Round-Up

From the Congressional Quarterly, columnist Kenneth Jost has this commentary on the Supreme Court’s shift to the right. He discusses major decisions, particularly those that overturned precedent, and President Bush’s presidential legacy in connection to the Court’s shift.

A summary of Court decisions pertaining to environmental matters can be found here on Eutopianow.

USA Today has two opinion pieces pertaining to the Court. First, attorney Ronald Goldfarb discusses here the past Supreme Court cases relevant to the recent “brouhaha” surrounding the dismissals of Justice Department attorneys and concludes that, at least as far as the Supreme Court is concerned, precedent is clear: “the executive cannot decide unilaterally what is and is not privileged, as this administration seems to believe it can.” In another op-ed, here, author Stephen Mansfield criticizes the 1947 Everson decision, which made the “separation between church and state” the law of the land, and briefly sketches what he calls the religious “covenant” that our Founding Fathers made with the American people.

On Alternet, Deb Price voices her concerns about the future of gay rights in the face of a string of decisions this term against “the powerless” and “minorities.”

Michael Himowitz writes a scathing criticism, found here on Newsday.com, of the Supreme Court decision this term that may potentially allow manufacturers to create minimum-price agreements with retailers.

Tony Mauro of the Legal Times has these comments on Tom’s post, The Democratic (Not So) Short List, found here.