Tag Archives: SCOTUSblog

Waiting for #SCOTUS: Tweets from the Peanut Gallery

Law, Politics, , , , , , , ,

As the Supreme Court inches toward the end of its term in late June with fourteen cases still undecided, court-watchers are now surging toward Twitter and SCOTUSblog every Monday and Thursday morning at 10 a.m. EST in anticipation of history-making rulings on same-sex marriage, voting rights, and affirmative action in higher education. No one outside of the Court knows what and how many opinions are issued on any given day–and we did not in fact get any of the aforementioned “marquee” decisions today, which only adds to the tension for Thursday–but waiting is half the fun, right?

Here’s a roundup of today’s action in tweet form, showing our collective breath being held, held, held and then released over the span of 30 long minutes (thus freeing everyone up with time to spare for the Edward Snowden Q&A). In all, #SCOTUS handed down five opinions today, including a couple of important criminal procedure decisions and an Arizona voter registration ruling that saw Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Scalia siding with the liberal wing of the Court against the state’s proof-of-citizenship requirement. It also agreed to hear oral argument in four more cases for its next term. We begin with the one and only SCOTUSblog, the definitive source for everything Court-related:

https://twitter.com/CaptainSemantic/status/346621336346583041

https://twitter.com/ben_mccall/status/346628902707417089

https://twitter.com/CBSAndrew/status/346629167443480577

https://twitter.com/feddog/status/346687368755027969

https://twitter.com/CU_Health/status/346659487769296896

https://twitter.com/bradagreenberg/status/346674223080669187

https://twitter.com/ryanjreilly/status/346630143483187200

https://twitter.com/briansrants/status/346667416614469632

https://twitter.com/khjEsq/status/346705366123438081

https://twitter.com/ishapiro/status/346635203642527745

https://twitter.com/Nagler/status/346632712490205186

https://twitter.com/julierheinstrom/status/346632980514631680

https://twitter.com/sahilkapur/status/346633327219990528

https://twitter.com/Nagler/status/346640304616640512

https://twitter.com/ishapiro/status/346632388203401216

https://twitter.com/Profepps/status/346674687289487360

https://twitter.com/pourmecoffee/status/346634276667793408

The Supreme Court decision will (not) be televised

Law, Media, , , , , , , , , , ,
Courtesy of TheAtlantic.com.
…Even though the world might be a better place with Sotomayor reaction GIFs. Picture via TheAtlantic.com.

I’m of two minds about Al Tompkins’ Poynter piece (excerpted below) advocating cameras in the Supreme Court, which Andrew Sullivan highlighted on The Dish yesterday:

This is at the heart of what courts do every day in America; they hear the people’s business. It’s not entertainment, like Judge Judy. It is a living civics lesson, and exactly what the public should be able to see.

Live coverage would give the people unfettered access to the words the justices say, and would make it harder for journalists to add their own spin. Live coverage would also help us visualize what’s going on much more than words can.

My thoughts can be divided into roughly two camps: (1) SCOTUS’ Problem with Embracing Technology (or, Why I Think We Will See Live Video of Arguments In the Future), and (2) SCOTUS’ Problem with Protecting Court Integrity (Why Cameras are Both Good and Bad). Continue reading The Supreme Court decision will (not) be televised →

Supreme Court to Hear Prop 8, DOMA case

Law, Politics, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Photo by: J. Emilio Flores for the New York Times
Photo by: J. Emilio Flores for the New York Times

SCOTUSblog is reporting that the Supreme Court has granted certiorari to both Hollingsworth v. Perry, the California Proposition 8 case, and United States v. Windsor, a Defense of Marriage Act challenge. The Court will hear arguments in the two cases when it reconvenes in 2013.

Lyle Denniston has a preliminary breakdown of the order on SCOTUSblog’s live blog:

Prop. 8 is granted on the petition question — whether 14th Am. bars Calif. from defining marriage in traditional way. Plus an added question: Whether the backers of Prop.. 8 have standing in the case under Art. III.

[With regards to United States v. Windsor]: In addition to the petition question — whether Sec. 3 of DOMA violates equal protection under 5th Amendment, there are two other questions: does the fact that government agreed with the [Second Circuit] decision deprive the Court of jurisdiction to hear and decide the case, and whether BLAG (House GOP leaders) has Art. III standing in this case.

There is a good deal of complexity in the marriage orders, but the bottom line is this: the Court has offered to rule on Prop. 8 and on DOMA Section 3, but it also has given itself a way not to decide either case. That probably depends upon how eager the Justices are to get to the merits; if they are having trouble getting to 5 [justices] on the merits, they may just opt out through one of the procedural devices they have offered up as potentials.

More coverage of this development can be found here, here, here and here.