The immediate reaction to the Supreme Court’s decision in the Osborne case has been both ill-informed and negative. And liberals are already spinning it as the Roberts Court’s latest affront to justice. This is no surprise. It’s easy for political hacks to attack decisions when the public doesn’t understand the facts of the case. Understand the facts in Osborne, however, and it becomes clear that the decision was plain common sense. The Court held that individuals who have been convicted of crimes have no constitutional right to access evidence held …
It takes an expensive lawyer…scratch that. It takes a very expensive lawyer, from Sullivan & Cromwell no less, to explain to the Supreme Court that when your client’s CEO said he would “never walk away” from a certain deal, what he really meant was that he would run away from the deal at the drop of a hat. So what does this mean in terms of the Kabuki at the Supreme Court? It’s hard to say. But there’s a real possibility that the U.S. government, Chrysler, and Fiat are overplaying …
The talk shows last night were all atwitter over Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s grant of a temporary stay for the Supreme Court to consider the application for an emergency stay of the sale of Chrysler to a government-backed shell corporation. What do we know this morning? A few thoughts: The only thing we know for sure is…the Court needs more time. A temporary stay does not provide any direct indication as to how the Court will rule on the application. That said, this is an unusual move. Temporary stays are …
According to the Associated Press, the U.S. Supreme Court has taken the extremely rare step of issuing a stay on the sale of Chrysler to Fiat, after three Indiana state pension and construction funds petitioned for the delay pending an appeal of a lower court decision. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said that the sale is “stayed pending further order.” The Obama administration had urged the court to reject the request. This is a reasonable delay to protect fundamental rights. Time for consideration: Though the Court’s action to temporarily delay the sale …
In its editorial today endorsing Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s nomination to the Supreme Court, the New York Times makes a bizarre claim that, if true, is extremely troubling. Sotomayor, the paper claims, has not only “repeatedly displayed the empathy” espoused by President Obama, but gone a step further: “She has shown little patience for the sort of procedural bars that conservative judges have been using to close the courthouse door on people whose rights have been violated.” Those “procedural bars” that the Times bemoans are no less important, and no less …
Eight hours later, and it’s already become an old canard: Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s elevation to the High Court won’t affect its balance one bit. It may be an effective talking point—the Left seems to think so—but it isn’t true. Consider just one area of law, business law. As concerns businesses and economic matters, Justice David Souter often rejected the activist “empathy” standard promoted by President Barack Obama to instead cast votes and write opinions that are in accord with the demands of the Constitution and the rule of law. Judge …
This morning, President Barack Obama announced the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court of the United States. While this may seem like the culmination of a long process, it actually marks just the beginning–really, the very first step–of the confirmation process laid out in our Constitution. President Obama’s aggressive confirmation timetable–he is demanding hearings and a vote before Congress leaves for its August recess–risks shortchanging the Constitution’s commands. The Appointments Clause (in Section 2 of Article II) states that the President “shall nominate, and by and with …
Though certainly no originalist, Justice David Souter is not a complete judicial activist, either. On a number of cases and issues, he has rejected the activist “empathy” standard promoted by President Obama to instead cast votes and write opinions that are in accord with the demands of the Constitution and the rule of law. And in a number of cases, particularly in the areas of crime and punishment and lawsuit abuse, he has broken ranks with the Court’s more liberal wing to do so. Here is a sampling of some …
“Let me be clear: The United States government has no interest in running GM,” President Obama said just three weeks ago. He continued: “We have no intention of running GM.” But what about Chrysler? In a letter to employees released late last night, Chrysler CEO Bob Nardelli stated that, under the evolving terms of the company’s deal with the government, “a board of directors for Chrysler will be appointed by the U.S. government and Fiat.” This board, he explained, will appoint its chairman and “select a CEO” and other executive …
Bankruptcy law is rich with colorful vernacular: cram-down, strip-down, haircut, matrix, etc. But until a few weeks ago, nobody had ever heard of a “surgical” bankruptcy, the Obama Administration’s preferred term for a very big business, like General Motors, whizzing through bankruptcy in just a few weeks flat, rather than the normal year or year-and-a-half for a speedy case. Whatever it means, most bankruptcy attorneys agreed that it couldn’t be done. After all, if a single party–creditor, unions, dealers–objected to anything at all, it could take months to reach a …
