Today marks the fortieth anniversary of the Court’s landmark decision in Roe v. Wade, which made abortion legal nationwide. Coverage of the case and its legacy comes from Julie Rovner of NPR, Bill Mears of CNN, Cheryl Wetzstein of The Washington Times, Louise Radnofsky and Ashby Jones of The Wall Street Journal, and Adam Clark Estes of the Atlantic Wire. Writing for The New Yorker, Jeffrey Toobin looks at the close relationship between politics and the outcome of controversial Supreme Court decisions and concludes that ultimately “it is the voters and the President they elect who will decide whether abortion rights survive for the next four decades.”
The first set of briefs in the same-sex marriage cases, Hollingsworth v. Perry (the challenge to California’s Proposition 8) and United States v. Windsor (the challenge to Section 3 of the federal Defense of Marriage Act), are scheduled to be filed today. At this blog, Marty Lederman posted the final two parts in his series exploring the Article III standing issues raised in these cases. In Part VI, he reviews the respondents’ likely arguments against standing in Perry, while in Part VII he considers what might happen next if the Court concludes that the Perry petitioners lack standing.
Yesterday’s coverage of the Court also focused on the inauguration. Catalina Camia of USA Today and Karen Tumulty of The Washington Post report on how, with the Justices seated just a few feet away, the President reiterated his view that the law should recognize the right of same-sex couples to marry. Shannon Bream of Fox News (video) reports on the possibility of an additional Supreme Court nomination in the President’s second term. Finally, Mark Silva of Bloomberg News reports on Justice Scalia’s notable headwear at the inauguration ceremony. Additional reporting on the Justices’ headgear comes from Tony Mauro of The BLT and Joseph Straw and Dan Friedman of New York Daily News.
As Marissa noted in yesterday’s round-up, Justice Sotomayor’s memoir, My Beloved World, continues to garner media attention. At CNN, Justice Sotomayor tells Starting Point Anchor Soledad O’Brien about her experience in Princeton’s affirmative action program, its impact on ruling on affirmative action cases, and criticism that she asks too many questions; Michiko Kakutani reviews the book for The New York Times.
Briefly:
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY