WITH five votes, the late Justice William Brennan liked to tell his clerks, “you can do anything around here”. Justice Brennan’s rule still applies after the death in February of Antonin Scalia. But with only eight justices remaining, the magic number of five is now harder to come by. Twice since Mr Scalia's death the Supreme Court has performed the judicial equivalent of throwing up its hands. In a small case concerning banking rules and in a hugely consequential case challenging the future of public-sector unions, the justices issued one-sentence per curiam (“by the court”) rulings: “The judgment is affirmed by an equally divided court.” A tie in the high court means that the ruling in the court below stands. But a tie-induced affirmance does not bind other lower courts, and the judgment has no value as a precedent. A tie, in short, leaves everything as it was and as it would have been had the justices never agreed to hear the case in the first place.
That’s a lot of wasted ink, paper, time and breath. And now it seems the justices may be keen to reduce future futile efforts as they contemplate a year or more with...Continue reading
Source: United States http://ift.tt/1WW9kTh
Share this
Related Posts
‘The most important document’ to help slash Inheritance Tax bills – act now
INHERITANCE TAX costs can be managed and mitigated through effective estate planning. Experts have suggested what "th- Jonathan Gold, poet of the strip-mall eateryThe first food critic to win a Pulitzer died on July 21st
Source: United States https://ift.tt/2LS1GZ7
- America’s amateur diplomatsSam from Afghanistan
WHEN Jim Byrum returned to America in 1970 after a two-year tour of Chile with the Peace Corps, he
- 'Most successful’ Dragons’ Den pitch: Business now worth £30million and sells worldwide
WONDERBLY has been labelled "the most successful business to have ever passed through the Den's walls" by investor Pi
EmoticonEmoticon