6 x 5 4 Alito
The NYT has a fascinating set of 30 questions suggested by op-ed contributors. My favorite:
The right of judicial review - the right of courts to declare duly enacted laws unconstitutional - is not explicitly granted in the Constitution, but was proclaimed (some would say fabricated) by John Marshall in Marbury v. Madison. One objection to judicial review has been that it is undemocratic because the decisions of democratically elected officials are overturned by jurists who have been appointed for life and who are, therefore, unaccountable to the judgments and desires of their fellow citizens. Do you think that judicial review can be defended and justified in the face of this objection? Is the practice of judicial review a violation of the separation of powers? Are judicial review and judicial restraint reconcilable or are they antithetical?
Six legal minds contribute five questions they would ask Supreme Court nominee Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr.
Finality and Fallibility by Leonard A. Leo
Your Beliefs, Your Decisions by Cheryl D. Mills
Secrets Hidden in the Text by Kenji Yoshino
Is America at War? by John Yoo
Back to Bush v. Gore by Scott Turow
A Constitution of Contradictions by Stanley Fish
The right of judicial review - the right of courts to declare duly enacted laws unconstitutional - is not explicitly granted in the Constitution, but was proclaimed (some would say fabricated) by John Marshall in Marbury v. Madison. One objection to judicial review has been that it is undemocratic because the decisions of democratically elected officials are overturned by jurists who have been appointed for life and who are, therefore, unaccountable to the judgments and desires of their fellow citizens. Do you think that judicial review can be defended and justified in the face of this objection? Is the practice of judicial review a violation of the separation of powers? Are judicial review and judicial restraint reconcilable or are they antithetical?
Six legal minds contribute five questions they would ask Supreme Court nominee Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr.
Finality and Fallibility by Leonard A. Leo
Your Beliefs, Your Decisions by Cheryl D. Mills
Secrets Hidden in the Text by Kenji Yoshino
Is America at War? by John Yoo
Back to Bush v. Gore by Scott Turow
A Constitution of Contradictions by Stanley Fish
posted by Bob at 11:01 AM
1 Comments:
I was surprised to find that my favorite question came from John "Torture" Yoo:
"What is the worst example of constitutional interpretation rendered by the Supreme Court in the last 30 years?"
I think this is very crafty, as long as you change 30 to, say, 35 or 40. Then you'd get some sense of where he stands today on Roe v. Wade. (I don't think that's what Yoo was getting at with the question, but it could accomplish it. And since I've mentioned Roe anyway, I'll say that I agree with the core holding but find the reasoning highly problematic. Much as, e.g., Lawrence v. Texas.)
Kenji Yoshino's is also crucial and should be asked of all SCOTUS nominees:
"Under what conditions can the Supreme Court overrule its own precedents?"
The core thing we need to know about a justice is their theory of stare decisis. In a sense, it's the very job description.
Stanley Fish's questions are borderline insane. He's a very smart but very pretentious guy.
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