So Much for Our “Conservative Court”

By |2020-12-17T16:59:00-06:00December 17th, 2020|Categories: Conservatism, Politics, Sexuality, Supreme Court|

In a victory for transgender rights, the Supreme Court recently rejected a case brought by parents against an Oregon high school that allowed transgender students to use the bathroom of their choice based on the gender with which they identify. The “conservative” justices on the bench have failed to distinguish sexual orientation or gender confusion [...]

Cancel Culture Comes to the Supreme Court

By |2020-10-13T16:56:26-05:00October 13th, 2020|Categories: Free Speech, Freedom of Religion, Supreme Court|

The reality is that no person and no private institution can escape the ceaseless initiatives by legal activists, judicial activists, cities, states, and, depending upon the Administration, the federal government to re-standardize American public as well as private life, and search out and cancel dissenters. In recent years, including this presidential year, cases in the [...]

Will Justice Barrett Seal a Conservative Majority on the High Court?

By |2020-09-29T16:15:42-05:00September 28th, 2020|Categories: Donald Trump, Pat Buchanan, Politics, Presidency, Supreme Court|

President Trump's remaking of the Supreme Court for constitutionalism may well be the crown jewel of his presidency. If Judge Barrett becomes Justice Barrett, she will join Justices Clarence Thomas, Sam Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Brett Kavanaugh to create a constitutionalist core of five justices, a controlling majority. By nominating Federal Judge Amy Coney Barrett [...]

The SCOTUS Pick: All the Chips Are on the Table Now

By |2020-09-25T11:35:32-05:00September 25th, 2020|Categories: Donald Trump, Pat Buchanan, Supreme Court|

On the court issue, Democrats are exhibiting something akin to panic. They are warning that if a conservative jurist like Amy Coney Barrett is confirmed, Democrats may retaliate by "packing" the Supreme Court — increasing the number of justices from nine to 11 and installing two new liberals — if they win the presidency and [...]

Last Best Chance to Capture Supreme Court

By |2020-09-25T09:31:03-05:00September 22nd, 2020|Categories: Donald Trump, Pat Buchanan, Politics, Presidency, Supreme Court|

Today, the hour of President Trump's triumph may be at hand, and the stark panic on the left testifies to it. Are there Republicans who would really walk away from this last, best chance to secure the court, simply because the process offends their sense of proper procedure? President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader [...]

The Supreme Court: Usurping the Legislative and Taxing Power

By |2019-06-25T17:07:11-05:00November 18th, 2018|Categories: American Republic, Constitution, Supreme Court Precedent Series, Thomas R. Ascik|

“Precedence,” as well as following or overturning precedents, is not limited to what is decided in new cases. It is also concerns the adherence to established principles of judicial jurisprudence. Without both kinds of precedence, there is no limit to the power of the judiciary... In the last installment of this survey of the judicial principle [...]

The Supreme Court: “Never to the Right, Forever to the Left”

By |2020-09-19T11:30:27-05:00October 15th, 2018|Categories: Conservatism, Joseph Mussomeli, Justice, Liberalism, Politics, Supreme Court|

Despite all the unfounded fear on the left and all the equally unfounded euphoria on the right, there will be no wholesale revamping by the Supreme Court of the liberal social order that is now deeply rooted in our culture and among our people. The conservative justices' ethos of evolution over revolution will forestall any [...]

Reason and Its Usurpers

By |2020-11-13T03:41:33-06:00October 12th, 2018|Categories: Civil Society, Glenn Arbery, Supreme Court, Wyoming Catholic College|

The clashes of contemporary political life can alienate anyone, but this is not the time to withdraw from the fight. As recent events clearly show, the most hopeful signs sometimes come from the places we least expect. This past week has been a watershed in American political life—or so we are told. After the confirmation [...]

Brett Kavanaugh and Originalism

By |2018-10-09T15:53:15-05:00October 9th, 2018|Categories: Congress, Justice, Political Philosophy, Politics, Supreme Court|

Even before the spectacle of Christine Balsey Ford's testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, the hearing for President Trump’s nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court, Brett Kavanaugh, was characterized not by political acumen, wit, cunning, or prudence, but by partisan obstruction, lawlessness, tantrums, hysteria, ignorance, frenzy, and anger. Protestors screamed vulgarities and trite slogans, proving [...]

The Supreme Court’s Most Unprecedented Case?

By |2018-10-09T11:13:21-05:00October 8th, 2018|Categories: Homosexual Unions, Supreme Court, Supreme Court Precedent Series, Thomas R. Ascik|

In the case of United States v. Windsor, the Supreme Court found that the Constitution required formal, legal, and constitutional recognition of homosexual marriage. And yet if the Court had followed its own precedents, it would have ruled that Edith Windsor lacked the legal standing to file her original lawsuit... In Lawrence v. Texas (2003), [...]

The Elephant in the Hearing Room

By |2019-04-25T15:11:33-05:00September 28th, 2018|Categories: Christianity, Congress, Supreme Court|

The dual hearing of Christine Blasey Ford and Judge Brett Kavanaugh is portrayed as a mere "he said/she said," with the result hinging on relative credibility. Both appeared credible. But many liars and deceivers appear credible. That is part of our sinful condition. As the Bible says, "The heart of  man is deceitful and desperately [...]

The Right to Create Your Own Universe?

By |2019-04-25T12:01:47-05:00August 17th, 2018|Categories: Abortion, American Republic, Homosexual Unions, Marriage, Politics, Rights, Supreme Court, Supreme Court Precedent Series|

The Supreme Court apotheosized the right of privacy in its now-famous words: “At the heart of liberty is the right to define one’s own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life”… Editor’s Note: This essay continues a discussion of the Supreme Court’s sexual “right of privacy” cases, which [...]

Does the Supreme Court Really Respect Precedent?

By |2020-09-19T15:40:26-05:00July 30th, 2018|Categories: Abortion, American Republic, Marriage, Politics, Supreme Court, Supreme Court Precedent Series|

Judges and politicians constantly talk of the importance of respecting precedent. But It is not unusual for the Supreme Court to overturn its own precedents. What does legal history say about the importance of precedent in modern jurisprudence? Responding to President Donald Trump’s nomination of federal appeals-court Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, Maine [...]

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