With most Supreme Court watchers focused on the nomination and this week’s Senate confirmation of Judge Sonia Sotomayor, it’s no surprise that the end of the High Court’s October 2008 term came and went with less than its usual fanfare and commentary.
That doesn’t mean, however, that the term was not without some fireworks and controversy, one which will be remembered for being remarkably polarized, with the justices dividing 5-to-4 or 6-to-3 in almost half of the cases. Although Chief Justice John Roberts was in command, it was swing-vote Justice Anthony Kennedy driving the ship, voting in the majority 92% of the time this past term.
Continuing the trend, the Court ended the 2008 term with a 5-4 decision declaring that white firefighters in Connecticut were unfairly denied promotion because of their race, a decision that SCOTUS nominee Sonia Sotomayor had endorsed as an appeals court judge. Justice Kennedy wrote the majority opinion in that case.
Perhaps one of the most important cases of the Supreme Court’s recently-ended term, Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission, which challenges provisions under the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law, remained undecided until after the Court rehears oral arguments in the case next month.
Recently, CFIF’s own Timothy Lee joined Renee Giachino, CFIF’s Corporate Counsel and Senior Vice President, to assess some of the key rulings and other developments from the October 2008 term.
What follows is the interview originally heard on "Your Turn - Meeting Nonsense With Commonsense" on WEBY 1330 AM, Northwest Florida's talk radio…[Listen to the interview here.]