appellate practice judiciary u.s. supreme court

Justice Kennedy Is Most Often the Swing Voter This Term

June 29, 2011 10:30

Justice Anthony M. Kennedy provided a crucial swing vote in several important cases this term, siding with his conservative colleagues in split decisions more often than liberals. Sixteen cases were decided by a 5-4 vote this year, and Kennedy joined the majority in 14 of the decisions, the Wall...

Kagan Claims ‘Chutzpah’ in Latest Dissent; Her Opinions Are Conversational, Wry

June 28, 2011 12:48

Justice Elena Kagan flexed her writing muscle in her dissent on Monday to a Supreme Court ruling striking down Arizona’s campaign finance law. The law overturned by the majority gave publicly financed candidates more public dollars when their privately funded opponents spent more. The 5-4...

Justice Thomas: Critics Who Don’t Read Opinions Have ‘Disease of Illiteracy or Laziness’

May 18, 2011 14:14

Justice Clarence Thomas says his colleagues remain on good terms despite their philosophical disagreements, unlike some critics of the court’s opinions. Many of the critics have apparently never read the cases, Thomas said Tuesday evening at the Augusta Bar Association's Law Day Banquet. The...

Think Oral Arguments Are Important? Think Again, Justice Alito Says

May 17, 2011 11:15

Supreme Court litigators don’t speak much more than the justices during oral arguments, according to a first-hand participant, Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. Justices are “pushing 50 percent” in the number of words spoken at oral argument, Alito told lawyers at a Law Day gathering in...

Justice Ginsburg Is Term’s Most Frequent Dissenter

May 03, 2011 15:33

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has dissented six times so far this term, making her the most frequent dissenter. Justice Antonin Scalia, on the other hand, is the term’s most frequent lone dissenter, writing two dissents that were not joined by any other justices, SCOTUSblog reports. Writing one...