otium cum dignitate

Getting a Feel For Roberts

Having ardently supported Chief Justice John Roberts' confirmation bid to the Supreme Court, I realized that I've spent little time actually reading to see how he's doing now that he's the new CJ. 

E.J. Dionne Jr.'s column today gives me an opportunity to reflect.  Dionne Jr. reviewed a recent speech by Roberts at Georgetown during which Roberts stated that, "Justices should try to make the narrowest possible rulings and strive for unanimity, or something close to it." 

Of course, Dionne Jr. relishes this opportunity to bash Scalia and his "orginalist" theory of interpreting the Constitution.  While I tend not to be so hard-and-fast in my opinions on the Justices, I would agree that I tend to side with Roberts' balanced and narrow approach to judging rather than Scalia's self-righteous and anachronistic "originalism."

But while Roberts seems to be less of an ideologue than even Rehnquist, recent decisions have come down in the predictable 5-4 fashion, with Roberts simply replacing Rehnquist's typical vote on the court.  Although always somewhat of a fence-sitter, Kennedy has become the new tiebreaker on today's court.  Could this mean Kennedy is changing his attitude so as to compensate for the loss of O'Connor? 

I'm overgeneralizing, but the new court could become extremely similar to the old court.  In terms of voting, I could foresee the following becoming true:  Kennedy = O'Connor, Roberts = Kennedy, Alito = Rehnquist. 

Dionne Jr. is a bit more optimistic.  He writes:

"But if Roberts lives up to his Georgetown principles, he will justify all the votes cast for his confirmation by moderates and liberals. More important, he will win a place in history as the chief justice who ended the judicial wars."

Is there really a judicial war, though?  Or has the court found a way to create a balance that reflects contemporary society.  Do we really want more unanimous or near unanimous decisions?  After all, our country is pretty divided on the most important issues of our day.  A split on the court mirrors society.  To me, this isn't a judicial "war."  It's reality.

Hiatus Interrupted

I was thinking, and I've decided that my idleness was beginning to get pretty boring.

Anyways, I'm back again.  I've spent a month contemplating life and rediscovering the world outside of the first year of law school.  I've talked to so many law students who agree that it's quite an odd feeling when you finish your exams and the first year is officially over.  Your brain is so accustomed to thinking law, studying, reading casebooks, and stressing about the unknown that sitting around the apartment with nothing to do just isn't enjoyable like it used to be!

Perhaps this is how law school prepares students to be lawyers.  We lose the ability to enjoy doing nothing. 

Anyways, my internship is pretty fun, although it's only 3 days a week.  Yea, I still haven't figured out how to occupy my time on those days off.  Right now, I'm somewhat content to stare at my fantasy team for hours on end. 

I'll admit the summer is pretty awesome.  But I had a pleasant thought run through my head today, for a change.  It began with pumpkins.  And then Octoberfest beer, autumn leaves, and...FOOOTBALLLL!!!!  Ahhh i'm such an addict. 

Speaking of football, why does USA soccer suck so much?