“Samuel Alito” on The Daily Caller

There were no big surprises when the Republicans running for president listed their favorite justices on the Supreme Court Thursday evening at the last debate before the Iowa caucuses. (more)

According to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, Goodwin Liu should be the new judge on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals because he is “the son of Taiwanese immigrants, and would bring much-needed diversity to the Federal bench. He has a brilliant legal mind, and is admired by legal thinkers and academic scholars from across the political spectrum.” (more)

It’s clear that the civil rights establishment, knee-jerk toward what it perceives to be discrimination, turns a blind eye to intolerance and incivility directed at conservatives — even when the victims are black. (more)

In an edited video released Thursday, progressive protesters are shown calling for violent attacks on Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas while protesting outside a summit billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch held last week in Palm Springs, Calif. (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Chief Justice John Roberts will lead a contingent of six Supreme Court justices at President Barack Obama’s State of the Union speech, quieting speculation that only Democratic appointees to the court would attend. (more)

(CNN) – Sen. Arlen Specter, the outgoing Pennsylvania Republican-turned-Democrat, directed a parting blow Tuesday to members of the Supreme Court’s conservative bloc. (more)

Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer said Sunday that he will attend the upcoming State of the Union address, even as more conservative justices have been critical of what happened at the last one. (more)

Evan Bayh, the honorable centrist Democrat from Indiana, will retire from the United States Senate in January, replaced on election night by Republican Dan Coats in what has become the most Republican Great Lakes state.  Bayh’s election-day column in the New York Times anticipates precisely how Democrats and Republicans will square off for the great American center, which is both despised and urgently desired by ideologues of both parties. (more)

Juan Williams’ dismissal by NPR because of supposedly inappropriate remarks he made on Bill O’Reilly’s TV program once again exposes the radio network’s hypocrisy and bias.  The real reason is clearly that NPR officials disliked Williams’ ongoing association with Fox News; they regularly permit other correspondents and analysts to get away with murder — but on other TV networks. (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — When Supreme Court justices enter the House of Representatives in their black robes for the president’s next State of the Union address, Samuel Alito does not plan to be among them. (more)

The State of the Union (SOTU) speech has become a carnival of politics, theatrics and rudeness, much like cable television. The United States Constitution requires the president to “give to the Congress Information on the State of the Union” (Article II, Section 3). You don’t have to be a constitutional scholar to recognize that the requirement is to simply give Congress a report on the state of the union. (more)

A skeptical, curious, and cautious Supreme Court took up a weighty free speech case Wednesday as they heard oral arguments in Snyder v. Phelps. The issue being debated was whether the First Amendment protects protesters at a funeral from liability for intentionally inflicting emotional harm on the deceased’s grieving family. (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court opened its new term with Justice Elena Kagan on the bench. (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — First Amendment cases top the Supreme Court’s docket as it begins a new term with a new justice and three women on the bench for the first time. (more)

WASHINGTON — Each year, 36 young lawyers obtain the most coveted credential in American law: a Supreme Court clerkship. Clerking for a justice is a glittering capstone on a résumé that almost always includes outstanding grades at a top law school, service on a law review and a prestigious clerkship with a federal appeals court judge. (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has upheld a $20,000 fine against a leader of the movement challenging President Barack Obama’s citizenship. (more)

The Senate confirmed Elena Kagan last week, making her President Barack Obama’s second Supreme Court nominee to reach the bench. (more)

Did anyone in Washington (or anywhere outside the beltway for that matter) notice that the United States Senate confirmed Elena Kagan as an Associate Justice for the United States Supreme Court last week?  Not to mistrust the intelligence of the American citizenry, but this is, as Anchorman Ron Burgundy would say “kind of a big deal.” (more)

Washington (CNN) — Senators are expected to continue floor debate Wednesday on the nomination of Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court. (more)

WASHINGTON — When Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and his colleagues on the Supreme Court left for their summer break at the end of June, they marked a milestone: the Roberts court had just completed its fifth term. (more)