Now that October Term 2011 is over, SCOTUSBlog has released their Supreme Court stat pack, which is remarkably comprehensive. Among other things, it reveals that Scalia and Thomas agreed the most in judgment this term (93.3 percent of the time), while Scalia and Ginsburg agreed the least (56 percent of the time).
Joe Posnanski wraps up the national championship game, and Wright Thompson delivers the goods from Augusta. One of the bigger stories emerging from The Masters wasn’t winner Charl Schwartzel but rather the club’s denying access to the locker room to Bergen Record reporter Tara Sullivan because she’s a woman. We don’t often condone the use of “Really?” as a stand-alone reaction, but…really? Sullivan, who anyone in the business knows is a pro’s pro, wrote about the experience here — a “misunderstanding” according to Augusta National, which somewhat famously doesn’t have any female members — while also delivering her regularly scheduled column on Rory McIlroy. You may also remember Sullivan writing about the Ines Sainz scandal with the New York Jets back in the fall.
We doubt we could construct a better theoretical piece of sports journalism than Joe Posnanski on Vin Scully. It works practically, as well.
To appease Tim’s burgeoning Auburn fandom (WAR EAGLE!) on a week where Alabama lost, here’s a multi-angle view at QB Cam Newton’s remarkable throw on Saturday night (Tim: “College football play of the century, obvs”) and an in-depth look at one of the University’s most well-known recent grads. You may not know who Alice Fraasa is, but we bet you’ve seen her. Both, by the way, are courtesy of the excellent War Eagle Reader (for all the other, NPI/Auburn fans).
What we read while wondering where Mo Williams will play next year…
Nate Silver computes a simple but cool “Value Over Replacement Justice” statistic to show by one measure that Elena Kagan was the right pick over Diane Wood. We’re not totally convinced Kagan is an “Organization Kid” but David Brooks writes an excellent column arguing that she is.
Speaking of Kagan, NYT Magazine has an interesting profile of her former University of Chicago colleague Cass Sunstein, a potential albeit unlikely Supreme Court nominee himself.
This is where the men are separated the boys; the women from the girls; the toddlers from the infants. We have reached the top three. Without further ado, I present the Fifth Amendment:
“No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.”
There’s quite a bit going on in the Fifth. What puts the Fifth in the top three is its guiding philosophy, which attempts to protect the individual against unjust and arbitrary uses of government power. Much of this is done through procedural constraints on the government. Prosecution wasn’t satisfied with the jury’s decision and wants to try the case before another jury? Too bad: No double jeopardy. Want to transfer a private homeowner’s property to a private company? Not happening.* The D.A who prefers mild to moderate public opinion about crimes is angry about the extent of a crime’s infamy and wants to punish the individual without a Grand Jury?** Well, he can’t. Continue reading »
I am not a supporter of cruel and unusual punishment. In fact, I prefer my punishments humane and usual. While I had negative views on the Second Amendment and neutral views (well, assuming you interpret pointlessness as a neutral description) on the Tenth, at this point, my views on the 8th amendment are generally positive. Nonetheless, it has some negative characteristics that cause its eighth place finish.
The Eighth Amendment reads: “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.”
“If a diverse array of justices is desirable, should we not be concerned that if you are confirmed, six out of the nine justices will be Roman Catholics, or is it somehow wrong to start paying attention to the extreme overrepresentation of Catholicism on the court at the moment when we have our first Hispanic nominee?”
“I think religious diversity is particularly important, because it has more to do with the individual’s mind. It’s part of one’s thinking, and legal analysis is thinking. Race and ethnicity might have an effect on your thinking — in that it may involve various personal experiences and feelings of identification — but it is not a characteristic that you have by deciding to have it or by believing you have it. Religion is different.” Continue reading »
In the New York Times, Law 
