The New Republic

The Supreme Court this month is hearing two potentially landmark cases on race. The first challenges Congress's extension of the Voting Rights Act; the second, a controversial affirmative action program in New Haven. In both cases, the Court may force Barack Obama to do what he has the unique skills but not the political incentive to do at the moment: carve out a third way in the race debate, one that rejects the extremes of conservative color- blindness and liberal racialism.Ever since the civil rights era, anti-discrimination law has been READ MORE >>

The Supreme Court this month is hearing two potentially landmark cases on race. The first challenges Congress's extension of the Voting Rights Act; the second, a controversial affirmative action program in New Haven. In both cases, the Court may force Barack Obama to do what he has the unique skills but not the political incentive to do at the moment: carve out a third way in the race debate, one that rejects the extremes of conservative color-blindness and liberal racialism. READ MORE >>

This is the first in a series of reports by TNR legal affairs editor Jeffrey Rosen about the strengths and weaknesses of the leading candidates on Barack Obama’s Supreme Court shortlist. READ MORE >>

READ MORE >>

No former Bush administration official has been more vilified as a torturing monster than John Yoo. And, for years, one of Yoo's most severe critics has been former Clinton Justice official Dawn Johnsen. Last April, Johnsen called Yoo a "rogue legal adviser," declaring that the "shockingly flawed content" of one of his notorious memos justifying torture--along with the "horrific acts it encouraged ... all demand our outrage." Her attacks were so fervent, in fact, that Mother Jones branded her the "anti-Yoo." Now, READ MORE >>

No former Bush administration official has been more vilified as a torturing monster than John Yoo. And, for years, one of Yoo's most severe critics has been former Clinton Justice official Dawn Johnsen. Last April, Johnsen called Yoo a "rogue legal adviser," declaring that the "shockingly flawed content" of one of his notorious memos justifying torture--along with the "horrific acts it encouraged ... READ MORE >>

Chief Justice Roberts fumbled the oath of office, apparently rattled by the fact that President Obama jumped in to repeat his name before Roberts had completed the first clause. This reminds us of the importance of pre-inaugural consultation between the Chief Justice and President-elect. In February 1933, days before Franklin D. READ MORE >>

Michael Chertoff needs an office. When I interviewed the secretary of Homeland Security this summer, we met in a pair of temporary locations between which he shuttles--first in the decaying Nebraska Avenue Complex of the naval station at Ward Circle (a center for signal analysis during World War II) and later in an unmarked and unfurnished office in the nondescript headquarters of U.S. Customs and Border Protection in the Ronald Reagan building, near the White House. READ MORE >>

We have an indecency problem. Really. READ MORE >>

On Election Day, as the Supreme Court was debating the Bush administration's decision to fine TV networks for broadcasting "fleeting utterances" of the words "fuck" and "shit," an obscenity scandal in Britain cast light on the question before the justices: Can a single expletive actually be considered indecent? READ MORE >>