pro-Choice America on her resume as per her Wikipedia page and Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg also had a stint at the ACLU (just saying).
Her brother-in-law, Judge David Hamilton, was nominated and confirmed to the Seventh Judicial Circuit last year.
I'll still bet on Solicitor General Elena Kagan, but won't be the least bit surprised if it was Dawn Johnsen.
Last Friday Prof. Johnsen withdrew her name from further consideration for the OLC position, news that would have made major waves on the left of the blogosphere had it not been somewhat overshadowed by the announced retirement of Associate Justice John Paul Stevens.
Was this a coincidence? What if President Obama is planning to nominate Prof. Johnsen to the Supreme Court? It'll certainly motivate and reassure the progressive base (for a few weeks, at least) and drive the wingnuts even crazier.
Dawn Johnsen has stints at the ACLU and NARAL Pro-Choice America on her resume as per her Wikipedia page and Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg also had a stint at the ACLU (just saying).
Her brother-in-law, Judge David Hamilton, was nominated and confirmed to the Seventh Judicial Circuit last year.
I'll still bet on Solicitor General Elena Kagan, but won't be the least bit surprised if it was Dawn Johnsen.
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