Law professors James Brudney and Lawrence Baum have a new study out on Supreme Court justices’ use of dictionaries in deciding cases. Perhaps not surprisingly to court watchers, they note that the justices almost never used dictionaries prior to the start of the Rehnquist Court, but now use them in as many as one-third of [...]

Although the presidential candidates rarely discussed it, much ink has been spilled in recent months over the effect that the presidential election would have on the Supreme Court. Although often overstated, the effect is significant. To be sure, Justice Ginsburg is likely to step down during the next four years. Given Obama’s tendency to appoint [...]

John Jenkins’ recent biography of the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist has engendered anger from the right and even embarrassment from some on the left. The biography is titled The Partisan, but one could be forgiven for believing the title refers to the author rather than the subject. According to Jenkins, Rehnquist’s judicial philosophy was [...]

Does a Founding-Era statute enable foreigners to sue other foreigners in federal court for conduct that took place overseas? That was the question facing the Supreme Court yesterday when it opened its latest term with arguments in Kiobel v Royal Dutch Petroleum. A 1789 statute, the Alien Tort Statute (ATS) states, “[t]he district courts shall [...]

In a victory for free speech in political campaigns earlier this week, the Ninth Circuit in Sanders County Republican Central Committee v. Bullock enjoined Montana from enforcing a Montana statute that prohibits political parties from endorsing judicial candidates. The court ruled that the law violates the First Amendment’s protection of speech. The Sanders County Republican [...]

In Texas v. Holder, the federal district court in Washington unanimously struck down a Texas voter ID law (henceforth “SB 14″) requiring that prospective voters present photo IDs before casting their ballots. Judge Tatel, writing for the three-judge panel, deemed SB 14 to be “retrogressive” and “the most stringent in the nation” — “far more [...]

The Supreme Court’s decision in United States v. Jones, rendered last January, proved anticlimactic for those followers of technology and the Fourth Amendment jurisprudence expecting an embrace or rejection of the mosaic theory promulgated by the D.C. Circuit in Maynard. Though the Court voted unanimously, holding that the government’s placement of a GPS tracking device [...]

Does the Constitution protect the property of homeless people who leave such property in public areas while they perform tasks such as eating and showering? The answer is yes, according to the Ninth Circuit. Judge Wardlaw, writing for the court in Lavan v City of Los Angeles, ruled that the 4th and 14th Amendments protects [...]

Patent law, traditionally thought by many to be a dull area of the law, has grabbed the legal spotlight recently. The recent patent infringement lawsuit between Apple and Samsung garnered daily headlines, and was dubbed the “Patent Trial of the Century” by the Wall Street Journal, among others. In another much-discussed lawsuit, Judge Richard Posner, [...]

HATCH’S OPENING STATEMENT AT THE SOTOMAYOR CONFIRMATION HEARING WASHINGTON – Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) delivered an opening statement today at the Senate Judiciary Committee’s confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. A senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Hatch’s opening statement at today’s hearing follows: