Kermit Roosevelt

In the Media: Kermit Roosevelt

The notion of empathy is more useful than "judicial activism" in explaining differences between liberal and conservative justices, writes Professor Kermit Roosevelt. (7/8/2009). CBS News.com.
"The way people think about Ricci [the New Haven firefighter case] – and this includes the justices – is in large part shaped not by logic or law but by their attitudes about the world," writes Professor Kermit Roosevelt. "In particular, it depends on whether they think it is more likely that minority candidates were simply not as good as the whites, or more likely that there was some unintended bias skewing the results." (6/30/2009). Christian Science Monitor.
With the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, the phrase "judicial activism" is in the air again. Kermit Roosevelt, a law professor at the University of Pennsylvania and author of The Myth of Judicial Activism: Making Sense of Supreme Court Decisions, talks about what "judicial activism" means. (6/1/2009). NPR.
President Obama's nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to succeed Justice David Souther probably will not make much difference in Supreme Courrt votes, said Penn Law Professor Kermit Roosevelt, a former judicial clerk to Souter. (5/27/2009). CBS3.
Kermit Roosevelt, professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School and a former clerk for retiring Justice David Souter, called the Sotomayor nomination "a safe pick. I don't think she'll have trouble getting confirmed. It's hard to oppose her." Sotomayor "brings a broader range of experience to the Court, and it's a testament to the broader inclusiveness of society." (5/27/2009). Philadelphia Daily News.
Military commissions, which are being revived by President Barack Obama to try suspected terrorists, "have proven ineffective as an alternate means of detaining people," writes Penn Law Professor Kermit Roosevelt. (5/19/2009). CBS News.
University of Pennsylvania Law School professor Kermit Roosevelt, who clerked for Justice David Souter a decade ago, saod "Mostly he hired people with a predisposition to be reflective and contemplative." Once hired, Roosevelt said, clerks learned from Souter "to accept the legitimacy of opposing viewpoints — not to assume that someone who opposes you is dishonest or wilfully blind to the truth." (5/11/2009). National Law Journal.
Penn Law Professor Kermit Roosevelt joins Law.com bloggers and co-hosts J. Craig Williams and Bob Ambrogi, and University of Virginia law Professor Daniel J. Meadorto, to reflect on Justice David Souter’s career, look at the potential list of replacements and the opportunity for President Obama to leave an imprint with his choice for the Supreme Court. (5/6/2009). Legal Talk Network. Legal Blog Watch.
Retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter "would frequently talk about how eager he was to get back to New Hampshire at the end of the term," said Kermit Roosevelt, a constitutional law professor at the University of Pennsylvania, who clerked for Souter in 1999 and 2000. "He likes to read and hike and spend time with close friends. The Washington social scene was too artificial and built on status for him." (5/6/2009). Philadelphia Inquirer.
Supreme Court Justice David Souter is “a much warmer and wittier man than most people suspect,” said Kermit Roosevelt, a former Souter law clerk who teaches at the University of Pennsylvania Law School in Philadelphia. “I doubt there’s any justice better loved by his clerks.” See also: ABC-TV, New York Times, USA Today, Washington Post and Los Angeles Times. (5/4/2009). Bloomberg. Slate.
Justice David Souter's retirement "offers Mr. Obama an early opportunity to make a lasting mark on the country," writes former Souter law clerk and Penn Law Professor Kermit Roosevelt. "That's because he can do more than appoint a reliably liberal jurist – which wouldn't greatly affect the court's rulings. He can appoint a jurist with that rare ability to persuade her conservative colleagues – which emphatically would affect the court's rulings.... The community-organizer president needs to pick a coalition-builder justice." (5/4/2009). Christian Science Monitor.
Penn Law Professor Kermit Roosevelt is among former law clerks to Supreme Court Associate Justice David Souter who are telling the justice it is too soon for him to retire. "We have suggested to him that history has put him in a place where he can be a force for good and that we would like him to continue to do that,'' said Roosevelt. (3/14/2009). New York Times.
Professor Kermit Roosevelt says the Obama administration's intention to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center is a key step in restoring America's standing in the world, but it poses some unique problems. (1/22/2009). KYW Newsradio.
President Bush withdrew a pardon for a New York real-estate developer after it became known that the developer’s father made the maximum $28,500 donation to the Republican National Committee months earlier. Kermit Roosevelt, a law professor at the University of Pennsylvania and an expert on the presidential clemency process, said that rescinding a pardon is “extremely rare. Because the pardon power is constrained only by executive discretion, the president usually takes care to get it right before making the decision,” Roosevelt said. (12/25/2008). Bloomberg.
Professor Kermit Roosevelt of the University of Pennsylvania Law School notes that presidents "tend to use pardons most at the end of their terms." (12/1/2008). BBC.
A blanket pardon by President Bush could assist investigation of interrogation measures, says Kermit Roosevelt. (11/17/2008). Salon.com.
Writing in the Christian Science Monitor, Professor Kermit Roosevelt says: "Regardless of where you stand on same-sex marriage, what's troubling for US citizens in the California case is the idea that an equality guarantee could not be effectively enforced against the will of a majority. The point of such a guarantee is precisely to protect minorities from discrimination at the hands of a majority." (11/17/2008). Christian Science Monitor.
Professor Kermit Roosevelt's book review of Christopher Buckley's novel about the Supreme Court says that this satire "pulls its punches. Satire holds a distorting mirror up to reality, but it does so to reveal flaws or features that objective reporting would not make so plain. Supreme Courtship is not satire from this perspective; it is farce." (9/16/2008). Philadelphia Inquirer.
Although critics of the ruling, including the dissenters, argued the court should have waited for the voters to decide the question of same-sex marriage, "the majority is not always supposed to have its way" in constitutional democracies, says Professor Kermit Roosevelt (5/16/2008). LA Times .
Professor Kermit Roosevelt addresses the issue of truck bans exempting local pickups and deliveries, "The question you have to ask is, 'Does this discriminate against out-of-state economic interests?' There's definitely an issue (with the ordinance) that warrants looking into." (3/14/2008). Indianapolis Star .
In response to Justice Antonin Scalia’s comments on inflicting pain on a terrorism suspect, Professor Kermit Roosevelt said that Supreme Court justices probably should not be taking sides in public in political controversies. But no one should be surprised that Scalia or other justices hold strong views on issues. (2/13/2008). Seattle Post Intelligencer.
In an Op-Ed titled “Judges’ Opinions Off the Bench,” Professor Kermit Roosevelt says that “The vision of an apolitical judiciary may be appealing, but it is not realistic.” (10/12/2007). Christian Science Monitor .
When discussing U.S. Supreme Court decisions, Professor Kermit Roosevelt "argues that 'activist' versus 'fidelity to the law and Constitution' is a false dichotomy.... A better measure is deference to other branches of government or assertiveness in overruling their decisions" (7/15/2007). Orange County Register .
In an Op-Ed, Professor Kermit Roosevelt reviews this year's U.S. Supreme Court decisions, concluding that, "The court's decisions are holding a mirror up to society. To evaluate its performance, we need only ask if we recognize ourselves." (7/6/2007). Christian Science Monitor .
Professor Kermit Roosevelt appears on National Public Radio's Radio Times to discuss the Guantanamo detainees. (4/7/2007). Audio.
In an Op-Ed, Professor Kermit Roosevelt defines judicial activism and how it is basically a myth. Philadelphia Inquirer. (12/5/2006). Article.
Rather than rely on judicial activism, Professor Kermit Roosevelt recommends "deference to the judgment of other governmental institutions" as a better means of evaluating the judiciary. LA Times Op-Ed. (10/2/2006). Article.
Professor Kermit Roosevelt’s amicus brief on behalf of a group of law professors was discussed by both the majority and the dissent in the recent Supreme Court decision in Woodford v. Ngo and the dissent cited his related law review article “Exhaustion Under the Prison Litigation Reform Act: The Consequence of Procedural Error,” 52 Emory L. J. 1771 (2003). (6/22/2006). Amicus Brief - Requires Westlaw sign on - Citation #2006 WL 282164. Woodford v. Ngo - Requires Westlaw sign on - Citation #2006 WL 1698937.
Professor Kermit Roosevelt explains that the Supreme Court ruling "does not mean [federal] employees get no protection for speech made on the job or even that whistleblowing speech is unprotected." Federal Times. (6/5/2006). Article.
Professor Kermit Roosevelt discusses various aspects of the the Judge Roberts hearings in an article in The American Prospect (9/15/2005). Article.
Professor Kermit Roosevelt discusses the U.S. Supreme Court and his novel, In the Shadow of the Law, with Diane Rehm on WAMU (8/9/2005). Audio.
Professor Kermit Roosevelt says in an editorial that Sandra Day O'Connor's is "arguably the most powerful person in the country. Lawyers tailored their arguments to win her sympathy; court-watchers struggled to predict her votes." The American Prospect (7/5/2005). Article.
Time magazine includes Professor Kermit Roosevelt's novel, In the Shadow of the Law, as one of its "5 Fantastic First Novels." (6/20/2005). Article - Requires Westlaw sign on - Citation #2005 WLNR 9323754.
Professor Kermit Roosevelt discusses his novel, In the Shadow of the Law, that is to be released later this month. The Miami Herald (6/5/2005).

In the Media: Kermit Roosevelt

Archives