The News

The Supreme Court’s conservative activism, a look back; Health care for kids on the docket

Justice Secures His Place as a Critic of Integration. The illogic of Clarence Thomas.
After examining Justice Thomas’s experiences at a mostly white seminary near Savannah, Ga., and at Yale Law School, Kevin Merida and Michael A. Fletcher, the authors of the biography, “Supreme Discomfort,” write that he “has lived most of his life as the only black — or one of a tiny minority of blacks — in overwhelmingly white settings.” Mr. Merida and Mr. Fletcher add, “But almost every step of the way, he has been nagged by doubts and has burned with anger at slights, real and imagined.” —NYTimes

A Battle Over Expansion of Children’s Insurance. We giveth, then taketh away.
In California, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, said it was “absolutely essential” that Congress renew and expand the program. Like many Democrats, he said Congress should increase spending by $50 billion over the next five years — the amount decried by Mr. Bush as “a massive expansion.”—NYTimes

Health Care Terror . “National healthcare: Breeding ground for terror?” asks Fox News
The only things standing in the way of universal health care are the fear-mongering and influence-buying of interest groups.—Paul Krugman for the NYTimes

Last Term’s Winner at the Supreme Court: Judicial Activism. A must-read review of Supreme Court’s conservative activism.
With few exceptions, the court’s activism was in service of a conservative ideology. The justices invoked the due process clause in a novel way to overturn a jury’s award of $79.5 million in punitive damages against Philip Morris, which for decades misrepresented the harm of smoking. It is hard to imagine that Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito, who were in the majority, would have supported this sort of “judge-made law” as readily if the beneficiary were not a corporation.The conservative activism that is taking hold is troubling in two ways. First, it is likely to make America a much harsher place. —NYTimes

Inside Cobo: Mlitary recruiters, health care issues, Katrina aid. Desperate times…
The U.S. military is a major presence at the NAACP convention, taking up much of the exhibition space at Cobo Hall. The U.S. Coast Guard, Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps all had recruiters on hand Saturday and lots of information and giveaways for attendees.—Detroit Free Press

Posted at 7:23 AM, Jul 09, 2007 in News | Permalink | View Comments