Friday round-up

By Kali Borkoski
on Oct 22, 2010 at 12:01 pm

At the Opinionator blog of the New York Times, Linda Greenhouse expresses hope that the Chief Justice will follow in the footsteps of his predecessor, Chief Justice William Rehnquist, and “criticize his fellow Republicans . . . for their role in creating the current judicial vacancy crisis.”

The debate over Citizens United and campaign finance during the current election cycle shows no signs of letting up.  Chris Good at The Atlantic rejects the premise that the case is “responsible for the deluge of ‘shadowy’ spending we’re seeing” in the current election cycle, explaining that “[h]ow we arrived here is much more complicated than that.”

The ABA Journal reports on a speech recently given by retired Justice John Paul Stevens at the National Legal Aid & Defender Association, in which the Justice criticized Justice Scalia’s 1991 opinion in Harmelin v. Michigan.  Sentencing Law and Policy also covers the speech, which is available from the Supreme Court.

Briefly noted:

The Lakeland Times of Wisconsin reports on Bruesewitz v. Wyeth, the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act case that was argued last week.

Justice Brennan: Liberal Champion, continues to receive attention. At Slate, Lincoln Caplan touches on themes of interest in the biography of the late Justice.

The editorial board of the New York Times has a brief update on cameras in the Supreme Court and concludes that “[i]f the court won’t agree [to cameras] on its own, then Congress should require it.”