Word: law
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...pivot -- at least on issues like abortion and religion -- seems to be O'Connor. "Liberals have a chance of picking up her vote in some cases," notes American University law professor Herman Schwartz, and so many lawyers target her as the vital swing vote. But that narrow opening may be lost if George Bush gets to fill a seat. With three of the liberal Justices over 80, it is possible that one or more places will become vacant in the next four years. And Bush "has shown nothing to indicate the move of the court is wrong," says Columbia University...
...right of abortion. Now they will consider two cases from Ohio and Minnesota involving the constitutionality of parental-notificatio n rules for minors seeking to terminate pregnancies. In another case, they will review an Illinois statute requiring that abortions be performed in strictly licensed facilities. Upholding the Illinois law would cripple small clinics and, in the view of Duke University law professor Walter Dellinger, could "make abortions nearly impossible to obtain" in many instances...
...Criminal Law. The Justices are again taking up a raft of cases involving confessions, searches and seizures, as well as half a dozen death-penalty appeals. Questions of privacy and personal integrity often dominate criminal cases. But because they involve drug crimes, say civil libertarians, many recent decisions have fallen victim to the war against that scourge. "The rules are going to be applied against all kinds of people who have nothing to do with drugs," warns New York University law professor Norman Dorsen, president of the American Civil Liberties Union. "If the trend continues, many people who say, 'This...
...court's conservative cast is already affecting the kinds of disputes that are brought before it. Observes University of Michigan law professor Yale Kamisar: "The Warren Court took cases where Government won ((in lower courts)). This court seems to be taking cases where Government lost below. It is putting liberal judges back in line." Civil rights and civil liberties groups have taken note. Ronald Ellis of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund admits that, in order not "to tempt the fates," his organization has refrained from appealing cases to the high court and is considering filing more suits...
Steering issues away from federal courtrooms is what the Justices' conservative thrust seeks to accomplish. "This is a court that is happy to throw social issues back into Congress's lap," says University of Virginia law professor A.E. Dick Howard. "It wants legislatures to spell out how laws should apply." The attitude appalls many liberals, who argue that the basic purpose of the Bill of Rights is to protect the weak and unpopular from the tyranny of majority rule by legislatures. But the court's deference toward the political branches cheers many conservatives. "That's democracy," insists court commentator Bruce...