http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/scotus/ en-us Sun, 5 Jul 2009 21:49:50 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2286122/posts What everyone knows: Most of America knows (beyond any reasonable doubt) that Barry Soetoro (aka Barack Hussein Obama) is not Constitutionally eligible to hold the office of President of the United States (POTUS) and Commander in Chief (CinC) (per Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution of the U.S.). Most of America also knows (beyond any reasonable doubt) that the members of Congress (all 535 of them), the Federal Courts, the Supreme Court, and ALL the Media (including FNC) are either ‘in the tank for’ or ‘paid off or intimidated by’ the illegitimate, criminal and Treasonous presumed President and Commander... PRAVDA http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2286122/posts#comment Sun, 5 Jul 2009 21:49:50 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2286148/posts Colin Powell Attacks Critics of Sotomayor Colin Powell, one of the nation's most prominent African-Americans, is going after people who attacked Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor because of her stand in favor of affirmative action. Powell, who's from the same Bronx neighborhood in New York as Sotomayor, said she should face "a spirited set of hearings" in the Senate. But he said the federal appeals court judge, who would be the first Hispanic justice, shouldn't be condemned for ruling against white firefighters who contended they suffered reverse discrimination. "What we can't continue to have is to have somebody like a... Newsmax http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2286148/posts#comment Sun, 5 Jul 2009 22:41:36 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284621/posts Jim Geraghty has some interesting insights about why liberals hate Sarah Palin so much -- in a word (or so), it's because she invalidates the most cherished parts of their world view. I think Jim's right, but I think there's even more to it than that. Governor Palin has been attacked with the kind of ferocity that few people in the public eye have ever experienced -- except, perhaps, for Justice Thomas and (to a lesser extent) Joe the Plumber. Why does the left reserve their most vicious derision for these three, and those like them? As I wrote last... Townhall http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284621/posts#comment Fri, 3 Jul 2009 03:52:02 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284710/posts THE Supreme Court's deci sion in Ricci v. DeStefano, the case of the New Haven firefighters, was a ringing endorsement of the Civil Rights Act of 1964's ban on racial discrimination and a repudiation of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's decision in the Second Circuit US Court of Appeals. While five justices flatly rejected Sotomayor's ruling, even the four dissenters wouldn't have let stand her ruling allowing the results of a promotion exam to be set aside because no black firefighter had a top score. Ricci is also something else: a riveting lesson in political sociology, thanks to the concurring... NY Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284710/posts#comment Fri, 3 Jul 2009 10:02:00 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284649/posts A heavily publicized U.S. Supreme Court reversal of an appeals court ruling by Judge Sonia Sotomayor has at least temporarily diminished public support for President Obama's first Supreme Court nominee. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey, conducted on the two nights following the Supreme Court decision, finds that 37% now believe Sotomayor should be confirmed while 39% disagree. Two weeks ago, the numbers were much brighter for the nominee. At that time, 42% favored confirmation, and 34% were opposed. Rasmussen Reports http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284649/posts#comment Fri, 3 Jul 2009 04:53:38 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284560/posts The Supreme Court's decision in Ricci v. DeStefano, the case of the New Haven firefighters, was a ringing endorsement of the Civil Rights Act of 1964's ban on racial discrimination and a repudiation of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's decision in the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. While five justices flatly rejected Sotomayor's ruling, even the four dissenters wouldn't have let stand her ruling allowing the results of a promotion exam to be set aside because no black firefighter had a top score. Ricci is also something else: a riveting lesson in political sociology, thanks to the concurring opinion... Townhall.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284560/posts#comment Fri, 3 Jul 2009 01:55:31 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284066/posts Public schools are filled with eager, fresh-faced youngsters, and prisons contain many rough-looking adults with uninviting personalities. But put aside that difference and you find some important similarities between the two places -- government-run facilities where individuals are held for a specific number of years without their consent, at the mercy of their custodians. For years, the Supreme Court has been doing its best to further blur the distinction by giving public-school officials the same powers as the warden of San Quentin. So it was a mild surprise last week to learn there are some abridgments of freedom and invasions... Townhall.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284066/posts#comment Thu, 2 Jul 2009 14:26:06 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2283713/posts JEFFERSON CITY — Two Missouri state representatives today attended meetings conducted by Orly Taitz in which the California dentist questioned the validity of the presidency of Barack Obama. Taitz alleges that Obama’s birth certificate is illegitimate, and even if it’s not, she says, he can’t be president because his father was Kenyan. She pushed her conspiracy theories and asked for money today at events in St. Charles and Jefferson City. Taitz said the Supreme Court is complicit in “illegal activity” for blocking her attempts to remove Obama from the presidency. Rep. Cynthia Davis, R- O’Fallon, who has gotten a bit... stltoday http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2283713/posts#comment Thu, 2 Jul 2009 00:24:34 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2283106/posts KANSAS CITY, MO. - The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Missouri's appeal to allow the state to enforce it's law restricting protests near funerals. The law targeted a Topeka Baptist church that protests military funerals. The Westboro Baptist Church filed a lawsuit against the state after it passed two laws creating a no protest buffer zone around funerals and processions. Westboro Baptist Church out of Topeka protests the funerals saying soldiers deaths are God's punishment because of U.S. policy toward homosexuals. Fox 4 KC.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2283106/posts#comment Wed, 1 Jul 2009 09:47:40 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2283022/posts For the fourth time in six cases, the Supreme Court of the United States has reversed a decision for which Judge Sonia Sotomayor voted on the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals. If this nominee were a white male, would this not raise questions about whether he should be elevated to a court that has found his previous decisions wrong two-thirds of the times when those decisions have been reviewed? Is no one supposed to ask questions about qualifications, simply because this nominee is Hispanic and a woman? Have we become that mindless? Qualifications are not simply a question of how... Townhall.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2283022/posts#comment Wed, 1 Jul 2009 04:05:10 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2282943/posts A district judge who held another ACORN worker for trial Monday on election law violations urged prosecutors to go after the real culprit, the organization that employed him. "Somebody has to go after ACORN," Senior District Judge Richard H. Zoller said about the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. "It's happening all over the country. All you have to do is turn on the television," he said, referring to voter registration fraud charges brought recently against ACORN and its workers in Nevada. "We will," Allegheny County Detective Robert F. Keenan promised as he wrapped up his testimony. A spokesman... Pittsburgh TRIBUNE-REVIEW http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2282943/posts#comment Wed, 1 Jul 2009 01:50:44 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2282958/posts That is the take from some friends at the Arkansas Judicial Network who have put this video together, urging you to contact Sens. Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor to tell them to oppose their fellow Democrat in the White House and vote against Judge Sonia Sotomayor: (snip) And that is the key. The people back home in Arkansas will note how Sen. Lincoln, who will be asking those very same people for her job back in 2010, will vote for this woman who, despite her wisdom, was overturned on a case which resonates. Remember, it was Mrs. Lincoln who tepidly... The K. Ryan James Blog http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2282958/posts#comment Wed, 1 Jul 2009 02:08:46 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2282771/posts Instead of rejoicing over the outcome of the Ricci case, the fact that four justices signed on to GInsubrg’s dissenting opinion fills me with both anger at liberals and dread that the liberal viewpoint will eventually triumph over reason and sensibility. Ginsburg writes, “The Court’s order and opinion, I anticipate, will not have staying power.” I translate this as meaning that Obama is going to be president for another seven and a half years, so the liberals are only one heart attack away from reversing Ricci and imposing their will. It’s an unusually unsportsmanlike statement and demonstrates a disrespect for... Half Sigma http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2282771/posts#comment Tue, 30 Jun 2009 21:17:36 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2282795/posts Unlike some of my predictions, this one proved out. In fact, even Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's 39-page dissent for the four more liberal justices quietly but unmistakably rejected the Sotomayor-endorsed position that disparate racial results alone justified New Haven's decision to dump the promotional exam without even inquiring into whether it was fair and job-related. Justice Ginsburg also suggested clearly -- as did the Obama Justice Department, in a friend-of-the-court brief -- that the Sotomayor panel erred in upholding summary judgment for the city. Ginsburg said that the lower courts should have ordered a jury trial to weigh the evidence... National Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2282795/posts#comment Tue, 30 Jun 2009 21:58:11 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2282639/posts The United States Supreme Court on Monday overturned the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals decision in the Ricci v. DeStefano case raising further concerns over Judge Sonya Sotomayor’s Supreme Court nomination. Many have raised serious concerns over the way she handled the case, including fellow 2nd Circuit Court Judge Jose Cabranes, a Clinton appointee and the Obama Justice Department which filed a brief arguing that Sotomayor’s panel had incorrectly dismissed the case. In the Ricci case, Sotomayor held that a group of white firefighters had not been subjected to discrimination when they were not promoted even though they had the... HumanEvents.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2282639/posts#comment Tue, 30 Jun 2009 18:41:42 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2282259/posts It isn't often that the justices of the US Supreme Court publicly rebuke a pro spective colleague on the eve of con firmation hearings. But that's essentially what the court did yesterday, as it narrowly ruled in favor of white firefighters in New Haven, Conn., who argued that they'd been the victims of reverse racial discrimination. For, in so doing, the high court reversed Sonia Sotomayor and her colleagues on the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, who had found against the white firefighters. Even those justices who didn't support the firefighters' claim implicitly questioned why Sotomayor, et al., disposed of... NYPost http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2282259/posts#comment Tue, 30 Jun 2009 10:10:00 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2282181/posts JUNE 30, 2009 Firefighter Justice The Supremes, Sotomayor, and racial jurisprudence. The Supreme Court closed an otherwise unremarkable term on a high note yesterday, rejecting the notion that one kind of racial bias can be remedied by another. On the last day of opinions before the Court is potentially joined by Judge Sonia Sotomayor, the Justices overturned one of her most closely scrutinized cases on workplace discrimination. The effect was to take an important step away from the practice of divvying up jobs by race. Writing for a 5-4 majority in Ricci v. deStefano, Justice Anthony Kennedy said that the... Wall St. Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2282181/posts#comment Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:19:32 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2282152/posts The Supreme Court yesterday restricted how far employers may go in considering race in hiring and promotion decisions, a ruling that puts workplaces across the nation on notice that efforts to combat potential discrimination against one group can amount to actual discrimination against another. The court ruled for white firefighters in New Haven, Conn., who said city officials violated their rights when it threw out the results of a promotions test on which few minorities scored well. The case drew outsize attention because President Obama's nominee for the high court, Judge Sonia Sotomayor, had been part of a unanimous panel... Washington Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2282152/posts#comment Tue, 30 Jun 2009 03:18:48 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2282136/posts WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court ordered new hearings in a case challenging McCain-Feingold, the law that aims to restrict political spending at election time, signaling the possibility it is considering a more sweeping approach to the question. The court had been expected to rule Monday on a narrow question on whether McCain-Feingold applied to electioneering materials delivered through video-on-demand services. The case before the court involves a critical documentary about Hillary Clinton released during the presidential primary. The question before the court was whether it should be considered a campaign ad and regulated as such. Instead, the court asked the... The Wall Street Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2282136/posts#comment Tue, 30 Jun 2009 02:50:54 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2282098/posts Although New Haven's firefighters deservedly won in the Supreme Court, it is deeply depressing that they won narrowly — 5-4. The egregious behavior by that city's government, in a context of racial rabble-rousing, did not seem legally suspect to even one of the court's four liberals, whose harmony seemed to reflect result-oriented rather than law-driven reasoning. The undisputed facts are that in 2003 the city gave promotion exams to 118 firemen, 27 of them black. The tests were prepared by a firm specializing in employment exams and were validated, as federal law requires, by independent experts. When none of the... IBD Editorials http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2282098/posts#comment Tue, 30 Jun 2009 02:00:44 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2282116/posts The Supreme Court ruled today that white firefighters in New Haven, Conn., were unfairly denied promotions because of their race, reversing a decision that high court nominee Sonia Sotomayor endorsed as an appeals court judge. New Haven was wrong to scrap a promotion exam because no African-Americans and only two Hispanic firefighters were likely to be made lieutenants or captains based on the results, the court said today in a 5-4 decision. The city said that it had acted to avoid a lawsuit from minorities. The ruling could alter employment practices nationwide and make it harder to prove discrimination when... Worcester Telegram http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2282116/posts#comment Tue, 30 Jun 2009 02:25:23 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2281956/posts There is no doubt that prior to the announcement of the Ricci decision, the panel would be terribly circumscribed in questioning Sotomayor about her views on affirmative action which led her to join in the now reversed opinion. They are freer now to ask more direct questions. And prior to today, her chances of confirmation were insurmountable. Sotomayor’s views are at odds with those of most Americans, and the panel is now free to highlight that fact and remind the voters that one more vacancy in the majority of this panel under the Obama administration and we will be certain... Pajamas Media http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2281956/posts#comment Mon, 29 Jun 2009 23:04:15 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2281903/posts WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court ruled on Monday, in a case with enormous implications for workplaces across the country, that white firefighters in New Haven suffered unfair discrimination because of their race when the city scrapped the results of a promotional exam. “The city’s action in discarding the tests violated Title VII,” the court held in a 5-to-4 decision, referring to a section of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The majority said the city’s fundamental arguments were “blatantly contradicted by the record.” Monday’s decision in Ricci v. DeStefano, No. 07-1428, came on the last day of the court’s term... NY Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2281903/posts#comment Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:32:37 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2281838/posts WASHINGTON (AP) - Spinning a Supreme Court decision in its favor, the White House said Monday that the justices' reversal of a ruling that high court nominee Sonia Sotomayor endorsed as an appeals court judge proves that she follows judicial precedent. The high court ruled that white firefighters in New Haven, Conn., were unfairly denied promotions because of their race. Presidential spokesman Robert Gibbs said the ruling should put to rest claims by Sotomayor 's Senate critics that she's an activist judge breitbart http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2281838/posts#comment Mon, 29 Jun 2009 20:19:42 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2281785/posts The Supreme Court Monday declined to review the challenge by CNN and some major studios to Cablevision's use of a remote DVR service. The decision paves the way for Cablevision to deploy the service later this summer, according to the company. The Solicitor General had recommended the court not take the case. ‘We are very pleased that the U.S. Supreme Court today declined to hear a challenge to Cablevision's Remote Digital Recording Service," said Public Knowledge President Gigi Sohn. "From a common-sense point of view, the lower court, and the U.S. Solicitor General, were correct in their interpretation of the... Broadcasting & Cable http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2281785/posts#comment Mon, 29 Jun 2009 19:21:01 GMT