Judiciary

On Tuesday's Anderson Cooper 360, CNN's Jeffrey Toobin hyped that a federal judge's stay on President's Obama's executive action granting amnesty for scores of illegal immigrants is a "very, very bad ruling for the President and his administration." Toobin underlined that the judge is "a known conservative judge, who...[has] been hostile to the President on immigration reform."

Just shy of 24 hours after a federal judge halted President Barack Obama’s executive amnesty, the major broadcast networks displayed their palpable opposition to the ruling during their Tuesday night broadcasts, lamenting that it “dashes American dreams for millions of families under the threat of deportation” after Wednesday was set “to be a historic day for millions of illegal immigrants” when…

The liberal journalists at MSNBC used much of an exclusive interview with Supreme Court Justice Rather Bader Ginsburg to fixate on whether the elderly judge will retire and let Barack Obama name her replacement.  Anchor Rachel Maddow referred to it as the “awkward question that has lingered over the final two years” of Obama’s presidency.

In her Talking Points Memo column, Marcotte writes that King v. Burwell itself is ridiculous but par for the course: “Exploiting the obsessions and fantasies of rightwing cranks…has [been] the standard operating procedure of conservative leadership for decades now. But that the Supreme Court is elevating this kind of talk radio madness to the highest court in the land takes this to another level…

On Thursday's New Day, liberal CNN anchor Chris Cuomo hammered Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore over his resistance to same-sex "marriage." Cuomo forwarded many of the talking points of the social left during the long segment: "It used to be legal to have slaves. Your state had a lot of laws on the books, like other states, where times changed, and those laws had to change. And this…

On Monday night, the “big three” of ABC, CBS, and NBC each devoted a segment of their Monday evening newscasts to the news that Alabama State Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore and some local government officials chose not to carry out a federal ruling that calls for gay marriages to be permitted despite a voter-approved ban. Naturally, the networks provided favorable coverage to those in…

After years of virtually always failing to file a print news report on the March for Life, the New York Times this year ran a full half-sentence on the rally of tens of thousands in Washington, in a Jeremy Peters' report that used the march's existence solely to embarrass the Republican Party over its mishandling of an abortion bill.  

As Republicans take control of both the House and Senate, the New York Times is preparing the political ground for GOP failure. Exhibit A: Monday's front-page story by Times congressional reporter Carl Hulse, who quickly got to the "sour note" of John Boehner's struggle for re-election as House Speaker. Exhibit B: Michael Shear's front-page story Sunday on the GOP turning to the courts for what…

Earlier tonight, Curtis Houck at NewsBusters observed that the Tuesday evening network news shows failed to report on an opinion issued today by a federal judge in Western Pennsylvania in connection with President Obama's illegal immigration-related executive actions last month. Several blogs and center-right outlets noted Judge Arthur Schwab's 38-page "Memorandum Opinion" this afternoon. Not…

Conservative Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia has enough brio in his opinions that it’s inspiring theatrical satire. On the front of Wednesday’s Wall Street Journal was a story headlined “How Do You Solve a Problem Like Scalia? Set His Dissents to Music.” Supreme Court reporter Jess Bravin reports “Justice Scalias are appearing in a stage play, an opera and a puppet show, to name three.”

Edwin Lyngar argues that right-wingers not only “creat[e] and exploit…irrational fear” but also disdain empathy, whereas “kindness…is the hallmark of liberalism.” The article was headlined I was a conservative coward: How the midterms evoked my past of shame, terror and Fox News”.

Two New York Times columnists took turns recently insulting Republican leaders as "dim bulbs" and plutocrats, while throwing around accusations of stolen democracy. Paul Krugman claimed "the political right has always been uncomfortable with democracy" because it believes "only the wealthy should have political rights," while former reporter Timothy Egan said that thanks to the Supreme Court…

The New Yorker magazine was a fierce opponent of President Bush (starting with Jane Mayer’s attacks on Bush anti-terrorist policies) and is now a enthusiastic supporter of President Obama. The latest proof comes in an article on Obama’s judicial legacy by New Yorker writer (and CNN legal analyst) Jeffrey Toobin. Like many a liberal journalist, Toobin wants to help the president pretend that…

Three points need to be made about Monday's decision by the Supreme Courtnot to decide whether the equal protection clause of the Constitution grants people of the same sex the right to marry.