This week, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments related to two cases about gay rights. READ MORE >>
Law School Confidential—How to Fix Legal Education
Obama Should Pack the (Lower) Courts
Yes, we know we’re tempting fate. But we figure there’s a 50 percent chance Obama will get reelected, and in any case he needs an agenda to campaign on. So we’ve asked a number of TNR writers to explain what they think Obama should focus on for the next four years if he wins in November. Click here to read the collected contributions. READ MORE >>
In Defense of Dick Vitale
When I was 18, I met ESPN announcer Dick Vitale on a flight to Charlottesville, Virginia. The photo I had taken with him that day is still, years later, proudly displayed in my apartment. The reason is simple: I absolutely, unapologetically love Dick Vitale. READ MORE >>
Supreme Anxiety
Monday was the last day of this year’s Supreme Court term—one widely seen as notable not for what was decided but, rather, for coming before what could be a momentous 2011-2012 term, when decisions on gay marriage and health care, to mention just two issues, could be handed down. Years from now, however, we might be talking about this term as significant for another reason: It was when Sonia Sotomayor became the most well-known and effective member of the Court’s liberal wing. READ MORE >>
When Security is Bad for Democracy
Going Robe
Last month, the Senate voted to confirm Judge David Hamilton to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Getting a judge confirmed is always a good thing for a president. But it's hard to view what happened to Hamilton as a victory for Obama. In fact, if anything, the episode suggests that the president's approach to nominating federal appellate judges is seriously misguided. READ MORE >>
Old World
Attention was understandably focused on Sonia Sotomayor this week, as her confirmation hearings unfolded. But what about Obama's other judicial nominees? The president has so far nominated five judges to federal circuit courts. On average, these nominees are 55 years old, more than a decade older than Sotomayor was when she was nominated to the Second Circuit. (She was 43.) For years, Republicans have been nominating sharp young conservatives to the lower federal courts. READ MORE >>
