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July 2, 2009, 2009; 1 note
posted today
7/2: The following is from a July 1st NY
Times analysis: Chief Justice
John G. Roberts Jr. emerged as a canny strategist at the Supreme Court this term,
laying the groundwork for bold changes that could take the court to the right
even as the recent elections moved the nation to the left. The court
took mainly incremental steps in major cases concerning voting rights,
employment discrimination, criminal procedure and campaign finance. But the
chief justiceŐs fingerprints were on all of them, and he left clues that the
court is only one decision away from fundamental change in many areas of the
law. Whether he will succeed depends
on Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, the courtŐs swing vote. And there is reason to
think that the chief justice has found a reliable ally when it counts. "In
the important cases, Kennedy ends up on the right," said Thomas C.
Goldstein, a student of the court and the founder of Scotusblog, which has
compiled comprehensive statistics on the current term. The two justices agreed
86 percent of the time. ... Chief Justice Roberts has certainly been
planting seeds in this term's decisions. If his reasoning takes root in future
cases, the law will move in a conservative direction on questions as varied as
what kinds of evidence may be used against criminal defendants and the role the
government may play in combating race discrimination. The two newest justices, Chief Justice Roberts and Justice
Samuel A. Alito Jr., both appointed by President George W. Bush, agreed 92
percent of time, the highest rate for any pair of justices. But Justice Alito
often wrote concurring opinions to underscore or try to extend conservative
rulings, especially in criminal cases. He may well now be the courtŐs most
conservative member. "Alito is staking out some room to the right of
the chief justice," said Pamela Harris, the executive director of the
Supreme Court Institute at Georgetown University Law Center, "and you
would have thought there is no such room." ... The court was remarkably
polarized in the 74 signed decisions it issued this term, dividing 5-to-4 or
6-to-3 in almost half of them, up from roughly a third in the three previous
years. The court reversed lower courts about three-quarters of the time, up
from two-thirds in the last term. Justice Kennedy was in the majority 92
percent of the time and in all but 5 of the 23 decisions in which the justices
split 5-to-4. Those decisions were, moreover, often divided in the expected
way: in 16, all four members of the court's liberal wing were on one side and
all four of its conservatives were on the other. And in between them
was Justice Kennedy, the most powerful jurist in America. He joined the liberals 5 times and the conservatives
11. That was a significant shift to the right: in the previous term, Justice
Kennedy voted four times each with the liberals and the conservatives in cases
divided along the traditional ideological fault line. Justice Kennedy
swung right in the cases that really mattered. To access the NY Times article, click above. To access a Washington
Post analysis, click here.
7/1: The following is from a June 27th Columbian article: In 1988, they banned it in airplanes. In
1994, in offices. In 2006, the bars. And this month, they finally banned
smoking in Teri Richard's apartment building. "When I grew up, there
was a big ashtray on everybody's table," said Richard, 53, sitting under a
small corner of awning that stretches 25 feet from the nearest door.
Though Richard and a handful of her neighbors are only the latest of
millions of tenants across the country to choose such indignities for the sake
of an addiction, these tenants have an unusual landlord: the Vancouver Housing
Authority. The new decision by Clark County's subsidized housing agency
to ban smoking in some of its properties reflects Washington's successful
crusade to drive down cigarette use. ... After years of debate, the VHA
banned smoking indoors and on the balconies of Richard's building at the start
of June. The company that manages the
property has left notes on apartments but is still working out how the new
rules would be enforced. On Wednesday, Columbia House in the Hough
neighborhood will become the VHA's second smoke-free property. The agency might
roll the ban out to others of its dozens of buildings across the county , VHA
deputy director LaVon Holden said in May. Most public housing agencies
are doing the same, she said. "It
is just a standard of the business," said Holden, a former smoker.
"We are becoming a culture that is less tolerant of secondhand smoke,
because we now know the downside." The decision will save the agency
about $1,900 for every two-bedroom apartment that doesn't have to be scrubbed
and repainted every time a smoker moves out, Holden said. Smokers' habits
had been making life less nice for some of the Esther Short building's
nonsmokers, who are a majority of the tenants. Click above for full article.
6/12:
According to a June 12th note from the Brennan Center for Justice: On
June 4, 2009, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice,
Science and Related Agencies (CJS), which has jurisdiction over funding for
LSC, considered its annual appropriations bill. The bill, which was passed out of the Subcommittee the same
day, raised LSC's total funding level to $440 million, up from $390 million in
FY 2009, a 12.8% increase. Authored by the Chair of the CJS Subcommittee,
Representative Alan Mollohan (WV), the bill also removes the restriction that
currently prohibits LSC grantees from using LSC funds to seek attorneys' fee
awards -- a limitation that had been included as a rider to the LSC
appropriation every year since 1996. The bill does not lift any of the other LSC funding
restrictions. The full bill passed the full House Appropriations Committee on
June 9, 2009, with no changes to the LSC provisions, and now awaits passage b y
the full House. The bill's call
for increased funding is a greatly welcomed boost, especially because the
economic downturn has substantially increased legal need while reducing the
availability of other legal services funding. However, the bill does not lift
other LSC restrictions, specifically, it does not lift the restriction on
non-LSC funds, and it does not lift the restriction on class actions. Pres. Obama's detailed budget had
called for removal of these two additional restrictions. In the Senate, the CJS Appropriations
Subcommittee has yet to produce an FY 2010 appropriation bill, but is expected
to turn to this now. The CJS
Subcommittee is free to draft its own bill, and could do so along the lines of
the President's budget. Senator
Barbara Mikulski (MD) chairs the Senate's CJS Subcommittee. Once both the House and Senate have
passed their respective CJS bills, differences between the two versions will
likely be addressed and reconciled by a conference committee. For further info from the Brennan
Center, click above.
6/2:
TCSG's Smoke-Free Environments Law Project maintains this up-dated
listing of all the public housing authorities/commissions in the U.S. that we
know of which have adopted smoke-free policies for one or more of their
apartment buildings. The listing
is done largely in the order in which the policies have been adopted. As of May, 2009, at least 112 local
housing authorities had adopted smoke-free policies for some or all of their
apartment buildings, with about 94 being adopted since the beginning of
January, 2005; an average of about 1.8 per month. That constitutes an increase
in the number of housing authorities with smoke-free policies of about 660% in
53 months. The 17 states with such
policies include Michigan (28), Minnesota (19), Maine (18), Colorado (11),
California (7), Nebraska (6), Washington (4), New Hampshire (3), Oregon (3), Alaska
(3) New Jersey (2), Wisconsin (2), Idaho (2), Florida, Montana, Indiana, and
Kentucky. To access the listing,
in pdf format, click above.
Bipartisan
Group of Senators Support $45 Million Increase for LSC
6/1:
According to a May 22nd Legal Services Corporation press release: Fifty-three Senators have signed on to
a letter asking key appropriators to provide at least $435 million for the
Legal Services Corporation in fiscal year 2010-a $45 million increase over
current funding levels and the amount requested by President Obama. Forty-five
Democrats, six Republicans and two Independents signed the letter. Senator Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) was the
lead sponsor of the letter and has sent similar letters requesting increases
for LSC for at least the last eight years. Senator Kennedy is Chairman of the
Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which is responsible for
conducting oversight of the Corporation.
The letter notes that the increase for LSC is necessary to meet
"the greater need that exists today because of the economic crisis, which
has increased the number of foreclosures, the numbers of the unemployed, and
the number of individuals and families who now qualify for federally funded
legal aid." The letter also points out that current funding levels are
still far less, in real dollars, than what LSC received nearly 15 years and 30
years ago. "Without continued
increases in federal funding," concludes the letter, "many more of
our most vulnerable citizens will be denied assistance in the future. We urge
you, therefore, to fund the Legal Services Corporation at no less than $435
million for the coming fiscal year to help meet this critical need." Click
above to access the full press release.
President
announces intent to nominate Kathy Greenlee as Assistant Secretary for Aging
5/5: According to a May 4th Administration on Aging press
release: President Obama announces intention to nominate Kathy Greenlee as U.S.
Assistant Secretary for Aging. The Administration on Aging is pleased to report
that on Friday, May 1, 2009, President Obama announced his intent to nominate
Kathy Greenlee, Kansas Secretary of Aging, for Assistant Secretary for Aging,
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Kathy Greenlee has served as
Secretary of Aging for the state of Kansas since January 2006. In that
capacity, she has led a cabinet-level agency with 192 full-time staff members
and a total budget of $495 million. Her department oversees the state's Older
Americans Act programs, the distribution of Medicaid long-term care payments
and regulation of nursing home licensure and survey processes. Ms. Greenlee has
served on the board of the National Association of State Units on Aging since
2008. From 2004-2006, Greenlee served as State Long-Term Care Ombudsman in
Kansas, and prior to that, was the state's Assistant Secretary of Aging. From
1999-2002, Greenlee served as general counsel at the Kansas Insurance
Department. During her tenure there, she led the team of regulators who
evaluated the proposed sale of Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Kansas, and oversaw
the Senior Health Insurance Counseling for Kansas program. Greenlee also served
as Chief of Staff and Chief of Operations for then Governor Kathleen Sebelius.
She is a graduate of the University of Kansas with degrees in business
administration and law. Once nominated, Ms. Greenlee must be confirmed by the
U.S. Senate. To access the press release, click above.