The New Republic, October 1, 2007 It’s the first Monday in October, the day the Supreme Court begins its term, and I’m supposed to be salivating. For legal writers, after all, this is opening day of a new season. And the justices have some big cases on their schedule: the fate of Guantanamo detainees, the […]
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The Supreme Court’s Looming Legitimacy Crisis
The New Republic, June 25, 2007 Real Clear Politics calculates President Bush’s average approval rating at 31 percent. Congress comes in even lower, at 25. But not every government institution is polling badly. In a recent Gallup poll, 51 percent of Americans approved of the performance of the Supreme Court of the United States. Yes, […]
Justice Delayed
The Atlantic Magazine, March 2006 Whatever happened to Zacarias Moussaoui? Moussaoui is the only person criminally charged in the United States for taking part in the September 11 conspiracy. He pleaded guilty to the charges against him last spring without a deal to spare him the death penalty. So he now faces a jury trial, […]
Without Precedent
The Atlantic Magazine, September 2005 Conservatives complain that the Supreme Court is too liberal. Liberals complain that it’s too conservative. Both charges are inaccurate: in reality the Court is a careful political actor that arguably represents the center of gravity of American politics better than most politicians do. The real problem is not the Supreme […]
The Hapless Toad
The Atlantic Magazine, May 2005 Liberals talk as if the world will end if President Bush gets to name some new Supreme Court justices. How much of the danger is hype, and how much of it is real? It’s mostly hype. In general liberals fear conservative judges far too much. In almost all areas, in […]
Confirmation Class
The Atlantic Magazine, April 2005 The Senate will soon need to gear up to hold confirmation proceedings for a new chief justice of the United States. Any advice for the Judiciary Committee? Oh, just skip them. Unless President Bush commits an act of true statesmanship in nominating the next head of the federal judiciary, the […]
Letting Go of Roe
The Atlantic Magazine, January / February 2005 Are we about to suffer through another horrible Supreme Court nomination dominated by abortion politics? Bet on it. With Chief Justice William Rehnquist seriously ill, the prospect of a Supreme Court vacancy early in George Bush’s second term looms over American politics. The script for this—and every—Republican high-court […]
Supreme Irony
The Atlantic Magazine, November 2004 According to a New York Times editorial, George Bush says that if re-elected, he would “try to finish packing the [Supreme] Court against Roe v. Wade, the decision validating abortion rights, which four members say they want to strike down.” If voters elect a Democratic President, the Republican candidate predicts, […]
Suspended Sentencing
The Atlantic Magazine, October 26, 2004 When Dwight W. Watson first came before U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson for sentencing, on June 23, the judge gave him six years in prison. Watson was the North Carolina tobacco farmer who paralyzed a section of Washington, D.C., for two days last year by driving a tractor […]
Benjamin Wittes 