One thing I have come to believe, the longer I study the law, is that there is a push-pull dynamic in play that will, in the end, make the courts more reasonable. One explanation for the recent spate of more liberal employment law decisions was the justices’ suprise at the public anger over Ledbetter. Let’s say we get this conservative supreme court and it does “its worst.” If anything, I think that will get voters to become outraged, and put more pressure on the political branches (and the state courts) to get what they want.

It is a damn shame that Obama doesn’t say he wants judges like Stevens and Brennan and Marshall. As Cass Sunstein pointed out, after the latter two left the court, the court shifted to the right. We have some pretty hard righties on the court, but no hard lefties.

I also have some hopes for Alito. He isn’t quite what the Republicans had in mind. They expected (and we feared) a Scalia clone, and thought that Roberts would be the more moderate one. Turns out we/they had it exactly backwards. With age, Alito’s views may soften. The conservatives may come to view him like they view Souter. As a mistake. But this may be wishful thinking on my part.

So, does this mean Gitmo detainees and all enemy combatants will be tried in civilian courts and have the same rights as American citizens, including habeus corpus?

No. It merely strikes down the part of the law that constructs an alternate kangaroo court system that substitutes (poorly) for habeas protections. It affirms the right of gitmo detainees to submit writs, and when they are rejected they go right back into the kangaroo court system.

Roberts’ dissent is predicated on the notion that the right to Habeas does not exist for anyone, including citizens on American soil. According to his argument it’s not actually a right, it’s a guideline. Seriously.

And every reactionary realizes this. That is why they will get out and vote for McCain come Nov. no matter how much they may dislike him. Heck, they’d vote for someone “pro-choice” like Giuliani even because they know that the (R) after the name means that, no matter what his personal beliefs are, he can be counted on to nominate reactionary judges/justices. And think about it — the judicial branch is the most important one to “control” … after all, the legislators can make laws and the executive branch can implement them, but if there is any dispute over any matter of law, it is the judge who has the final say.

Before John McCain got the nomination, there was all sorts of talk from the right about “oh noes, we can’t have McCain” (or whomever) … but note that once the nomination was cinched, a lot of that talk died down.

But what about us liberals? Are liberals going to unite around Obama in the same way that reactionaries will unite around McCain no matter how they feel about him? Forget about what Obama will or will not do as president — you don’t see reactionaries worrying about what McCain will or will not do … they have the big picture in mind. Why don’t we?

“Three of the five Justices in the majority — John Paul Stevens (age 88), Ruth Bader Ginsburg (age 75) and David Souter (age 68) — are widely expected by court observers to retire or otherwise leave the Court in the first term of the next President. By contrast, the four judges who dissented — Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, John Roberts and Sam Alito — are expected to stay right where they are for many years to come.

John McCain has identified Roberts and Alito as ideal justices of the type he would nominate, while Barack Obama has identified Stephen Breyer, David Souter and Ginsberg (all in the majority today). It’s not hyperbole to say that, from Supreme Court appointments alone, our core constitutional protections could easily depend upon the outcome of the 2008 election.”

“I am disappointed that this case was decided 5-4.”

That’s because most of them are racist and hate anybody who isn’t rich, white, Judeo-Christian, Western, and upper class. But, I’m glad that there is progress for securing rights for Gitmo detainees. about f–king time.