Nation Topics - Supreme Court | The Nation

Presents a satirical letter regarding the judicial nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court by President George W. Bush. Reasons why Bush should have chosen the author instead of Miers; Suggestion that the author is a woman and is not a Christian, and therefore should be nominated; Lack of experience of the author as a lawyer; Criticism of people who claim they do not know where Miers stands on the issue of abortion.

Presents news briefs related to politics and current events. Report that the Christian Democrats and the Social Democrats decided to form a coalition government in Germany with Angela Merkel as chancellor; Reference to the book "What's the Matter With Kansas?" by Tom Frank, which argues that the working-class in the U.S. are voting Republican against their economic interests because the party is conservative on social issues; Reasons why U.S. President George W. Bush nominated Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court.

Comments on the U.S. government's handling of the Hurricane Katrina aftermath. Claim that the social inequality in New Orleans started after the Civil War, when the city was sacked; Claim that the right-wing U.S. government seeks to push the poor African American residents of New Orleans off the city's potentially profitable real estate; Observation that the Superdome was built where a thriving black neighborhood had been; View that the Supreme Court's recent decision regarding eminent domain will help push black people off their land.

Offers a look at U.S. President George W. Bush's judicial nominee for the Supreme Court, John Roberts, and his views on civil rights, civil liberties and social justice. Difficulty of predicting the performance of a Supreme Court nominee; Claim that Roberts was involved in an ethics scandal because he was interviewed for the nomination while hearing a Bush administration appeal; Question of how Roberts would handle cases that conflict with his private religious views; Report that Roberts has promoted the doctrine that Congress could strip federal courts of their enforcement power in civil rights and abortion cases; Demands of Democrats for release of Roberts's Solicitor General papers.

Reviews the book "Becoming Justice Blackmun: Harry Blackmun's Supreme Court Journey," by Linda Greenhouse.

Offers a look at the role of the United States judicial system in changing U.S. culture. Statement that the Supreme Court has upheld affirmative action, stopped efforts to end abortion rights, upheld the right to trial by jury, and protected free speech, among other actions; Ability of progressives to work with and apart from the courts on issues such as racial justice and women's rights; Opinion that progressives have lost the habit of following up judicial verdicts with grassroots movements; Failure of progressives to explain to the public why abortion is fundamentally fair; Failure of the gay rights movement to follow up a Supreme Court decision that invalidated criminal sodomy laws.

Presents an editorial regarding judicial nominations in the United States under President George W. Bush. Desire of House majority leader Tom DeLay to place right-wing judges in the Supreme Court; Frustration of Senate majority leader Bill Frist at the use of the filibuster by Senate Democrats to block judicial nominations; Statement that Bush has submitted the names of Janice Brown and Priscilla Owen as judicial nominees; Possibility that the Senate Republicans will change the rules to make filibusters of judicial nominees impossible.

Discusses the role of morality in U.S. state law and Supreme Court decisions. Report that the Colorado Supreme Court overturned the death sentence of a convicted murderer because jurors had consulted a Bible during their deliberations rather than state law; Design of the court system to moderate human behavior in the face of moral ambiguity; Discussion of the movement among health professionals to exercise the right of refusal, a practice that is often informed by religious conservatism; Opinion that professionals must act under the guidelines of the profession they have chosen; Problems with replacing professional ethics with religious belief.

The article focuses on the pro-life movement and abortion law in Mississippi. As you read this piece about abortion in Mississippi thirty-two years after the right to have an abortion was affirmed by the Supreme Court, the government of Mississippi is marking the anniversary of Roe v. Wade in another way. Governor Haley Barbour has issued an official proclamation declaring the seven days leading up to the anniversary "a week of prayer regarding the sanctity of human life." How Mississippi all but outlawed abortion is a story people on both sides of the abortion debate are still struggling to understand. With the third-highest teen pregnancy rate in the country, Mississippi's low number of abortions is not an illustration of the "safe, legal and rare" ideal that many talk about, in which a decline in unwanted pregnancies creates a corresponding drop in abortions. Such concern for the rights of fetuses does not appear to translate into a commitment to promoting the well-being of the children they may become. Though the inability to prevent unwanted pregnancies makes women only more likely to want abortions, many of the forces behind the anti-abortion movement here also oppose contraception.

The article looks at the role of the United States' judiciary branch in checking the powers of the U.S. president. On November 12, 2004, just three days after he announced his resignation, Attorney General John Ashcroft lashed out at what he called "excessive judicial encroachment on functions assigned to the President" in the "war on terrorism." Ashcroft's problem is with the Supreme Court, which in June had declared that the President's powers to detain "the enemy" must be limited by the rule of law, articulated and enforced by courts. The High Court rulings have already been succeeded by a trio of courageous lower court decisions rejecting the executive's claims that it is above the law when fighting terrorism. In September Victor Marrero, a federal district court judge in New York, held unconstitutional a Patriot Act provision that authorizes the Federal Bureau of Investigation to obtain information on subscribers to Internet services from the service provider by issuing a national security letter. Judge Marrero held the law unconstitutional because by precluding judicial review, it places the executive branch above the law. Judge James Robertson, who had halted the military tribunals in Guantánamo Bay, ruling that they violated both international and federal law, emphasized the importance of the legal process to check unilateral executive action.