The Supreme Court is a lonely place for women ... or the woman, now that Justice O'Connor has been replaced by Justice Alito.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said Friday that she dislikes being "all alone on the court" nearly a year after the retirement of Sandra Day O'Connor. Ginsburg, who spoke to an assembly at Suffolk University Law School, said she sees more women in law school, arguing before the court and sitting as federal judges.

"My consolation is that if you look at the federal courts altogether, you get a much different picture than you do if you look only at the U.S. Supreme Court," she said.

Justice Ginsburg noted that her male colleagues lack "certain sensitivities." Would anyone care to guess what they might be?

The FBI has released its files on the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist. Among the details:

The documents also reveal that while Rehnquist was hospitalized for back pain in 1981, he experienced withdrawal symptoms related to his use of Placidyl, a powerful prescription pain medicine. Rehnquist had taken the medication for ten years, the documents show, but doctors refused to give it to him while he was hospitalized. According to the FBI documents, Rehnquist became agitated and experienced hallucinations during his withdrawal from Placidyl. He attempted to leave the hospital in his pajamas and told doctors that he believed the CIA was plotting against him.

I wrote a long post about Rehnquist's use of Placidyl and the implications in 2005.

The new Supreme Court term begins Monday.

The American Constitution Society has a preview of five of the upcoming cases written by leading legal experts.

This is the first full-term in which Justice Alito and Chief Justice John Roberts will participate fully. Other sites with round-ups: ScotusBlog, which also has many of the case briefs available for download.

This is progress. The Supreme Court has announced that beginning next month, it will post transcripts of oral arguments the same day they are argued. They will be available free on the court's website.

I hope televised oral arguments are next. While I am not in favor of televising criminal trials or pre-trial hearings without the consent of the defendant, I think appellate hearings consisting solely of legal arguments should be available to all. They are a tremendous educational tool.

by TChris

Finding a silver lining in the Supreme Court's refusal to review Jose Padilla's claim that his detention as an enemy combatant was unconstitutional, Michael Dorf speculates that "Chief Justice Roberts may be more committed than most observers would have guessed, to a substantial judicial role in defending civil liberties against executive encroachment." Dorf is heartened by Roberts' decision to join the concurring opinion of Justice Kennedy, which "warn[ed] the government that the Supreme Court and the lower courts stand ready to enforce Padilla's rights--including the right to a speedy trial and to habeas corpus review--should the government continue to dither with Padilla."

These are, of course, nothing more than speculations. What is not speculation is the fact that the new Chief Justice--like every one of his predecessors--has already put substantial distance between himself and the positions of the Administration that just months ago nominated him to the Court.

Justice Stephen Breyer says there are no partisan politics on the Supreme Court, only differences of analysis and interpretation.

"I haven't seen that kind of politics in the Supreme Court. Zero. It doesn't exist," he said.

What there is according to Breyer, are differences in the methods the Justices employ in arriving at their decisions:

Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer says he frequently makes decisions about a law's constitutionality by considering its purposes and consequences, which puts him at odds with fellow justices who try to adhere strictly to the language of the Constitution.

He said there are six factors that go into evaluating a law:

The Washingtonian reports that the reason Bush didn't nominate Ted Olson for the Supreme Court was his age: at 65, he's considered too old. Olson also is engaged to be married.

Some four years after his wife, author Barbara Olson, was killed on the hijacked American Airlines flight that crashed into the Pentagon, former solicitor general Ted Olson is engaged. He will be married this fall to Lady Evelyn Booth, who has been his social companion since they met at the Kentucky Derby in 2002. A native of Louisville, Lady Booth was named for an aunt.

Olson left the solicitor general’s office last year and was considered a candidate to succeed William Rehnquist as chief justice before the job went to John Roberts.

Judge vetters saw Olson, 65, as too old, although many in his Norwegian family have lived into their nineties. His mother is going strong at 85. Olson still sports a thick shock of sandy Viking hair and zips around Great Falls in a silver Mercedes SL 600.

by Last Night in Little Rock

The N.Y. Times today has an article today with the amusing title: So, Guy Walks Up to the Bar, and Scalia Says..., also commented on Rawstory.com as Study: Scalia 19 times as funny as Ginsburg. Somebody thought it was important enough to do a study of the number of times that Justices somehow evoke laughter in the Supreme Court. Somebody has too much time on his hands.

Scalia has a sharp, even biting, wit, no doubt about it. I try to make it to the Supremes once a year for Fourth Amendment arguments, being a Fourth Amendment buff, so I've seen him in action. Sometimes it's funny, and sometimes it hurts.

My last argument was in 1995, and before me was Vernonia School Dist. No. 47J v. Acton, the first school drug testing case. Acton's lawyer was an earnest young man, and he was quite nervous. I do not remember the exact phrasing of the Scalia question, but the young man answered by referring to his nervousness and urinating on himself while he was standing there, and everybody thought his self-effacing comment was really funny, and it broke the ice. The kid did a good job, but he lost, but not unexpectedly: A cert. grant means an 80% likelihood of reversal.

by TChris

"Republicans close to the White House" tell the Washington Post that President Bush is "poised" to announce tomorrow the candidate who will replace Harriet Miers as the candidate to replace Justice O'Connor. Quick action, calculated to distract the news media from the Plame investigation, may also be calculated to consolidate the Republican Party behind a nominee who is trusted to advance a conservative agenda.

The Post article and this NY Times article short list the usual suspects. Both place Samuel Alito Jr. at the top of the list. From Wikipedia:

His ideological likeness to United States Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia has earned him the nickname "Scalito."

If Bush does announce a name tomorrow, will it supplant the Plame story, or (with the encouragement of bloggers) will the media be motivated to cover both stories with equal vigor?

by TChris

The president announced his intent to select a replacement for Harriet Miers in a “timely manner.” Miers was torpedoed by extremist critics in the president’s own party, raising the fear of an appeasement pick.

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) cautioned Democrats to be careful what they wished for. "For those who were concerned that Harriet Miers was too conservative, you should not be too sanguine about this," Obama said.

Dick Durbin warned that the president is “almost certain to turn to a nominee that is embraced by the conservative wing of the Republican Party.” Harry Ried cautioned the president not to travel that road:

by Last Night in Little Rock

Justice Antonin Scalia, in NYC today as Grand Marshal of the Columbus Day parade, said yesterday that he did not expect to be named Chief Justice, although the President had bandied his name around as a role model for a Chief Justice. He also said that it would be an honor to be named, but it would have taken too much of his time.

by Last Night in Little Rock

When Kenneth Starr was running around the Arkansas and D.C. woods like a hound dog in heat looking for the non-existent goods on Clinton, he insisted that everybody address him as "Judge Starr," even though he resigned his lifetime appointment to have a better shot at the Supreme Court and then blew it by being a neo-con witchhunter. He no longer had the right to even suggest he be called "Judge," unless he wanted his wife, children, and maid to do it.

Today, as Dean of the Pepperdine Law School, he moved the admission of several lawyers into the Bar of the Supreme Court. The Chief Justice referred to him as "Dean Starr." Finally, somebody humbled the unhumbleable.