In their opening statements today in the confirmation hearings of nominee Elena Kagan for the Supreme Court, liberal Senators have taken to arguing that a Justice’s job is not to “call balls and strikes.” Most conservatives rightly believe the law should govern, not judges, and that Supreme Court Justices should interpret the law as it is written. Conservatives have therefore promoted the “balls and strikes” analogy ever since then-Judge John Roberts used it during his confirmation process before becoming Chief Justice. Roberts said that, if confirmed, “I will remember that …
CLS v. Martinez case is narrow in a number of respects, but its thrust is worrisome for many reasons. The case involves a decision by a public law school, the Hastings College of the Law, to deny official recognition and potential funding to a student organization, the local chapter of the Christian Legal Society. The Supreme Court ruled that Hastings did not violate the free speech rights of CLS by refusing to recognize it on the grounds that it requires its members and officers to sign a Statement of Faith …
There is a hunger in America for conservative principles and policies, as the explosive growth in Heritage Foundation membership demonstrates. Today, we have more than 661,000 active members. Over the past year and a half, traditional American values have been put through the ringer. The liberals in Washington are working quickly and persistently to diminish principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom and a strong national defense – all conservative principles. But their progressive ways have met an obstacle: the American public. And it’s more conservative than they thought. …
Yesterday, was an official day of prayer in the Gulf Coast states. Earlier this month the Louisiana legislature passed a resolution which recognized an “opportunity to humble ourselves before our Almighty God” and “pray for a solution” to the oil spill crisis in the Gulf of Mexico. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal soon proclaimed June 27, 2010 a Day of Prayer and was joined by the governors of Alabama, Mississippi, and Texas. Despite mounting criticism of this appeal to a higher power, the simple fact is that the governments of these …
Listening to Senators Feinstein, Durbin, Leahy and Schumer castigating the current members of the U.S. Supreme Court in their opening statements in the Kagan confirmation hearing shows that they apparently want to turn this proceeding into a star chamber on Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito, among others, as opposed to an examination of Elena Kagan’s judicial philosophy and ideology. Hearing their repetitive attacks on the Court’s decision in the Citizens United v. FEC decision also reminds me of a famous quote by Vladimir Lenin, who once said that if …
Because of the death of Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV), prospects for passage of the conference report on Financial Regulatory Reform is now in a holding pattern. This conference report is expected to pass the House this week, but prospects for passage in the Senate are in doubt. President Obama has called on Congress to pass this bill by the July 4th recess next week. Conservatives worry that this bill establishes permanent bailout authority for failing businesses and that the regulatory provisions will hurt American competitiveness. The so called “Financial Services …
After helping to strike down the Chicago handgun ban, the winners in today’s Supreme Court decision promised, in an exclusive interview with the Heritage Foundation, that more such cases would be coming in the next few weeks. Alan Gura, lead attorney for the plaintiffs, promised, “There will be future cases, I will be bringing cases in the days and weeks to come.” When asked about the decisions impact, he said, “We will see laws that serve no useful purpose other than to annoy gun owners struck down and others that …
As the confirmation hearings of Elena Kagan got underway at 12:30, the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Jeff Sessions (R-AL), lost no time getting to the heart of the concerns that are raised by Elena Kagan’s nomination by President Obama to the Supreme Court: Ms. Kagan has less real legal experience of any nominee in at least fifty years. It’s not just that she has never been a judge. She has barely practiced law, and not with the intensity and duration from which real understanding occurs. Ms. Kagan …
Moments ago, the Supreme Court announced that, Yes Virginia, the Second Amendment does in fact apply to the states, and thereby struck down Chicago’s complete ban on handgun possession. But this decision (and the Court’s prior decision in Heller) raises still other questions which will likely have a substantial impact on what that Second Amendment right functionally means. For example, what constitutes a reasonable regulation on firearms under the Second Amendment? Chicago Mayor Richard Daley is wasting no time. Before the Supreme Court even issued its opinion, he said that …
Recently, the New York Times highlighted a booming trend toward greater price transparency in medicine thanks to up-and-comers such as Castlight, a new company aiming to create a search engine of health care prices. Others sharing in this endeavor include both public and private entities in Tennessee and New Hampshire, as well as several insurance companies. Lack of transparency regarding pricing of medical services has often been attributed as one of the factors contributing to skyrocketing spending in the health care system, a concern which drew considerable attention during the …
