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Mass school closures approved in Kansas City, Mo.
March 11, 2010KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Facing potential bankruptcy, the board that governs the once flush-with-cash Kansas City school district is taking the unusual and contentious step of shuttering almost half its schools.
John Roberts gets it right (for once)
March 11, 2010Chief Justice John Roberts is wrong about a lot of things ??? most things, actually ??? but he may be right when he suggests that he and his black-robed colleagues should give the State of the Union address a pass. Their presence looks like a tradition whose time has come and gone. ???To the extent the State of the Union has degenerated into a political pep rally, I???m not sure why we???re there,??? Roberts said Tuesday at the University of Alabama, elucidating the obvious. Politics? At the State of the Union? Let???s all pause for a moment while we get over the shock. Roberts was complaining about the moment in January???s speech when President Obama blasted the court???s anything-goes decision on campaign finance. Six justices were in attendance, including three who voted with the majority; Justice Samuel Alito couldn???t keep himself from mouthing the words ???not true??? and shaking his head. Much comment ensued. ???The image of having the members of one branch of government standing up, literally surrounding the Supreme Court, cheering and hollering while the court ??? according to the requirements of protocol ??? has to sit there expressionless, I think is very troubling,??? Roberts said told a group of ???Bama law students. He???s got a point. Obama had every right to call the justices out for a decision that he (and, ahem, many others) believes was wrong. But, as The Post's Eva Rodriguez noted this afternoon, in such a political atmosphere it???s unrealistic to expect the targets of presidential wrath to sit like cyborgs, betraying not a hint of reaction. I would go further, and ask whether it is necessary, or even appropriate, for them to go at all. It???s not as if Alito did the full Joe Wilson and yelled ???You lie!??? or even ???You misinterpret the equal protection clause!??? He shook his head and muttered ??? and even in a setting of such high ceremony, some allowance has to be made for muttering. But really, what are the justices doing there anyway? The State of the Union is an occasion for the president to lay out his agenda. The Supremes??? work shouldn???t be affected by anything the president says. Their only role is as props, their presence a reminder that our government has a third, less visible, branch. A better way to bring home this civics lesson would be for the court to allow oral arguments and other proceedings to be televised. Then the nation would learn something. On State of the Union night, the justices can get together at the courthouse, order some takeout and watch the whole thing on the tube. They???ll be free to cheer and boo all they want, just like the rest of us.
Today in History
March 11, 2010-- Today is Thursday, March 11, the 70th day of 2010. There are 295 days left in the year.
It's Obama vs. the Supreme Court, Round 2, over campaign finance ruling
March 11, 2010 President Obama and the Supreme Court have waded again into unfamiliar and strikingly personal territory.
Murder trial begins in case of D.C. woman who vanished in 1999
March 11, 2010It's been nearly 11 years since Yolanda Baker's family has seen her. So much time had passed that authorities declared her legally dead last year, although her body has never been found.
D.C. mayor okays smoking permit for two events in District
March 11, 2010The stogies will burn on St. Patrick's Day, thanks to legislation signed Wednesday by D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, one of the leading sponsors in 2006 of the city's smoking ban.
Mass school closures approved in Kansas City, Mo.
March 11, 2010KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Kansas City school board narrowly approved a plan Wednesday night to close nearly half the district's schools in a desperate bid to avoid a potential bankruptcy.
Va OKs 1st bill banning mandated health coverage
March 11, 2010 RICHMOND, Va. -- Virginia's General Assembly became the first in the nation Wednesday to approve legislation that bucks any attempt by President Barack Obama and Congress to implement a national health care overhaul in individual states.
No sympathy for Chief Justice Roberts
March 11, 2010I find it hard to summon up much sympathy for justices of the Supreme Court who feel so put upon attending the State of the Union. Are they so out of touch that they can???t realize, much less appreciate, their opportunity to have a front-row seat to history? Or does having a lifetime appointment entitle you to be churlish? My colleague, Eva Rodriguez, suggested that justices scalp their seats if they don???t want to go to the State of the Union. It???s a playful suggestion, but one that underscores the pettiness of Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. when he complained, ???I???m not sure why we???re there.??? Who would not want to be there? I would give a lot to be able to sit in the capitol and listen to the president ??? and, no, I wouldn???t care if I didn???t vote for him. Moreover, are we really to think that Supreme Court justices are so delicate that they can???t withstand the partisan displays that have become customary at these events? Have none of them gone to a sporting event where they cheered for the visiting team? And I actually think it is a good thing that the justices -- now and again -- be reminded of the impacts their decisions have. No, I don???t want the Supreme Court to rule according to what will get them applause, but I do want justices who won???t flinch in the face of pushback.
Chief Justice Roberts should scalp his SOTU tickets
March 11, 2010What would you do if you had Super Bowl tickets you couldn't use? Or great seats to the opera on a night you were scheduled to be out of town? Most of us would either try to sell (i.e., scalp) them or give them away to family members or very, very good friends. Maybe that's what the justices of the Supreme Court should consider doing with their coveted front-row seats to the State of the Union. It's no secret that this year's SOTU wasn't exactly festive for some of the attending justices -- particularly those who voted to throw out certain corporate spending limits in election-related matters. With six justices sitting front and center, President Obama peered down from the podium and diplomatically but unequivocally blasted the decision, arguing that it would open the floodgates to corporate cash, including from foreign donors. Justice Samuel A. Alito, until then sitting meekly in the second row reserved for those in robes, mouthed "not true" in response to some of the president's assertions. I didn't see anything wrong with the president's behavior or that of Alito. But Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. has a point when he wonders about whether members of the high court should attend these partisan events. "The image of having the members of one branch of government standing up, literally surrounding the Supreme Court, cheering and hollering while the court -- according the requirements of protocol -- has to sit there expressionless, I think is very troubling," The Associated Press quotes Roberts as saying in response to a question following a speech Tuesday to University of Alabama law students. "I'm not sure why we're there." There may have been a time when the State of the Union was just that -- a reportorial discourse by the president to members of the other two branches about the state of the country. But the speech has become yet another opportunity for the president to spin and push his political agenda. Nothing really wrong with that, except that it makes the justices' presence a bit odd -- especially because they're expected to sit in stone-faced silence. Politicians are given a measure of latitude to boo, cheer and clap during these dog-and-pony shows, but even they overstep their bounds. Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) was roundly criticized when he shouted "you lie" at Obama during the president's 2009 address to Congress. Imagine the hoopla had the shouter been a member of the court. Can anyone say "impeachment"? Members of the Joint Chiefs also customarily sit through the speech without reaction, but the president is their commander-in-chief, their boss, after all. Sitting in Sphynx-like silence could be taken as a sign of the justices' respect for a government of laws and not of man, an indication of their respect for the office of the president, if not the president himself. But there's nothing in the constitution that says they must attend, and I wouldn't blame some of them (read: conservative justices who are likely to annoy the president with future decisions) if they decided to join Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas in declining to make the trek from the court to the capitol. Who knows? Sometime early next year Alito and Roberts may suddenly discover that they have tickets to the hot show of the season and they just happen to be on the same night as the State of the Union. Bummer. But look on the bright side: They might break even on the theater tickets if they find buyers for the ring-side passes to the capitol.
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