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Today the U.S. Supreme Court begins its second full term since President Bush’s appointments of Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Samuel Alito. Given the complaints made by many on the left and in the press about the Court’s alleged “radical turn to the right” last year, now is a good time to consider how the Court ought to decide its constitutional cases. This question is made all the more urgent by the fact that on Jan. 20, 2009, six of the nine current justices will be over the age of 70, an age at which many people either...

SACRAMENTO -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger named Carol A. Corrigan to the California Supreme Court this morning, replacing an ideological conservative with a judicial moderate. Corrigan is a former prosecutor, former Democrat and self-described centrist who will replace the notable conservative Justice Janice Rogers Brown, who left last summer to take up a presidential appointment to a federal appeals court in Washington, D.C. "She's a brilliant jurist," Schwarzenegger said today, referring to Corrigan as "classy," "experienced" and "knowledgeable." Corrigan, 57, becomes the sixth Republican on the court. One justice is a Democrat. Corrigan's appointment leaves no African Americans on the state's...

Stop Liberals From Filibustering the Faithful ... Protect America By Kevin Fobbs April 27, 2005 Somewhere along the way the liberals on Capitol Hill got it all wrong. They earnestly and quite mistakenly believe that the rule of law in America is that a minority of disaffected senators should deny Americans and the president the right to see the Constitution work the way the framers and architects intended it work. They are banking on the fact that most Americans will either be too tired to hear one more word about the filibuster or so tuned out about it use or...

"The overriding concern liberals say they have about Janice Rogers Brown is the unsubstantiated claim that she is out of the mainstream," notes Project 21 member Donald Scoggins. "If you look at her life and her achievements, she is well within what anyone could rationally consider mainstream. In fact, she stands out as someone who embodies American ideals." Associate Justice Brown is the daughter of an Alabama sharecropper who began her education in a segregated school. Her family later moved to California where she earned a law degree and spent the last 25 years in public service. After serving in...

WASHINGTON — Sen. Edward Kennedy is trying to file a "friend of the court," or amicus, brief that argues that the recess appointment of Judge William Pryor Jr. was unconstitutional, according to a new court document. The request was sent Wednesday to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in the case of Adefemi v. Ashcroft, which challenges a Board of Immigration Appeals (search) decision that the now-defunct Immigration and Naturalization Service had enough evidence to deport Adefemi, a citizen of Nigeria, on a firearms offense. The case is set for arguments in front of the full court, or "en banc,"...

Ashcroft lobbies for Bush court nominee Estrada needs support of at least 1 Democrat on judiciary panel 09/25/2002 Associated Press WASHINGTON - In desperate need of just one Democrat to salvage President Bush's judicial nomination of Miguel Estrada, Republican politicians and some Hispanic advocacy groups on Tuesday lobbied Democrats to set aside partisan and ideological concerns and confirm the first Hispanic to the nation's second-highest court. Attorney General John Ashcroft, who mostly has been quiet on judicial nominations this year, praised Mr. Estrada from the steps of the Supreme Court and called on senators "to rise above the bitterness...

Rehnquist may retire by '03, court observers say Age, accomplishments and politics could lead to chief justice's exit 09/22/2002 Associated Press WASHINGTON - Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist is 77, has been on the job for more than three decades and has a bad back, so retiring to read, write and work on his tennis swing would seem reasonable. But for Justice Rehnquist, the prospect of retirement is fraught with political consequences. Retirement rumors have swirled around Justice Rehnquist for several years, and the judge is keeping his thoughts on the subject to himself. But age, accomplishment and politics...

Senate panel agrees to postpone vote on Texas jurist Owen 08/01/2002 By MICHELLE MITTELSTADT / The Dallas Morning News WASHINGTON - The Senate Judiciary Committee postponed a vote Wednesday on the nomination of Texan Priscilla Owen for a federal appeals court seat, pushing the judicial battle into September when Congress returns from its summer break. The vote, set just a week after the Texas Supreme Court justice was grilled by Democrats during her confirmation hearing, was delayed at the request of the White House, said committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. Also Online How the nomination process works(from IndependentJudiciary.com) Priscilla...

Dallas judge's nomination for federal bench stalls 05/02/2002 Associated Press WASHINGTON - The nomination of Dallas state district Judge David C. Godbey stalled Thursday in a Senate committee because of a private matter that senators said they had to discuss. Godbey, 160th District Court judge, had been recommended in August by Sens. Phil Gramm and Kay Bailey Hutchison and nominated by President Bush in January to be a U.S. district judge for the Northern District of Texas. His nomination must be approved by a Senate committee and the Senate. David C. Godbey Vermont Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy, chairman of...