Courts can decide whether the State Department can decline to follow Congress's statute allowing Americans born in Jerusalem to have their passports say "Israel."

The question is justiciable — it's not within the "political question doctrine" — says the Supreme Court today , in an opinion...

"I am told that Bill [Rehnquist] sometimes used rather strong language..."

"... to voice his disapproval of unfavorable rulings by the referee in his son’s games. With regard to his colleagues, he used somewhat...

Bush on Harriet Miers, John Roberts, and Samuel Alito.

Jan Crawford finds the stuff about Supreme Court nominations in Bush's book, "Decision Points": "While I know Harriet wou...

Margie Phelps, a daughter of Fred Phelps, will be arguing before the Supreme Court today.

The issue is freedom of speech , and the speech in question is repulsive. (Phelps's church protests near military funerals, with signs l...

McCain's judges.

John McCain gave a speech on judicial appointments yesterday, and it made me want to go back to a conference call he did with bloggers — inc...

Arkansas Lawprof Richard J. Peltz is suing two students and the Black Law Student Association.

Inside Higher Ed reports. (Via Instapundit .) Peltz charges them with defamation, saying that his comments about affirmative action were us...

"The rage he harbors raises questions about whether he can sit as an impartial judge in many of the cases the Supreme Court hears."

The NYT would like to say that Clarence Thomas's anger disqualifies from hearing some cases. Isn't it insanely obvious that if a l...

It's not the Kennedy Court it's the Roberts v. Stevens Court.

Jan Crawford Greenburg says people are wrong to focus on Justice Kennedy, despite his ability to tip the Court to one side or the other in ...

Oral argument in the campaign finance case.

Here 's Linda Greenhouse's write up on the Supreme Court argument in the Wisconsin Right to Life case, which is about the provision ...

Let's take a look at that 10 Commandments monument.

Strolling around the grounds of the Texas Capitol, I looked for the Ten Commandments monument, the one that was the subject of the Supreme C...

Are you, like me, always clicking on news stories about speeches given by Supreme Court justices...

... and finding that nothing interesting was said? It's so predictable. Sometimes I wonder why I have the Google Alerts I have. Actually...

"Bill Rehnquist was concerned about efficiency. He didn't want to waste time. You could raise your hand, but it was not encouraged."

Here 's a nice, big, juicy excerpt from Jan Crawford Greenburg's new book about the Supreme Court, "Supreme Conflict." Ex...

When doctors can't say no to big-shot patients with drug problems.

Rehnquist's wife got it right: In the FBI report, the doctor who helped Rehnquist get off drugs said the justice's family blamed the...

"He told me the precise date he plans to retire."

Said Jan Crawford Greenburg. "He" is Justice Stevens. Fascinating. Am I right to interpret her use of the term "precise date...

"Rehnquist expressed 'bizarre ideas and outrageous thoughts. He imagined, for example, that there was a CIA plot against him.'"

From the newly released FBI file on William H. Rehnquist: [I]n 1986, the FBI conducted an intensive investigation into Rehnquist's depe...

"Suppose the Secretary of Homeland Security, who has unearmarked funds in his budget, decided to build a mosque..."

Enough about "Bong Hits 4 Jesus," let's pay attention to another of the cases the Court decided to hear -- same link as the p...

A Harvard Law School seminar: "What to Wear in Winter Climates."

Seriously: The seminar, requested by a student from Southern California, drew 62 participants, including students from Iran and India. Hot c...

"We’re going to be in a kind of bog of mixtures of constitutional law, unclear Oregon state law... et cetera."

Justice Breyer fretted yesterday in the course of the oral argument in a case about the constitutional restrictions on punitive damages. Th...

"He missed the state of the union address one year."

Chief Justice John Roberts said about his predecessor William Rehnquist. "When asked why, he said it conflicted with a water color cl...

"I'd like to go back and do the impeachment again."

Says Henry Hyde , who prosecuted Clinton and has had time to reflect on what went wrong: "I was soft on the treatment we received from ...