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The Courts and the Rule of Law
75 posts, newest first (page 2 of 4).
The Supreme Court Did Not Get Its Own Building Until 1935, a TimelineFor 145 years the Court borrowed rooms, from a New York exchange to a basement and the old Senate chamber, and the wait says much about the weakest branch. Samuel Chase's 1805 Impeachment and Why Judges Are Not Removed for Their RulingsThe only Supreme Court justice ever impeached was acquitted in 1805, setting the rule that judges go for misconduct, not for opinions the majority dislikes. The Exceptions Clause Gives Congress a Power Over the Courts It Rarely UsesArticle III lets Congress make exceptions to the Supreme Court's appellate jurisdiction, a check the Founders wrote in deliberately, best used rarely. Judicial Review Is in the Constitution's Logic, and Judicial Supremacy Is NotCourts must refuse to apply unconstitutional laws in the cases before them, but that duty does not make the Court sole interpreter for the other two branches. The Emergency Docket Explained, and Why Both Parties Complain About ItEmergency applications now carry some of the Court's weightiest work, decided fast without full briefing, and the complaints switch sides with the White House. Five Supreme Court Dissents That Later Became the Law of the LandA dissent is an appeal to the future; five lone or minority voices, from Harlan to Black to Rehnquist, were later vindicated, and each carries a lesson. What Happens in the Supreme Court's Conference Room After Oral ArgumentNine justices meet alone, speak by seniority and vote, then the writing begins; here is how the Court really decides, from argument to the June opinions. Four Votes to Hear a Case, Five to Win It, Inside the Supreme Court's DocketThousands of petitions reach the Court and few are heard; the rules that sort them, from Rule 10 to the rule of four, shape American law as much as rulings do. Moore v. Harper and the Independent State Legislature Theory That LostThe Court rejected the strongest independent legislature theory in 2023 yet kept a federal check on state courts, and the holding repays close reading. Elected, Appointed or the Missouri Plan, How the States Choose Their JudgesFour systems for choosing state judges trade accountability against independence differently, and a self-governing people should know which one it lives under. State Supreme Courts Decide More of Your Life Than the Nine in WashingtonContracts, property, crime, divorce and schools mostly live in state courts under state constitutions, so know your own state's high court. Qualified Immunity Divides Conservatives, and Both Sides Have a PointSome conservatives defend qualified immunity; others call it judge-made and unsupported by the 1871 statute. Both get a fair hearing, then a verdict. Ted Stevens, Tom DeLay and Rick Perry Were Charged, Then ClearedThree Republican officials were charged in cases that later fell apart. The record shows what one-sided prosecutions cost the accused and the public. Lawfare Defined, and How to Tell a Prosecution From a Campaign TacticLawfare is using courts and prosecutors to win what the ballot box would not give. Four tests tell a real prosecution from a political one. Universal Injunctions Barely Existed Before 1963, So Where Did They Come FromOne district judge blocking a law for the whole country is a modern invention, not a feature of the 1789 Judiciary Act, and both parties have used it. Eighteen-Year Term Limits for Justices Sound Tidy Until You Read Article IIITerm limits for justices would take an amendment, and conservatives disagree on whether that is wise. Both views get a hearing before the Founders' design. Nine Justices Since 1869, and Why the Number Should Stay NineCongress changed the Court's size repeatedly in its first 80 years, often for political reasons. The 1869 settlement held because both parties learned the cost. Six Myths About the Federalist Society, From Secret Lists to Party OrdersThe Federalist Society is a debate society that takes no case positions. Six common claims about it, tested against how it actually works, each with a verdict. Scalia's Lone Dissent in Morrison v. Olson Saw the Independent Counsel MessMorrison v. Olson upheld the independent counsel law 7 to 1 in 1988. Scalia's dissent proved right enough that Congress let the law die in 1999. What the 2018 Kavanaugh Hearings Taught About the Presumption of InnocenceThe 2018 Kavanaugh fight shows how fast a Senate hearing can drop basic fair-process rules, a lesson for every party and for the habit of presuming innocence. Clarence Thomas Went From Pin Point, Georgia, to the Court's Leading OriginalistFrom a Georgia marsh town to 1991 confirmation and decades of solo opinions, Clarence Thomas became the justice most willing to ask what the text first meant. The 1987 Bork Hearings Turned Supreme Court Confirmation Into a CampaignRobert Bork's defeat in 1987 turned confirmation from a review of credentials into a campaign over a nominee's philosophy. Here is the story and its cost. Presidential Immunity in Trump v. United States, Read Like a Law StudentTrump v. United States set three tiers of criminal immunity. Read the opinion, Barrett and the dissent, and judge it as a rule for every future president. Students for Fair Admissions Ended an Experiment That Began With Bakke in 1978Forty-five years after Bakke, the Court ended race-conscious admissions. Here is the path from Powell to Roberts, and what schools may still do.
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