SCOTUS Watch

After another boring order list with a single 4A grant of limited reach, the Supreme Court handed down two opinions. The first was both disappointing (oral argument suggested some hope it would go the other way given the extreme nature of the facts) and concerning. The majority went all "we are sick of these things" regarding method of execution appeals with Breyer/Sotomayor providing the reasonable judge response. More here. The other is a less emotional case about expert testimony with Sotomayor and Gorsuch (and RBG, who joined up a few times so far now) dissenting. Meanwhile, Veep, S7, started off eh.

ETA: This summary clarifies the second case. The majority ruled narrowly and Gorsuch's second-guessing the government here isn't too surprising, nor is two liberals going along. Also, finished the new bio on Chief Justice John Roberts. Interesting and shows (umpire talk aside) his conservative history influences his judging. And, it has a bit of bite on him too. The in-house stuff isn't really surprising though we get some on the Affordable Care Act (not Heller though); the discussion of his early thought process on using the tax to save the mandate is confusing. He is said to have changed his mind but without deciding on the tax point, it wasn't clear the mandate was dead. Anyway, November, 2016 really changed things.