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Atlantic Unbound | Archive
Stuart Taylor Jr. ..... Recent articles by Stuart Taylor Jr.: Shortsighted on JudgesSenate Democrats are playing a dangerous political game in opposing confirmation of Leslie Southwick, a wellqualified judicial nominee from Mississippi. Innocents in PrisonMany thousands of wrongly convicted people are rotting in prisons and jails around the country. Is There a Middle Ground on Race?The Supreme Court decision on school integration illustrates the pitfalls of both the conservative and the liberal approaches to the problem of race. Are the Democrats Serious?Both sides deserve to lose the brewing battle between the White House and Congress over executive privilege. How Not to Make Terrorism PolicyFormer State Department official Philip Zelikow has opened a window into how the Bush administration's antiterrorism policy-making process went wrong. 'Injustice 5, Justice 4'The media's portrayal of a May 29 Supreme Court ruling on sex-based pay discrimination was way off the mark. A Judicial Overreaction to Bush Abuses?Congress needs to rethink the war on terrorism's detention and interrogation policy from the ground up. 'Issue Ads' and Common SenseSupreme Court justices seemed to be missing the point during oral arguments over curbs that the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law imposes on free speech. Congress Should Censure GonzalesA vote by Congress to censure Alberto Gonzales would be both constitutional and supported by precedent. Terrorism Suspects and the LawNo satisfactory resolution of the debate over the treatment of suspected terrorists is likely until at least 2009. Another Gonzales Horror StoryEvery day that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is allowed to remain in office is corrosive to constitutional governance. 'Hate Crimes' and Double StandardsThe House-passed hate crimes bill is an example of feel-good legislation likely to do more harm than good. 'Rape' and the Navy's P.C. PoliceA bogus rape charge shouldn't derail the Navy career of 23-year-old Lamar Owens Jr., the former quarterback of the Naval Academy's football team. The Supreme Court: Place Your BetsA look at how the Supreme Court might change constitutional law on abortion, gay rights, and other big issues. A Right to Keep and Bear Arms?An appeals court ruling striking down a D.C. gun control law is right and should be affirmed. Choosing the Next Attorney GeneralRunning the Justice Department is a big, big job that can be done well only by people with superior abilities and judgment. The Great Black-White HopeAn Obama win in 2008 would be by far the best thing that has happened to African-Americans, and to race relations, in more than 50 years. Irrational Sentencing, Top to BottomDoes it make sense that we punish corporate malefactors who lie to stockholders more seriously than we punish most murders? The Case for a National Security CourtFor the good of the war on terrorism, the United States needs to create a National Security Court to try enemy combatants. Global Warming: Time for a Court OrderThe Supreme Court should rule that EPA's posture about the dangers of global warming violates the Clean Air Act. A Different Way to Integrate SchoolsSocioeconomic integration is more effective than racial balancing in improving the academic performance of poor children. This Time, Let's Get It RightIn the new year, Congress should resolve to repair the deeply flawed system for detaining terrorism suspects. Catastrophe ManagementMichael Chertoff tells Atlantic contributor Stuart Taylor Jr. what it’s like to run the Department of Homeland Security. An edited transcript. (For the full transcript, click here). Catastrophe ManagementMichael Chertoff tells Atlantic contributor Stuart Taylor Jr. what it's like to run the Department of Homeland Security. The full transcript. Supreme ConfusionThe Supreme Court's ruling on the Texas redistricting case illustrates a recurring problem: The Court has a tendency to make things more confusing, not more clear. Gay Marriage and the Estate TaxIf there's poetic justice, the Republicans' focus on gay marriage and the estate tax will spur independent swing voters to sweep them from power. How Racial Preferences BackfireMost young black lawyers, according to a new study, do not fare well in large law firms precisely because of the racial preferences that get them hired in the first place. Where's the Outrage?Republicans who minimize the CIA leak case resemble Democrats who trivialized the Monica Lewinsky case. Dumb and DumberDoes Attorney General Alberto Gonzales think that the Bush administration has the power to nullify the First Amendment? More Racial GerrymandersBeware of bipartisan legislation to extend a provision of the Voting Rights Act. The measure has little to do with voting rights. In Duke Case, a Rogues' GalleryAcademics and journalists have joined in smearing presumptively innocent young Duke lacrosse players as racist, sexist brutes. Missing From the Immigration DebateEfforts to control illegal immigration will be futile unless Congress requires workers to have forgery-proof, theft-proof identity cards. Emergency Powers Should Be TemporaryPresident Bush was right to start the domestic eavesdropping program during the post-9/11 emergency—but wrong to keep its existence secret and to resist congressional regulation. An Outrageous Rush to JudgmentThe media's trashing of Duke's lacrosse team is in full cry even as the district attorney's case is falling apart. The Man Who Would Be KingGeorge W. Bush threatens creeping autocracy unless Congress and the courts act jointly—and forcefully—to stop him. The Trouble With TexasArguments in the Texas redistricting case show that the Supreme Court has no idea how to fix the mess that it has made of our politics. In Praise of Judicial ModestySupreme Court justices should exercise judicial modesty, in the sense of great hesitation to second-guess decisions by other branches of government. Decommission the CommissionsThe Supreme Court would be doing the president—and the country—a favor if it put the military commissions established to deal with terrorism suspects out of their misery. Falsehoods About GuantanamoThe administration's unspoken logic regarding enemy combatants appears to be: Better to ruin the lives of 10 innocent men than to let one who might be a terrorist go free. Dangerous Claims, Slippery GamesPresident Bush and his aides are twisting facts as well as law in their obsession with avoiding oversight of his electronic surveillance program. Wiretaps: How to Fix FISAIn the eavesdropping arena, giving the judiciary overly broad power to second-guess the executive could be a cure worse than the disease. Leak Prosecutions: The Gathering StormSome officials are itching to use the threat of long jail terms and massive fines to force reporters to finger their confidential sources. The Case of Alito v. O'ConnorSamuel Alito believes that judges should be constrained by established legal rules and hard facts—and not be looking to promote political agendas. Honest Nominees and Artless DodgersNo Supreme Court nominee of integrity could be confirmed if he or she gave direct and candid answers. Bush and His Critics Miss the PointPresident Bush and his critics should focus on amending the law regarding domestic surveillance. Abortion Battles Without Much Effect On AbortionsAs is usual in abortion battles, the interest-group hysteria and media hype overstate what's really at stake in the cases currently before the Supreme Court. Alito: A Sampling of Misleading Media CoverageThe systematic slanting—conscious or unconscious—of news reports has helped fuel a disingenuous campaign to caricature Samuel Alito as a conservative ideologue. Coercive Interrogation: Can Anyone Straighten Out This Mess?Can anyone straighten out the mess over coercive interrogation methods? The best hopes seem to be Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and perhaps Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice. The Lesson Of Miers: Excellence Should Be ParamountThe withdrawal of the Harriet Miers nomination shows that excellence does matter and that mediocrity isn't always rewarded. Borking Alito: He Is Neither Far-Right Nor ActivistThe claims that Samuel Alito is "a far-right activist" are laughable, except to the far-left activists. He takes the ideal of judicial restraint very seriously. On This Issue, Bush and Cheney Need Adult SupervisionCongress and the Supreme Court are moving toward reining in the Bush administration's gratuitously harsh and arbitrary treatment of suspected enemy combatants. Better late than never. Alito and His Critics: Who Is Outside the Mainstream?Samuel Alito's 1985 job application, when considered together with his 300 judicial opinions, places him much closer than his critics to the center of American public opinion. Problems With 'Privacy,' and What to Do About RoeAs the John Roberts hearings demonstrated, the nebulous "right to privacy" has become holy writ and, for some, codespeak for abortion and gay rights. Is the President's Crony Good Enough for the Court?The Senate should reject any Supreme Court nominee who has not proven herself to have extraordinary ability and independence of judgment unskewed by loyalty. Does Miers Have What It Takes to Excel on the Bench?The most conspicuous exemplars of Miers's writing ability may be her notes telling then-gov. Bush he was "the best." The CIA Leak Scandal: A Gallery of AntiheroesPerhaps the most depressing thing about the CIA leak investigation is that so many of the principal players have been guilty of ignoble conduct. How John Roberts Might Change the LawRoberts may well tip the Court's precarious balance to the right on some big issues. The Roberts CourtAs Chief Justice, John Roberts would help decide whether courts will check the president's power to fight terrorism. Young John Roberts: Reasonable on Civil RightsJohn Roberts's views on civil rights during the 1980s and early 1990s were far more defensible than the media coverage might suggest. Why Must We Roll the Dice on a New Chief Justice?There is undeniably something strange and undemocratic about conferring one of the nation's most powerful offices upon a man who won't tell us what he thinks. Remote ControlThe Supreme Court's greatest failing is not ideological bias—it's the justices' increasingly tenuous grasp of how the real world works. Why Roberts Shouldn't Tell Us What He ThinksCandor at a confirmation hearing could corrupt the integrity and independence of a new justice. How O'Connor and the Court Have Drifted LeftwardIt has become increasingly common over the past two decades to see Sandra Day O'Connor side with the Supreme Court's four most liberal members. Five Reasons Not to Put Gonzales On the CourtBeing a friend of the president shouldn't be your main qualification to serve on the Supreme Court. Alberto Gonzales doesn't deserve to be nominated. Liberal Drug Warriors! Conservative Pot-Coddlers!The Supreme Court's decision to allow federal prosecution of medical-marijuana users was less about medical marijuana than about congressional power to override state law. Life Tenure Is Too Long for Supreme Court JusticesAllowing Supreme Court justices to serve for life is causing too many problems. It's time to consider setting 18-year term limits for all future justices. The Moderates Take Charge!The best thing about the deal on filibusters is that it should deter President Bush from picking a conservative idealogue to fill any Supreme Court vacancy. Lloyd Cutler: The Last SuperlawyerThere will never be another superlawyer on the scale of Lloyd Cutler, who died on May 8 at the age of 87. He was the preeminent statesman of his generation. Filibusters: Two Wrongs Won't Make Things RightThis fight is not about principle, it's about politics. It's the kind of dispute a healthy democracy resolves by compromise. Does the President Agree With This Nominee?Why are Democrats blocking Janice Rogers Brown from serving on the federal appeals court? A look at her speeches and judicial opinions shows why. How the Republicans Lost Their MajorityHow detonating the "nuclear option" could end up costing Republicans the House, the Senate, and the presidency in 2008. Patriot Act Hysteria Meets RealityThe emerging expert consensus contradicts the hype: for the most part, the Patriot Act is a good law. What Terri Schiavo's Case Should Teach UsThe choices we face are all the harder because they are not only about religion. They are also about money. Moderate Republicans Should Not Go 'Nuclear'—YetBoth Republicans and Democrats claim that the Constitution is on their side in the battle over filibusters of judicial nominees. Both are wrong. Revisiting Iraq, and Rooting for BushMore and more Bush-bashers are flirting with the heresy that he may just have been right. The Court, and Foreign Friends, as Constitutional ConventionThe Supreme Court veered into making law, rather than interpreting it, in barring capital punishment for juvenile offenders. Males, Females, and Math: the EvidenceBy shouting down all discussion of innate male-female differences, feminist censors are advancing their own agenda. Genocide in Darfur: Crime Without Punishment?Only the International Criminal Court is ready, willing, and able to investigate war crimes in Darfur now. Arnold's Amendment: Moderates Strike BackRedistricting reform would remove a major cause of bitter ideological polarization. Why Feminist Careerists Neutered Larry SummersThe hysteria about Summers furthers the career agendas of feminists who seek quotas for themselves and their friends. Better Justice: Bush's Missed OpportunityA crudely designed damage cap is no remedy for the malpractice problem. The system needs major surgery. How to End Interbranch Warfare on Criminal SentencingThe Supreme Court's bold re-engineering of federal sentencing law might work reasonably well as a matter of policy. Distorting the Law and Facts in the Torture DebateA fog of confusion surrounds the question of what can be done to extract potentially lifesaving information. The Problem With Alberto GonzalesThe problem with Alberto Gonzales is that he has been deeply involved in developing some of the most sweeping claims of near-dictatorial presidential power in our nation's history. We Don't Need to Be Scofflaws to Attack TerrorDisregarding the Geneva Conventions will undermine the ability of the United States to wage war. |
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