Thursday round-up

By Amanda Rice
on Nov 18, 2010 at 9:06 am

Last Term, in Christian Legal Society v. Martinez, the Court held that California’s Hastings College of Law did not violate the First Amendment by refusing to recognize student organizations unless they allow all students to join – even if the policy would require a religious organization to admit gay students. But it remanded for consideration of whether that policy was selectively enforced. On Wednesday, the Ninth Circuit refused to consider the selective enforcement issue, finding that it had not been properly preserved. Courthouse News Service, SCOTUSblog, the Associated Press (via the Washington Post), and the Chronicle of Higher Education have coverage.

In the New York Times, Adam Liptak continues his series on the Roberts Court with an analysis of the clarity of the Court’s opinions.  He concludes that “the [C]ourt often provides only limited or ambiguous guidance to lower courts,” “[a]nd it increasingly does so at enormous length.” The Volokh Conspiracy’s Orin Kerr responds, noting that “[n]o matter what Supreme Court opinions look like, there will always be someone who criticizes them for not being clear enough.”

Briefly:

• At The BLT, Tony Mauro reports on a recent letter sent by University of Virginia professor Daniel Meador to the Senate Judiciary Committee calling for a resolution that would encourage greater diversity on the Supreme Court.
• At SCOTUSblog, Brooks Holland analyzes the Court’s unanimous opinion in Abbott v. United States.
• A Seattle Times editorial argues that the Court “should rule in favor of the First Amendment by striking down a California ban on violent video games.”
• In the second post in a series titled “Our Tech-Savvy Supreme Court,” the WSJ Law Blog’s Ashby Jones discusses Justice Breyer’s comments about Facebook, which Kali covered in yesterday’s round-up.
• At Slate, Dahlia Lithwick reviews Noah Feldman’s new book, Scorpions: The Battles and Triumphs of FDR’s Great Supreme Court Justices.