Federal Judiciary

Friday round-up

By Akin Gump Supreme Court Practice Group

The Washington Post measures reactions to the Court?s opinion staying the plan to broadcast coverage of the Prop 8 trial, which ?is being scoured by legal analysts and activities for deeper meaning.?

Justice Kennedy receives attention  on the Cato Institute?s blog, where Ilya Shapiro discusses Helen Knowles?s book The Tie Goes to Freedom: Justice Anthony M. Kennedy on Liberty.  Knowles posits that Kennedy, whom many perceive to be a ?swing vote,? has a ?modestly libertarian? jurisprudence.  Shapiro, who reviews the book in the most recent issue of the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, concurs in part:  he suggests that Kennedy?s libertarianism is limited to only a few areas of the law, such as free speech, equal protection, and individual liberty.

The Blog of Legal Times has a post on the star power of the advocates in Christian Legal Society v. Martinez, in which the Court will consider whether a public university may deny funding to an organization, in this case a Christian group, which requires that its officers agree with the groups? religious viewpoint.  Michael McConnell, a former federal appellate judge, will represent the Christian Legal Society, while former Solicitor General Gregory Garre will represent Hastings.

Finally, Rick Hasen at the Election Law Blog comments on Doe v. Reed, a case on SCOTUSblog’s ?Petitions to Watch? list.  Hasen points out that the Court has already demonstrated an awareness of the case, imposing a stay pending a decision on the cert. request.  Further, he observes, the case presents issues similar to those presented byCitizens United v. FEC and Perry v. Schwarzenegger.

Full post as published by SCOTUSBLOG on January 15, 2010 (boomark / email).