Even in Madison’s day, the practice of gerrymandering for partisan advantage was familiar. In the late seventeen-eighties, there were claims that Patrick Henry had tried to gerrymander Madison himself out of the First Congress. The term was coined during Madison’s Presidency, to mock Elbridge Gerry, the governor of Massachusetts, who in 1811 approved an election district that was said to look like a salamander.
My own career reflects a strange dichotomy between the world weve long known and the world that will become.
The United States, like any great power, is always going to have an intelligence operation, and some electronic surveillance is obligatory in the modern world.
The assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert F. Kennedy led directly to the passage of a historic law, the Gun Control Act of 1968.
It's always interesting to see what judges do when their legal philosophy conflicts with their political views.
Judges can receive gifts as long as they report them.
There were times when David Souter thought of Bush v. Gore and wept.
Everyone wants to be paid well - I know that I certainly do. But there are lots of other satisfactions that we get from our work. To feel needed. To feel accomplishment. To believe that our work matters. Being a lawyer gives you a rare chance to experience that kind of success.
