by David H. Gans, Director of the Human Rights, Civil Rights, and Citizenship Program, Constitutional Accountability Center
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June, 2009
June 18, 2009
June 17, 2009
As we blogged about earlier this week here and here, Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor has come under baseless criticism from property rights advocates that she has, in the words of the Washington Times, a “bias against private property.” As we discussed, the attacks stem from the Second Circuit’s resolution of two cases growing out of successful efforts by the Village of Port Chester, New York, to redevelop its blighted downtown and waterfront areas th
June 17, 2009
Yesterday, Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) delivered a speech at the University of the District of Columbia’s David A. Clarke School of Law, during which he discussed the Supreme Court and the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to replace retiring Justice David Souter.
June 15, 2009
Earlier today, we posted Part I of our response to conservatives' claims that Judge Sotomayor has a "bias against private property" -- the screaming headline of a recent Washington Times editorial -- an attack founded on unjustified criticism of the Second Circuit's resolution of litigation involving the efforts of Port Chester, New York, to redevelop its blighted downtown and waterfront areas. In Part I, we demonstrated why the case of Bart Didden provides no support for conservatives' claims.
June 15, 2009
A story in today's New York Times paints Republicans as eager to make Judge Sonia Sotomayor's views on property rights a big issue in her confirmation hearings.
June 10, 2009
by Judith E. Schaeffer, Vice President, Constitutional Accountability Center
June 9, 2009
by Elizabeth Wydra, Chief Counsel, Constitutional Accountability Center
Chief Justice Roberts’s dissent from yesterday’s ruling in Caperton v. A.T. Massey Coal Co. (discussed here), joined by Justices Alito, Scalia, and Thomas, trots out the legal aphorism that “hard cases make bad law” in criticizing Justice Kennedy’s majority opinion holding that a West Virginia judge was disqualified from hearing a high-stakes case involving a major campaign contributor.
June 9, 2009
On Monday, Constitutional Accountability Center’s Chief Counsel, Elizabeth Wydra, and Director of the Human Rights, Civil Rights, and Citizenship Program, David Gans, discussed CAC’s important work on the Privileges or Immunities Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment with Professor Steven Schwinn of the Constitutional Law Prof Blog.
June 8, 2009
In a resounding victory for due process of law, the Supreme Court today held in Caperton v. Massey Coal that the Constitution was violated by an elected West Virginia state Supreme Court judge’s refusal to recuse himself from hearing an appeal involving his largest single campaign supporter.
June 8, 2009
The Supreme Court has just released its opinion (available here) in Caperton v. Massey Coal. Courtesy of today's SCOTUSBlog liveblog: