High drama at the High Court

[Okla-homey]

this is exciting stuff people.


Supreme Court begins its finale today

By Joan Biskupic
USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — The nine Supreme Court justices will enter through crimson velvet drapes this morning and take their seats at a mahogany bench to announce decisions in some of the most closely watched cases of their annual term.

Twenty-six cases await resolution, including disputes over Guantanamo detainees, Washington, D.C.'s handgun ban and damages arising from the Exxon Valdez oil spill of 1989.

The ritual today and on select days throughout this month — the last of the session — is long-standing. In June, anticipation in the courtroom is palpable. Rulings will be blared across the Internet, read on the radio and headlined in newspapers.

But the first word of how the court decides a case happens here.

"One sometimes gets a glimmer of emotion from the justices" when they read opinions, says Patricia Millett, a former assistant U.S. solicitor general now in private practice. "The justices' words, their inflection, their body language and expressions … can have an impact that is lost on the cold page."

The author of the opinion traditionally details the facts of the case and how the majority ruled. At these moments, the courtroom, already a place of strict decorum and hushed voices, is especially still.

Sometimes a dissenting justice reads portions of an opinion from the bench, rather than let the written dissent speak for itself. That happens when a justice is particularly riled by the majority's decision. That is more apt to occur in June.

At the end of last term, Justice Stephen Breyer spoke for 21 minutes in dissent to a decision rejecting school integration plans. He criticized the conservative majority and declared, "It is not often in the law that so few have so quickly changed so much."

News reporters, lawyers and other spectators do not know which cases will be handed down on any day. But they know June decisions will be among the most contentious of the nine-month term. These typically are the ones that have taken the most time to negotiate and write.

Walter Dellinger, representing Washington officials in the gun case and Exxon in the oil spill dispute, shows up on scheduled decision days. "It's nerve-racking to sit at the computer and keep pushing the 'refresh' button on the court's website, when the opinion could be being announced in open court at that very moment," says Dellinger, a former U.S. solicitor general.

When the justices descend from the bench today, they will return to their chambers to work on remaining cases. They have issued 41 signed opinions since last fall and by the end of June are likely to reach a term total of 67 decisions.

On the last day of the session, a date not yet determined, the justices will end the morning with a private luncheon and begin the process of putting the term's differences behind them.

[yermom]

what keeps them from just not announcing a ruling this term?

[OUDoc]

It's Supreme Court sweeps week?

[Flagstaffsooner]

I wonder if they are like Oklahoma judges and dont wear pants under their robes and have sex toys under there?

[Tulsa_Fireman]

Creek County Legal.

The Shat ain't got nothin' on that.

[Cam]

Any decisions announced today?

[Whet]

I wonder if they are like Oklahoma judges and dont wear pants under their robes and have sex toys under there?

You can bet Ginsburg does!

[OUDoc]

How about today?
They really suck at sensationalizing themselves. They should watch Gary England's tornado commercial.

[JohnnyMack]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25117953/

Court says Guantanamo Bay detainees are in fact human beings after all.

[TexasLidig8r]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25117953/

Court says Guantanamo Bay detainees are in fact human beings after all.

shuuutee.. I knewed we shoulda shot them sumbich towelheads over thar in Irack when we had the chance.

[yermom]

well, we gotta torture them first ;)

[NormanPride]

No :chicken:meat sandwich? :(

Edit: Wow, that's not starred? Yikes.

[Jerk]

So, when we take prisoners on foreign battlefields, do we now read them their Miranda rights?

Texas is right. It will be far easier to just shoot them on the spot.

Do we fly them back here to the states so they can have access to our courts?

[Sooner_Havok]

I'm waiting for the good old fashioned Soviet response to dissenters to make a comeback.

"Oh, you don't agree with us? You must be insane!"

And off to the mental ward they go for a lobotomy.

Anyone who disagrees with Global Warming, oops, I mean Climate Change (that way they can cover their asses if it gets cooler) is a religious nut-case, a right wing listener of Hate Radio, and an idiot who doesn't even have a G.E.D. No opposition allowed.

And while you're at it, come up with a new Kyoto that doesn't unfairly punish the U.S. while letting China pollute the world into oblivion. That way, us rednecks won't realize the obvious; that we're getting bent over a barrel in the name of a political agenda.

Come up with a treaty that treats every nation the same. And don't forget about the limousine liberals, either. Time to trade in for a f***in Metro.

I have a feeling that if left to their own devices, many republicans would lobotomize democrats. They are, after all, crazier than bat **** to not agree with the republican party line.

And just an FYI, I am against Kyoto. When other countries leaders signed it, they knew they could just say "This is hard, we can't meet these standards." We couldn't. If Bush, or any other president for that matter, had signed that thing we would be forced, by our own laws, to meet those standards. It would have been seen as an executive agreement, and we would have been bound to it while others nations could just shake it off. Not really fair.

[Jerk]

I have a feeling that if left to their own devices, many republicans would lobotomize democrats.


Nah. Just deport them to Cuba or North Korea so they can see first-hand the miracles of Marxism.

[Sooner_Havok]

Nah. Just deport them to Cuba or North Korea so they can see first-hand the miracles of Marxism.

You know, that is funny. I see what you are doing there. You are saying all democrats are Marxists cause Communism is a very, very left philosophy.

Ok mein Herr, maybe we should send all the republicans to Germany. I here they used to be big fans of fascism. Zieg Heil mein Herr

Then all us centered independents could have our own country. Man that would be nice, both you ****** bags gone.

[Jerk]

You know, that is funny. I see what you are doing there. You are saying all democrats are Marxists cause Communism is a very, very left philosophy.

Ok mein Herr, maybe we should send all the republicans to Germany. I here they used to be big fans of fascism. Zieg Heil mein Herr

Then all us centered independents could have our own country. Man that would be nice, both you ****** bags gone.


Little difference between communism and fascism. In communism, the people are slaves to the state. In fascism, the people are slaves to a dictator.

I'd rather live in a Free Republic, myself. One that valued personal liberty, small government, and free markets. And if what I'm doing doesn't infringe on your rights, then you should mind your own fuggin' business. That is my manifesto.

[Sooner_Havok]

Little difference between communism and fascism. In communism, the people are slaves to the state. In fascism, the people are slaves to a dictator.

I'd rather live in a Free Republic, myself. One that valued personal liberty, small government, and free markets. And if what I'm doing doesn't infringe on your rights, then you should mind your own fuggin' business. That is my manifesto.

Hey, I ain't the one that originally said one of this countries political parties were all communists. I just expanded on your idea. To the left of liberal is communism, to the right of conservative is fascism. Look, if you don't like the analogy, maybe you shouldn't have brought it up in the first place. Just sayin.

[StoopTroup]

They are, after all, crazier than bat **** to not agree with the republican party line.



I argee with your Kyoto statements but is the bat**** crazy statement just about Global Warming?

I ask as it was my understanding that the Supreme Court is controlled by Republican placements.

If the Supreme Courts decisions are bat**** crazy then I guess it was really the Republicans that....

N/M....it's just so bat**** crazy....

[Sooner_Havok]

I argee with your Kyoto statements but is the bat**** crazy statement just about Global Warming?

I ask as it was my understanding that the Supreme Court is controlled by Republican placements.

If the Supreme Courts decisions are bat**** crazy then I guess it was really the Republicans that....

N/M....it's just so bat**** crazy....

Nah man, democrats in general are crazier than bat ****, not just one of their many crazy assed ideas. Kepp up!:D

[Jerk]

Hey, I ain't the one that originally said one of this countries political parties were all communists. I just expanded on your idea. To the left of liberal is communism, to the right of conservative is fascism. Look, if you don't like the analogy, maybe you shouldn't have brought it up in the first place. Just sayin.

It's a little more complex than just a straight line graph of 'right' and 'left.'

It is more like this:

http://mysite.verizon.net/alankh/akhblog/PoliticalCompass.gif

And I am in the "please leave me the f*** alone" camp where you see "right-wing libertarian" part. The global warming crowd must be....why....lookie here, they must be in the upper left hand corner.

[mdklatt]

The global warming crowd must be....why....lookie here, they must be in the upper left hand corner.

Where's the "I base my scientific conclusions on evidence rather than wishful thinking" corner?

[Sooner_Havok]

It's a little more complex than just a straight line graph of 'right' and 'left.'

It is more like this:

http://mysite.verizon.net/alankh/akhblog/PoliticalCompass.gif

And I am in the "please leave me the f*** alone" camp where you see "right-wing libertarian" part. The global warming crowd must be....why....lookie here, they must be in the upper left hand corner.

Nice graph. But if things are some god damned complicated, why the hell did you make the broad generalization in the first place?

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h152/havok0283/Picture1-1.png

Well son of a bitch, I ain't as centered as I thought I was. :eek:

[mdklatt]

I've always liked my HS political science teacher's description (I don't think he made it up, but that's where first heard it):

The political spectrum is more like a circle than a line. Moderates are are 12 o'clock, and both extremes (communism and fascism) meet down at 6 o'clock. The Democrats and Republicans are like at 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock.

[Sooner_Havok]

I've always liked my HS political science teacher's description (I don't think he made it up, but that's where first heard it):

The political spectrum is more like a circle than a line. Moderates are are 12 o'clock, and both extremes (communism and fascism) meet down at 6 o'clock. The Democrats and Republicans are like at 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock.

Seems pretty apt to me

[Jerk]

Nice graph. But if things are some god damned complicated, why the hell did you make the broad generalization in the first place?

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h152/havok0283/Picture1-1.png

Well son of a bitch, I ain't as centered as I thought I was. :eek:

Yep, it looks like you're slightly tilted to the 'useful idiot' side.

[Sooner_Havok]

Yep, it looks like you're slightly tilted to the 'useful idiot' side.

Yup, I want personal freedom and economic freedom. To completely idiotic ideas. Guess I just need to make a decision huh? Do I want the gubment man trying to take care off me, or do I want the gubment man trying to tell me that only by giving up my rights can I be safe.

What to do, what to do. Maybe I will just continue to think for myself a little longer instead of relying on some outdated political machine to do my thinking for me.


Throughout human history, as our species has faced the frightening, terrorizing fact that we do not know who we are, or where we are going in this ocean of chaos, it has been the authorities, the political, the religious, the educational authorities who attempted to comfort us by giving us order, rules, regulations, informing, forming in our minds their view of reality. To think for yourself you must question authority and learn how to put yourself in a state of vulnerable, open-mindedness; chaotic, confused, vulnerability to inform yourself.