So much of where the justices go in terms of terrorism, law enforcement, even abortion, a range of issues will depend on the court's composition in coming years. |
Some of the things he has said can't be good news to conservatives, |
The better argument for the result reached in Roe v. Wade is that it's necessary for the equality of women, rather than grounding it in the privacy right, ... Closed Chambers: The Rise, Fall, and Future of the Modern Supreme Court. |
The conference itself is not a place of debate, ... They don't engage across the conference table. |
The issue of physician-assisted suicide is tied into what President Bush calls 'the culture of life.' So this is a real emotional issue for them [conservatives]. And it's likely to be a very close ruling at the court, with Roberts again, perhaps, a key vote. |
The odds are that the federal sentencing guidelines will be ruled unconstitutional, ... Closed Chambers. |
The Rehnquist revolution has reached a certain equilibrium. They don't seem to be going in any radical directions. Even among the two liberal justices, [Stephen] Breyer and [Ruth Bader] Ginsburg, they are cautious pragmatists. |
There is a very steep learning curve, even for someone as versed in constitutional law as Roberts is. |
There's a certain romanticism about the court's role in American life, the ability of the court to be a moral beacon for the country, that drives justices to take progressive stands. |
This court likes taking on hot button issues, with abortion as an exception, |
This is a situation where, from the very moment the justices start back up in October, they're going to be very divided, |
This law does seem to be crafted to demand some kind of Supreme Court review. Because it really goes to this question of how much you have to protect the life versus the health of the mother. ... And it actually could be one of those cases that could turn on John Roberts' vote. |
We have this idealistic notion in this country that we can live in kind of splendid anonymity, we can walk around and be left alone. And this question really raises, in the post-9/11 era, the issue of whether that's really true anymore. |