[June is the end of the Supreme Court term, which generally includes some important cases, thus we will deal with them in various posts. One can be overwhelmed -- just too hot for all of this -- especially with this whole net neutrality matter and so forth. Somehow we preserve.]
A bit more on the wetlands decision. It underlines the importance of elections -- you vote for El Decider, you do not just get a "likeable" sort, or whatever personal sentiment that various key voters felt warranted selecting him. No, you get a certain political mind-set that in part affects the federal courts. Presidential elections are not just about personalities, but about ideas and shifting governmental principles. There really is nothing illegitimate in elections affecting the tilt of the Court, and the extra years of Republican presidents led to (in part) a narrower view on national power to regulate in this area.
And, various people welcome changes in the courts. Still, I wonder if enough people realize the true effects of their vote, and overall, the effects are worthy of emphasis. Surely, when elections often are personalized, made into ultimately immature affairs where the true potential of harm is ignored for more petty matters. Thus, we vote for someone we rather have a drink with, not thinking that hey maybe the environment is important. But, he has good people ... he is sure to be rational there. It helps also to ignore his habits in Texas when one carries out this self-delusion. See, yet again, Shrub by Molly Ivins.
I would add that the Kennedy concurrence is not really too offensive to me, especially given the realities that the people have voted in presidents in part to somewhat limit federal power over such local matters. One might oppose this measure in certain cases, as do I, but so it goes. Likewise, again, I have spoken about my concern about governmental power myself, putting aside for now the question at hand. OTOH, this underlines my concern for the importance of media accounts to clarify public policy.
To cite something once again, the Katrina book mentioned earlier includes discussions on the importance of wetlands in levee upkeep and other matters that protect lives and property. As Justice Stevens noted in his dissent, this suggests why the law that was applied here was deemed so important that Congress overrode President Nixon's veto. This required a bipartisan belief in environmental safety that one wishes was as prevalent today.
When this ruling is handed down, quite important even if it is in effect a holding action, should the reports not include an aside discussing its real life effects? A narrow definition of federal power over wetlands and interstate waterways overall, for instance, might lead to major changes respecting regulation of dry lands out West. And, yes, some "property rights" advocates would say be good public policy, even in an environmental sense.
The 911 call decision is also relevant to the regular citizen (especially those concerned with domestic violence, see here), aside from the interesting case of Justice Scalia writing a balancing test (with "primary purpose" prong and all, the sort of thing he scorns in certain contexts) for a key constitutional provision, and would also merit from such "this is not just boring legal jargon stuff" coverage
A need is present here, one that sadly is poorly provided in local coverage in such cases. The Kelo takings case suggests the possibility of alternative paths -- a relatively rare case where a constitutional case (somewhat surprising various public opinion sorts) apart from the usual suspects (abortion, affirmative action, etc.) got wide public attention. I find this sort of thing fascinating, but not just because I'm a nerd or something -- hey, I take the label with pride, especially given the blogosphere is filled with them.
I do because it is fascinating with loads of real life effects of broad public importance.
[As an aside, another recent case spent a good amount of time on the facts to spell out a defendant can go to federal court to raise a claim of innocence -- docudrama possibilities there.]