POL335: Web Readings Page

I will post web readings here as the course progresses.

From class discussion, week 2:

• see Jack Balkin (Yale), "Why the confirmation process is broken."
• Toronto Star, Editorial 2/2/04, "Don't Tinker with the Supreme Court"
• History News Network reprints the historians' amicus brief in Lawrence v. Texas, here.
• General Motors amicus brief in Grutter v. Bollinger, from Findlaw (pdf file here).
• See also Findlaw's April 2003 case listings here (the first two are the affirmative action cases)
• ACLJ web site here

On Justice Scalia, duck-hunting, and recusal, follow these links:

• Former Supreme Court law clerk Edward Lazarus, "Why Justice Scalia is Wrong to Refuse to Recuse Himself from a Case Involving Dick Cheney and his Energy Task Force"
• "Scalia was Cheney Hunt Trip Guest; Ethics Concern Grows," LA Times, 2/5/04 (registration required) (this link and the previous from How Appealing )
• An AP story picked up in the NJ Star Ledger, "Rehnquist spurns Scalia ethics doubts"
• This post at Balasubramania's Mania, with links to more articles
• Justice Scalia's 3/18/2004 memorandum explaining his refusal to recuse himself
• Mike Luckovich's AJC 3/19/2004 cartoon

Edward Lazarus, "The Supreme Court's Voting Strategies: a New 'Defensive Denial' Dynamic."

On same-sex marriage:

• "Bush Plans to Back Marriage Amendment," Washington Post, 2/11/04
• Lea Brilmeyer, "Same-sex Marriage Raises Legal Questions," Washington Post, 2/15/04
• Gavin Newsome's mayoral letter from 2/10/04 on marriage licenses.
• Eugene Volokh's argument in defense of Newsome
• William Kristol, Joseph Bottum, "For the Marriage Amendment," The Weekly Standard, 2/23/04
• "President Calls for a Constitutional Amendment Protecting Marriage," White House page
• Jack Balkin in FMA here, here, and here
• Adam from Southern Appeal here

Nice picture of a Heckler & Koch Model 91 (don't know if this was the precise model used in the shoot-out at issue in Whitfield v. Heckler & Koch, Carter and Burke, 65-67, though)

On Boy Scouts of America v. Dale:

• Claremont's page in support of the Boy Scouts
• The Becket Fund press release in support of the Court's decision
• Lambda Legal Fund's page on the case
• Full text of the opinions here, from Cornell's Legal Information Institute
• Page on the Connecticut case involving charitable contributions to the Scouts
• Howard Bashman has information and links on the ongoing litigation coming out of Connecticut; the Supreme Court is set to decide on Friday whether or not to grant certiorari.

Brookings page on Bush v. Gore

In preparation for our discussion of Devins, you might be interested in Larry Kramer's "We the People: Who Has the Last Word on the Constitution?" (via Howard Bashman)

The California Supreme Court's recent decision in Catholic Charities (PDF File). Ask yourself: are you persuaded by the opinions? Do they do a good job at what Carter and Burke call "harmonizing"? News coverage of the case is here.

*** See Linda Greenhouse's article on the papers of Justice Harry Blackmun, here. See also NPR's page on Blackmun, with selections from interviews with him, here. And via Howard Bashman, see the Library of Congress page here for access to portions of Justice Blackmun's papers.

Current Supreme Court cases dealing with the "war on terrorism":

1. Hamdi v. Rumsfeld:
   • On the Docket
   • ACLU page
   • Findlaw resources page
2. Rumsfeld v. Padilla:
   • On the Docket
   • Findlaw resources page
3. Rasul v. Bush and Al Odah v. Bush:
   • On the Docket
   • A Veteran Gives Voice to Guantanamo Case , Vanessa Blum Legal Times, 4/20/04. From law.com
   • Link to recording of oral argument here. Via C-span.
   • Text of U.S. treaties with Cuba concerning Guantanamo.

On the Alien Torts Claims Act:

• Tony Mauro, "High Court Struggles with Alien Tort Statute," Legal Times, 3/31/04
• Warren Richey, "When can foreigners sue in US courts? " Christian Science Monitor, 3/29/04
• Rick Jurgens, "Judge Allows Nigerian Lawsuit against ChevronTexaco to Continue," Miami Herald, 3/26/04 (from here)

"White House, counsel split on gay rights," Boston Globe, 4/1/04

Floor Debate on the Community Services Block Grant Act of 2004: Congressional Record page H320, H321 (PDF files)

Comments by Yale law professor Jack Balkin on H.R. 3920, the Congressional Responsibility for Judicial Activism Act (bill text here)

"Federal abortion trial comes to an end, decision soon." Jeff Chorney, The Recorder, 4/20/04. From law.com.

From discussion on 4/26 (on judicial nominations):

• White House page on judicial nominations
• ACLJ press release on judicial nominations
• NARAL page on judicial nominations
• As politics flare, judicial appointments takes a 'recess,' Gail Russell Chaddock, Christian Science Monitor, 4/6/2004

Failed bargaining at the cert stage? From 4/26, Scalia's dissent from denial of cert in the VMI prayer case, Bunting v. Mellen, here (pdf file). The dissent was joined by Rehnquist and provoked a response by Stevens, joined by Ginsburg and Breyer, here (pdf file)

On Brett Kavanaugh's DC Circuit Court nomination:

• C-span video of Kavanaugh's nomination hearing (available for the next few days only)
• Bush Aide on Court Nominees Faces Fire as Nominee Himself, Neil Lewis, NYT 4/28/04 (on Brett Kavanaugh's nomination hearing)