High Court Limits Whistleblower Lawsuits - Forbes.com

~~~ This ruling disappoints me.
A close loss at 5-4 too.

Last year it could been 5-4 the other way.
( Or even 6-3 -- as Rehnquist was a bit of a maverick on free speech ) .

Welcome to the Roberts & Alito court . ~~~ tp

===================

High Court Limits Whistleblower Lawsuits - Forbes.com: "
Associated Press
"High Court Limits Whistleblower Lawsuits"
By GINA HOLLAND , 05.30.2006, 11:12 AM

"The Supreme Court on Tuesday made it harder for government employees to file lawsuits claiming they were retaliated against for going public with allegations of official misconduct.

By a 5-4 vote, justices said the nation's 20 million public employees do not have carte blanche free speech rights to disclose government's inner-workings. New Justice Samuel Alito cast the tie-breaking vote"

November 8, 2005

Justices Back Paying Workers as They Suit Up

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 1:53 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that companies must pay plant workers for the time it takes to change into protective clothing and safety gear and walk to their work stations.

The issue was one of two that justices settled in a pair of unanimous decisions, the first rulings under the leadership of Chief Justice John Roberts in the new fall term. Roberts did not write either one.

In a defeat for business, the court said that employers must pay wages for the donning of ''integral'' gear and the time it takes workers to then walk to the production area.

The court, in a ruling by Justice John Paul Stevens, upheld a decision of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in favor of workers at a meat processing plant in Pasco, Wash. Those workers typically put on sanitary outer garments, boots, hardhats, aprons and gloves.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Scotus-Protective-Gear.html?hp&ex=1131512400&en=31fdf239ce7f8501&ei=5094&partner=homepage

firstamendmentcenter.org: Rehnquist & First Amendment: end of an era analysis

~ ~ ` Justice Rehnquist is one of the more interesting ChiefJustices in American history. Both in character & intellect.

Rehnquist had the paradoxical effect of increasing the Federalist power of the Supreme Court by often overturning Congressional legislation....

.. while at the same time issuing other decsions that greatly decreased the Federal reach over states rights.

This article here is a nice overview of
Justice Rehnquist's legal legacy . ~~ TP

--------------

"Rehnquist & First Amendment: end of an era"

By Ronald K.L. Collins

First Amendment Center scholar
09.04.05
firstamendmentcenter.org: analysis:

"Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist's death ends a

judicial career that has left its mark on our

constitutional law of freedom of expression and

religious liberty.

The Rehnquist II Court (the Court as currently

constituted)has been sharing courtroom and chambers

since the fall term of 1994.

Since then, the Court has handed down 58 First

Amendment freedom-of-expression opinions in

matters involving religious speech, association rights,

Internet regulation, government-employee expression,

indecent speech, commercial expression,

telemarketing, prisoners’ speech, campaign-finance

laws, hate speech, and various kinds of zoning laws

affecting free speech, among others."

http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/analysis.aspx?id=15526

===============================================

"Rehnquist's Death Puts Stevens in Charge" By ANNE GEARAN , Associated Press Writer

~~~ Justice Stevens is my favorite Justice.

He is 85 and now in charge.

Click HERE to see an earlier--- and now important--- article on a

recent spreech he gave.

~ ~ ~TP

"Rehnquist's Death Puts Stevens in Charge"

By ANNE GEARAN , Associated Press Writer

1010wins.com

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The death of Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist leaves the court's oldest member, 85-year-old liberal Justice John Paul Stevens, temporarily in charge.

Stevens, although chosen for the court by a Republican president, has emerged as the court's most liberal member.

Stevens, although chosen for the court by a Republican president, has emerged as the court's most liberal member.

That is due more to the court's gradual shift rightward under the leadership of the conservative Rehnquist than to changes in Stevens' own philosophy.

Small, acerbic and dapper in a bow tie, Stevens has a quiet and genial manner on and off the bench.

He is less likely to badger lawyers who argue before the court than some of his colleagues, and often says little during oral arguments.

He speaks in public infrequently, and is not the constant presence at arts performances or charity functions frequented by some of his colleagues.

He lives part-time in Florida, and spends his off-hours playing competitive duplicate bridge and tennis.

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