Meet The New Boss?

Hi there, everyone. 

As Hillel observed, the Supreme Court has wrapped up for the term, and in the midst of all the hoopla, I’d like to play a wee bit of the killjoy.  I’m anti-Supreme Court fetishization (and so many are pro!).  Let’s remember, when we’re parsing the verbiage from One First Street, that that huge portions of the real, tangible lawmaking in this country happen in courts that aren’t supreme.  It has been true since Brown II (picture a shoutout to Abram Chayes and Owen Fiss, if their articles were linkable), and it is still true today.

Still, it being Supreme Court Day, may I venture into the grounds of uber-cynical legal realism?  Scalia’s acquiescence in Raich, the marijuana case, was curiously consistent with the modern administrative state that Democratic senators seem to like.  And was anyone else surprised with the vigor of O’Connor’s move to the right in Kelo, the eminent domain case?  It’s almost as if these people are wondering if they could be promoted….

But then, who among us doesn’t think about promotion? 

And a hat tip to my anonymous DC sources.  It’s nice to go to social events and come away with blog posts.