Today in the News, 2.17.09

“That mix of backgrounds and expertise might strike some as valuable, but the chief justice suggested that it tended to inject policy and politics into an area properly reserved for the law.” The NY Times featured an article over the weekend highlighting comments made by Chief Justice John Roberts, in which he suggested that it’s preferable to have former appellate judges, rather than individuals with other backgrounds, serve as Supreme Court justices. (Volokh has an interesting rebuttal here.)

“The exclusionary rule does more than simply put a check on police misconduct. It protects the integrity of the judicial system.” Also in the NY Times this weekend, Adam Cohen writes an editorial challenging the escalating efforts by the Court’s conservatives to eliminate the exclusionary rule.

“More than 90% of the 1,027 adults surveyed said judges should be removed from a case if it involves an individual or group that contributed to the judge’s election campaign.” USA Today rounds out a weekend of news coverage of the soon-to-argued Supreme Court case Caperton v. Massey Coal, “a case with the feel of a best seller” according to USA Today. (The Legal Times, NYT, and West Virginia Gazette, have more.)