FIRST ONE @ ONE FIRST
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F1@1F @ Your RSS Reader
My Twitter Feed
- British Beheadings Aren't Just Blowback huff.lv/19axv7r -- thanks to @MuslimIQ @aliamjadrizvi & @BayoumiMoustafa for strong panel. 1 day ago
- RT @BaselYHamdan: TODAY: George Packer's Inner History Of The New America. George talks with @MikeSacksHP huff.lv/11gAY2p 1 day ago
- RT @SCOTUSblog: #SCOTUS link of the day: w/Mon's grant in Establishment Clause case, @MikeSacksHP discusses "church-state wall" . http://t.… 2 days ago
- RT @JessBravin: iPods Rejoice: Yielding to @howappealing & @AppellateDaily, DC Cir to post same day & archived argument audio. http://t.co/… 3 days ago
- WATCH: The Supreme Court Revisits Public Prayer huff.lv/13LHNZ6 - Thanks to @barrywlynn @elienyc @espinsegall @frcdc! 3 days ago
Foundational Texts
- Crafting Law on the Supreme Court by Forrest Maltzman, James F. Spriggs, and Paul J. Wahlbeck
- Political Foundations of Judicial Supremacy by Keith Whittington
- Pursuit of Justices by David Yalof
- Supreme Courtship by Christopher Buckley
- The Brethren by Bob Woodward and Scott Armstrong
- The Elements of Judicial Strategy by Walter Murphy
- The Least Dangerous Branch by Alexander Bickel
- The Nature of the Judicial Process – Benjamin Cardozo
- The Nine by Jeffrey Toobin
- The Supreme Court and the Attitudinal Model Revisited by Jeffrey A. Segal and Harold J. Spaeth
- The Will of the People: How Public Opinion Has Influenced the Supreme Court and Shaped the Meaning of the Constitution, by Barry Friedman
Legal/Political Sites, Blogs & Resources
- Above the Law
- Andrew Sullivan @ The Atlantic
- Balkinization
- Ben Smith @ POLITICO
- Charles Law & History Blog
- Christopher Hitchens @ Slate
- Concurring Opinions
- Court Artist
- Daily Writ
- FantasySCOTUS
- How Appealing
- Jake Tapper's Political Punch @ ABC
- Jeffrey Toobin @ The New Yorker
- Joan Biskupic – Court Beat
- Jurisprudence @ Slate
- Ken Jost – Jost on Justice
- Legal Blog Watch @ Law.com
- Linda Greenhouse @ NYT
- Peter Jennings Project @ Nat'l Constitution Center
- Political Junkie @ NPR
- Reihan Salam @ NRO
- SCOTUS @ C-SPAN
- SCOTUSBlog
- Supreme Court @ ABC News
- Supreme Court Nominations Research Guide @ G'town Law Library
- The American Scene
- The Atlantic Politics Channel
- The Blog of the Legal Times
- The Daily Beast
- The Daily Caller
- The Onion
- The Oyez Project
- The Supreme Court Database
- Volokh Conspiracy
- WLF Legal Pulse
- Wonkette
- WSJ Law Blog
Supreme Court Correspondents
- Adam Liptak @ NYT
- Bob Barnes @ WaPo
- Dahlia Lithwick @ Slate
- David Savage @ LAT
- Garrett Epps @ The Atlantic
- Jan Crawford @ CBS
- Jess Bravin @ WSJ
- Joan Biskupic @ USA Today
- Nina Totenberg @ NPR
Old Firsts
- September 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
The court has erred on gun rights before, the error unnoted. Scalia decreed in Heller that “felons and ‘the’ mentally ill” may not legally possess firearms. As entertained as we are by “the” mentally ill, it has no legal definition. It is broad caricature. Who among “the” mentally ill may not is the issue, and it is a discrete group, those whom a court of law designates as a danger to themselves or others because of a mental illness.
When Obama made his gaffe about the Special Olympics on the Tonight show, their advocates reached him before he reached his car. When Rahm Emanuel made his similar gaffe, the response from advocates he deprecated was immediate. To date no mental health advocate or advocacy has addressed Scalia’s error. No legal scholar has, and no law professor.
Why? We, every aspect of this society, continue to be entertained by this specific caricature.
Do lawyers really believe a “the” mentally ill exists? Do law professors? Do legal scholars? Journalists? They do, or their silence would not be so deafening. Do I? My voice is too small to be heard, but no, the caricature is offensive.
Harold A. Maio, retired Mental Health Editor
8955 Forest St
Ft Myers FL 33907
239-275-5798
khmaio@earthlink.net