Eugene Volokh gives the legalist’s reasoning as to why the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Newdow v. Elk Grove; I still believe the original plan of the justices who voted for cert was to also reach a substantive conclusion on the constitutionality of the pledge requirement (perhaps in line with Thomas’ concurrence), but Scalia’s recusal threw a wrench in the works of that happening.
Meanwhile, Alex Knapp agrees with Dahlia Lithwick that the more important issue settled in the case may relate to the majority’s newfound respect for the principle of federalism, at least in the area of family law.
2 comments:
Remember, it only takes 4 to grant cert. Those 4 were no doubt Rehnquist, Scalia, Thomas and O’Connor…
Indeed, that’s the cert lineup I hypothesized in comments at Xrlq’s place. Somehow I don’t see the other justices being all that worried about a circuit split (indeed, I don’t think there was technically a circuit split, just the 9th Circuit ruling).