As the controversy over the Bush administration's regime of detainee torture continues to fester, the fate of appeals court Judge Jay Bybee hangs in the balance. Even as the torture memo author lobbied his Nevada Congressional delegation to come to his defense, New York Republican Peter King declared, "Judge Bybee should be given a medal […]

On Monday, the New Republic's prominent legal analyst Jeffrey Rosen published a rumor-filled assessment of Obama Supreme Court short-lister, Sonia Sotomayor. And by Thursday, as ThinkProgress reported, what Glenn Greenwald deemed Rosen's "anonymous smears" and "a model of shoddy journalism" were being parroted throughout the media. But as to why Rosen took a tabloid approach […]

The end of the Souter era on the U.S. Supreme Court also officially marks the beginning of the GOP's new found love of the judicial filibuster. After years in the majority insisting President Bush's picks for the bench deserved an "up or down vote," the same Republican Senators are now threatening to turn to the […]

By a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court Tuesday upheld new FCC fines against broadcasters who air "fleeting expletives" such as those used in recent years by Bono, Cher and Nicole Richie. In his majority opinion, Justice Antonin Scalia as usual missed no opportunity for a skirmish in the culture wars, blasting "foul-mouthed glitteratae from Hollywood." […]

On Tuesday, former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor appeared on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart to promote OurCourts.org, her new online civics education project. But while O'Connor's goal is to counter alarming statistics including "only a third of Americans can name the three branches of government," her understandable motivation was the growing right-wing […]

When it comes to Americans' reproductive rights, it's amazing what a difference one week - and one new president - makes. On Sunday, President Bush offered a final parting gift to anti-abortion extremists in the form of "National Sanctity of Human Life Day." But by Thursday, President Barack Obama marked the 36th anniversary of the […]

In one of the most condescending and baseless Supreme Court opinions in recent memory, Justice Anthony Kennedy in April 2007 upheld a federal late term abortion ban on the grounds that "some women come to regret their choice." Now 18 months later, an exhaustive study of 20 years of research concluded that there is no […]

Nothing focuses the mind, the expression goes, like the sight of the gallows. And so it is for beaten and battered Senate Republicans when it comes to the use of the filibuster to block the judicial nominees of President Barack Obama. After years of insisting President Bush's picks for the bench deserved an "up or […]

This week's revelation that Sarah Palin could not name a U.S. Supreme Court decision she opposed other than Roe v. Wade only served to confirm once again that she is the ideal running mate for John McCain. Clearly oblivious to Dred Scott, Plessy v. Ferguson and other supreme stains on the nation, Palin reminded Americans […]

Almost three years after his indictment on conspiracy and money laundering charges, former House Majority Leader Tom Delay may escape prosecution. Thanks to a technicality in Texas' money laundering statute, the man who once compared himself to Jesus may walk out of court, if not on water. The Austin Statesman reported this morning that the […]