Balls and Strikes : Supreme Court Coverage That Doesn't Suck
A site for critical, progressive, and bullshit-free commentary about courts, judges, and the legal system they uphold.
Circuit Status - Balls and Strikes
4 days ago · Each year, of the thousands of petitions for review that the Supreme Court receives, the justices typically grant fewer than 100. For just about everyone else, a decision made by one of the 13 federal courts of appeals is the end of the line, which makes these life-tenured judges some of the most powerful people many Americans have never heard of.
Here Is the Judicial Nominations Landscape That Donald Trump …
Nov 6, 2024 · Donald Trump won the 2024 election in decisive fashion on Tuesday, thus blessing the president who already appointed 234 federal judges during his first term—the most of any one-term president since Jimmy Carter—with four additional years to stock the bench with conservative ideologues who will be deciding cases for decades to come.
Click to Cancel Rule: The Fifth Circuit Can’t Wait to Lock You Into ...
Oct 25, 2024 · Earlier this month, the Federal Trade Commission finalized its “click to cancel” rule, one of those rules that feels so common-sense that it’s annoying to learn that it wasn’t a rule already. Going forward, the agency will require gyms, wireless providers, cable companies, and other subscription- or membership-based businesses to make it “at least as easy” to …
The Latest Sotomayor Retirement Discourse Is Way, Way Too Late
Nov 9, 2024 · In the aftermath of Donald Trump’s election win on Tuesday, unnamed Senate Democrats are now in the midst of “active” and “urgent” conversations, per Politico, about whether to nudge 70-year-old Justice Sonia Sotomoyor to step down during the lame-duck session. Her retirement, the thinking goes, would allow President Joe Biden and the outgoing Democratic Senate majority to confirm ...
Tracking Senior Status Eligible Judges: Who Can Take Senior Status?
This page tracks the judges who are eligible to take senior status by January 20, 2025 but have not yet announced plans to do so. This list currently includes This list currently includes 126 lifetime federal judges—including 12 circuit judges and …
Trump’s Recess Appointments Scheme Is a Show of Power Over …
Nov 15, 2024 · Trump’s insistence on recess appointments is a tell and a test. Trying to avoid the burden of earning the constitutionally-required buy-in from his allies in Congress shows the lengths to which he is committed to authoritarianism, and lets him assess the extent to which the other branches of government will submit to his whims.
Federal Judicial Vacancies Tracker - Balls and Strikes
There are currently 37 federal judicial vacancies without a nominee. Of these, 35 are district court judgeships where Republican senators can veto a nominee under the blue slip policy observed by the Senate Judiciary Committee. (Court of International Trade not …
What’s the Deal With the “Deal” that Senate Democrats Made on …
4 days ago · For several brief, glorious days, Senate Democrats were doing the lame-duck session right. As the clock ticked down on the 118th Congress, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer took advantage of Republican absences from the Senate floor to hold confirmation votes for several former public defenders and civil rights lawyers whom President Joe Biden had nominated to the federal bench.
The Case For Tom Goldstein Never Blogging Again
4 days ago · In 2023, the renowned Supreme Court lawyer Tom Goldstein announced his retirement, explaining that when the Court is controlled by a six-justice conservative supermajority, there is “very little that an advocate for the little guy can hope to accomplish anymore.” This week, Goldstein, best known as the founder and publisher of SCOTUSblog, reemerged to offer the sort of keen insight ...