Thoughts on SCOTUS, Now and Later

Parsing the summary stats, SCOTUSblog's Tom Goldstein has some thoughts on this Term and the next:

The Court is moving steadily in the direction of rolling back Warren Court-era precedents that conservatives view as significant overreaching of the judicial role... I am struck in particular by the opinions of the Chief Justice that seem to lay down markers that will be followed in later generations of cases.

Continue reading →

Thursday, July 2, 2009 (0) (tags↓)
SCOTUS

Lightlane

While I concede that the working prototype is a fair proof of concept, I am having a hard time seeing this as anything but a novelty:

The lines are just too faint on all but the darkest streets. Even then, I don't know that it would be immediately apparent to someone that the lines are meant to evoke a lane. Perhaps if the lines could interweave somehow to cover the entire space behind the bike, that might be more effective. As it is, you'd be better off devoting that battery life to some bright, blinking lights.

(Via treehugger.)

Wednesday, July 1, 2009 (1) (tags↓)
cycling

SCOTUS OT08 Summary Stats

SCOTUSblog has published its yearly summary of SCOTUS stats [PDF], which is always an interesting read.

•SCOTUS reversed or vacated the lower court in 75.9% of the time.

•Continuing the trend, the Ninth Circuit—that's California and six other Western states—was reviewed more than any other court. 20.3% of the SCOTUS docket came from the Ninth Circuit, and 81.3% of the time, SCOTUS reversed them.

•The Second Circuit—New York, Vermont, and Connecticut—made up 11.4% of the docket, and were reversed 77.8% of the time.

•Several Circuit Courts saw all their cases reversed. Meanwhile, the Eleventh Circuit—Georgia, Alabama, and Florida—saw each of its three cases affirmed.

•29.1% of decisions were a 5-4 split, a slight increase over last term, but in line with previous terms. 19% of decisions were fully unanimous, and 32.9% had no dissenting votes. These numbers are also up from last term.

•Decisions averaged 2.04 justices in dissent, which is a high rate of extra bloviation.

•Contrary to popular belief, the two justices who agree most often are not Scalia and Thomas, but Roberts and Alito (who agreed 92% of the time!)

Tuesday, June 30, 2009 (1) (tags↓)
SCOTUS

Baseball Infographics and Other Visual Treats

There's some really interesting infographics here. I didn't realize just how huge the Green Monster is. It's kind of ridiculous. And not only is it interesting to see which way the batter faces at every park, it's even more interesting to note that no one faces west. I wonder why that is; what's the obsession with north-northeast? And check out this comparison of 2009 ticket prices. Seriously, Yankees? A $1250 seat? I'd like to see these prices compared to team standing come season's end. Right now, Phillies fans are getting the best bang for their buck.

(Via information aesthetics.)

Monday, June 29, 2009 (6) (tags↓)
baseball, infographics

Michael Jackson, 1958-2009

Man. I go on vacation for a week, and I come back to the news of Michael Jackson's passing. What a downer.

My first thought was that it is probably for the best. That man led such a tortured existence, exchanging his own youth, privacy, and sanity to become the biggest superstar in the world. He can be at peace now.

I am doing my part, listening to Thriller on repeat, trying to remember MJ for the beauty he created in the world. As John Mayer said, "I truly hope he is memorialized as the '83 moonwalking, MTV owning, mesmerizing, unstoppable, invincible Michael Jackson." Hear hear!

He will truly be missed.

Sunday, June 28, 2009 (0) (tags↓)
music, RIP

Walt Disney World, Ho!

We're off to Disney World for a week, by way of the Milwaukee Airport. This means I will once again get to see my all time favorite airport sign, located at the far end of the security checkpoint:

I love that this sign necessarily concedes that you have been discombobulated by the security screening process. It somehow makes the hassle more bearable.

Saturday, June 20, 2009 (0) (tags↓)
airtravel, travel, TSA

The Ideological History of the Supreme Court

This is awesome: Martin-Quinn scores, which measure the relative location of each U.S. Supreme Court justice on an ideological continuum, for every justice since 1937, simultaneously displayed for easy comparison. It's so simple, but so genius. What a great way to visualize fun data. For example:

•Although Antonin Scalia is the conservative justice poster child, Clarence Thomas is actually more conservative.

•Clarence Thomas is actually the most conservative justice since 1937, and gets more conservative every year.

•David Souter actually started out conservative, but made a steady shift towards the left, ultimately becoming more liberal than he ever was conservative.

•The moster liberal member of the court since 1937 was William Douglas. He was on the Court for some landmark decisions, including Brown v. Board of Education, Miranda v. Arizona, and Roe v. Wade.

•The years surrounding the Roe v. Wade decision—1972-1974—featured the most extreme polarization between two justices. William Douglas and William Rehnquist averaged a 10.59-point spread during that three-year period.

•By comparison the most polarized year for the current Court was 2006, with John Paul Stevens and Clarence Thomas turning in a 6.98-point spread.

(Via information aesthetics.)

Friday, June 19, 2009 (1) (tags↓)
SCOTUS