Lindsay Beyerstein

How to read Ansche Hedgepeth?s French Fry… Kim Lane Scheppele has an outstanding analysis of John Roberts’ opinion in the case of Ansche Hedgepeth. Although the Hedgepeth case was doctrinally straightforward, the details of Roberts’ opinion shed considerable light on his attitudes towards civil liberties and the differences between himself and and Sandra Day O’Connor.

Step right up! Step right up! The Carnival of the unCapitalists has evolved from itinerant road show to glitzy themepark. A free community themepark, of course. The unCapitalist journal features commentary on international economy, trade, corporations, labor, poverty, and social justice. Attractions include, the the blog (complete with newswire), the community carnival, and the readers’ […]

Discipline and punish….The Democrats should have one priority going into the Supreme Court nominations process: party discipline. The Republicans are trying to convince the public that the president has the right to have his nominees confirmed. That’s absolutely ridiculous. Regardless of what you think about the judicial filibuster, the fact remains that every senator is […]

1-2-3, what are we fighting for? Iraqi Constitution May Curb Women’s Rights [NYT] Predictably*, the progressive features of the interim Iraqi constitution are being systematically expunged. The latest working draft of the new Iraqi constitution guarantees equal rights for women, except when equality conflicts with Islamic law. Article 14 of the draft constitution would require […]

Rove and Roberts….Looks like Bush expedited John Roberts’ Supreme Court nomination to deflect attention from the Karl Rove scandal. Sources said the timing of an announcement had been moved up in part to deflect attention away from a CIA leak controversy that has engulfed Bush’s top political adviser, Karl Rove. “It helps take Rove off […]

Von of Obsidian Wings notices an interesting exchange at Red State.org: Over on RedHot, Adam C., Mark Kilmer, and Augustine are debating ways to counter the impression that the repeal of Roe v. Wade means the repeal of legalized abortion. So, here we have a group of pro-lifers brainstorming about how to market the demise […]

FindLaw is assembling official documents pertaining to Karl Rove and the leak of the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame. Hat tip to Digby.

John Tierney has a good column in today’s New York Times called Punishing Pain. It’s about Richard Paey of Zephyrhills, Florida, who suffers from crippling nerve pain and multiple sclerosis. He is currently serving a 25-year minimum sentence for forging Percocet prescriptions, an accusation he denies. The prosecutors admits the sentence is harsh for a […]