GOP Sen. Collins: Meeting SCOTUS Nom Left Me ‘Convinced’ We Need Hearings

Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) emerged from an hour-long Tuesday meeting with Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland “more convinced than ever” that the Republican-controlled Senate should hold hearings for him.

 “The next step in my view should be public hearings before the Judiciary Committee,” Collins told journalists gathered outside their meeting, according to NBC’s Luke Russert. Collins said she found Garland “impressive” and refused to rule out voting for him if hearings do proceed.

She also suggested other Republican senators may change their mind about moving forward with the process if they met with him, according to CNN’s Manu Raju....
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/susan-collins-meets-merrick-garland

An Attempt To Let Coal Plants Emit Unlimited Mercury Was Just Shut Down By SCOTUS

Regulations that limit heavy metal pollution from oil- and coal-fired power plants will continue to be enforced by the EPA — at least for now — thanks to Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts. On Thursday, Roberts unilaterally rejected a petition from 20 conservative-led states asking the court to temporarily halt the regulations....
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2016/03/03/3756199/supreme-court-rejects-stay-mercury-rule/

Robert Reich: The Republicans Are Determined to Suppress the Vote

A crowning achievement of the historic March on Washington, where Dr. Martin Luther King gave his “I have a dream” speech, was pushing through the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965. Recognizing the history of racist attempts to prevent Black people from voting, that federal law forced a number of southern states and districts to adhere to federal guidelines allowing citizens access to the polls.

But in 2013 the Supreme Court effectively gutted many of these protections. As a result, states are finding new ways to stop more and more people—especially African-Americans and other likely Democratic voters—from reaching the polls....
http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/robert-reich-republicans-are-determined-suppress-vote

Ruth Bader Ginsburg Walked All Over Texas’ Restrictive Abortion Law

For the first time in history, the U.S. Supreme Court heard a major abortion rights case with three women on the bench.

 Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan all played an outsized role in the hearing for Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, a case that’s as much about a woman’s constitutional right to choose as about who gets to impose rules around that choice.

 But it was Ginsburg, the court’s matriarch, who seemed the most invested in the nearly 85-minute session on Wednesday. She asked the first and last questions of both sides of the case — the clinics fighting to stay open and the state of Texas — but saved her most pointed darts by far for the Lone Star state....
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ruth-bader-ginsburg-texas-abortion-law_us_56d78d8ee4b0000de403673e

‘No Access, No Choice’: A Pop-Up Museum Dedicated To Reproductive Rights

This week, the Supreme Court began hearing oral arguments in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, one of the most influential abortion access cases to ever go before the court.....

 Just a few blocks from the Supreme Court, a national women’s advocacy organization set up a shipping container. It’s been there all week. Inside is an interactive exhibit, “No Access, No Choice,” where visitors can see videos of women telling their personal abortion stories, read about how abortion access has been challenged and defended throughout history, and share their own visions for what they think and hope women’s healthcare can be....
http://thinkprogress.org/culture/2016/03/04/3756661/a-look-inside-the-abortion-access-pop-up-museum-just-blocks-from-the-supreme-court/

McConnell: No New Supreme Court Justice Until The NRA Approves Of The Nominee

Supreme Court justices are nominated by the president and appointed with the advice and consent of the National Rifle Association, according to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)....
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2016/03/20/3761908/mcconnell-no-new-supreme-court-justice-until-the-nra-approves-of-the-nominee/

Poll: Two-Thirds Of Americans Want SCOTUS Nominee To Get A Hearing

Two-thirds of Americans want the Senate to hold a hearing for a potential Supreme Court nominee put forth by President Barack Obama, according to a CNN/ORC poll released Thursday....
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/polltracker/cnn-americans-want-scotus-nom-hearing

7 Things To Know About Presidential Appointments To The Supreme Court

Republicans, who currently control the Senate, have said they don't think Obama should nominate anyone in this election year — even though Obama still has 11 months in office. With that, here are seven things to know about the presidential appointment process...
http://www.npr.org/2016/02/14/466723547/7-things-to-know-about-presidential-appointments-to-the-supreme-court?sc=tw

Matt Bors on the Media's Cynical Mourning of Justice Scalia

On speaking ill of the dead, and the next Supreme Court Justice....
http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/alternet-comics-matt-bors-medias-cynical-mourning-justice-scalia