Wood confirmed as Supreme Court justice

By Reporter Gupta and Reporter Kim

Diane Wood has been confirmed as the Supreme Court justice to replace the deceased Antonin Scalia. A liberal from the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, Wood attended the University of Texas as an undergrad and a law student.

She said her two core beliefs are “empathy for fellow Americans” and “the constitution as a living document.”

On Scalia she said, “I think he was one of the great intellectuals of the century.”

She declined to comment on any of the upcoming Supreme Court cases. 

BREAKING NEWS: Judge Scalia collapses while giving a statement regarding allegations of his "inappropriate comments" against gay marriage. Scalia was reported dead the next day.

BREAKING NEWS: Scalia dead

Justice Antonin Scalia has died of a heart attack. Diane Wood confirmed as new justice. More information to come. 

Yale Law Professor Provides Constitutional Analysis

By Reporters Newton, Cohen, Walker and Schmidt

Isaac Park, a law professor at Yale University commented on the requests for Scalia’s recusal. “This would be unprecedented.” According to Park, there is not any precedent for a recusal. This would be the first instance of recusal based on comments made; recusals usually result from a conflict in interest. Park also added that he personally believes that DOMA overrides the Supremacy Clause, which allows states to create their own laws on anything the Federal Government does not regulate. However, he acknowledges that this case presents an “open constitutional question.” Hollingsworth V. Perry concerns the 14th amendment, which provides for the equal protection for all United States citizens. If the court rules in favor of Perry, thereby ruling in favor of gay marriage, that verdict would present a “dramatic shift” in family law. He also added that, as a result, family lawyers are “eagerly awaiting the results.”

President Obama Calls for Scalia’s Recusal on Gay Marriage Cases

By Reporters Lang, Wang, and Tanaka

President Obama announced late Saturday afternoon that he is calling on Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia to recuse himself from upcoming Supreme Court cases on the constitutionality of same-sex marriage.  In his statement, Obama declared, “I condemn the comments of Justice Scalia as not only inappropriate, but also as offense to all gay and lesbian Americans.” Obama believes that Scalia can not render fair judgment on the case given his declared bias, saying “Justice Scalia’s comments show that he is obviously prejudiced against gay and lesbian Americans and because the case will be a landmark decision in the civil rights of many, many Americans, I believe that he should recuse himself.

At a private Federalist Society dinner, Associate Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia allegedly made “inappropriate” comments regarding his voting positions on Defense Of Marriage Act, anti-gay policies, affirmative action and marriage. Since Wednesday evening, four Senators have requested his recusal, but so far he has ignored those requests.

According to an audio file obtained through an undisclosed source by Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Associate Justice Scalia has made homophobic comments with regards to the pertinent cases. The audio has been analyzed and confirmed as Scalia’s voice; however, there seems to be no extended version of the quote that provides enough context for the comments. When asked to elaborate on how they accessed the audio, both said, “We are not in a position to do so right now.” Warren inconsistently claimed that the context of the quote does not really matter, only to correct himself immediately, admitting, “Well, context obviously matters.” Durbin concluded, “These quotes strike us as clearly homophobic.”

Member of the Judiciary committee and senator Lindsey Graham rebuked the senators’ calls for Justice Scalia’s recusal, characterizing them as “an inappropriate political move.” In response to Senator Feinstein’s ambiguous dissatisfaction towards Scalia’s past record, Graham firmly stated that the Justice has “a sterling record for impartiality.” He also disclosed the names of other senators that joined Feinstein in requesting Scalia’s recusal—Senator Dick Durban from Illinois and Elizabeth Warren from Massachusetts. 

Media releases of the audio file have galvanized several gay rights activist groups. One representative from the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force voiced his hopes that “Justice Scalia will step down from office.” On behalf of the Task Force, he expressed his belief that Scalia is “utterly incapable” of ruling on the two cases currently on the Supreme Court agenda. “We see these comments as direct threats to the liberty of the citizens,” he said.  

Senator Feinstein said her motive in calling for a recusal revolved around the opinion that Associate Justice Scalia “is not impartial and will not take an objective view.” Feinstein, who is a democratic senator from California, went on to characterize the audio clip, “Homophobic comment against gays. The White House has yet to comment.

The Supreme Court will be hearing two cases in May related to same-sex marriage rights.  Hollingsworth v. Perry is a challenge to the constitutionality of Proposition 8,  a referendum enacted into law by California voters in 2008 that amended the California Constitution to provide legal recognition only for marriage between a man and a woman.  The passage of the law did not affect existing same-sex marriages in the Golden State. 

Additionally, the Court will be ruling on United States vs. Windsor, a challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA. This law was passed in 1996 by a Republic Congress and signed into law by Democratic President Bill Clinton.  In 2011, the Obama administration announced that they would no longer defend the act in court on the grounds that it believes the act violates Section 3 of the United States Constitution and is therefore unconstitutional. 

President Obama calls for the recusal of Justice Scalia

  By Reporters Newton, Cohen and Walker

    In the light of the audio release, which was confirmed to be of Justice Scalia, President Obama has released a statement, calling for the recusal of Scalia.

   “I condemn the comments as not only inappropriate but also offensive to all gays and lesbians in America”, said President Obama.

    Park, Yale Professor of Law and the expert on the Constitution, stated that there is no precedent for a recusal. This would be the first time a Justice would have to step down based on previously made comments.

President Obama responds to Justice Scalia's remarks.

Op-Ed: Senators premature comments exemplify partisanship in Washington

By Reporter Gupta, Reporter Kim, and Reporter Belkin

  With the recent news of Scalia’s alleged remarks, we understand the potential gravity of these comments. While we acknowledge that these alleged statements are extremely degrading towards the LGBT community, we find that the senators premature request for recusal is evidence of partisanship in Washington DC. These senators took the opportunity to further their party’s agenda before hearing these remarks and validating it was Scalia’s voice. As a news organization, we find this absolutely unacceptable. As Senator Lindsay Graham said, “The calls for his recusal are inappropriate and political.” In light of Scalia’s history of impartiality, we urge the senators to apologize for their premature comments and hope that politicians in the future consider the reputations of government officials before jumping to conclusions without factual evidence. 

Law Clerk Alexander Crutchfield Confirms Scalia's Emarks

 By Reporter Tanaka

  Alexander Crutchfield, law clerk for Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, confirmed that the alleged audio file of Associate Justice Scalia’s homophobic comments is indeed authentic. He was sitting at the same table with Scalia at the Federalist Society dinner on Wednesday.

  “I just want to hold people accountable for what they say,” said Crutchfield. When asked to describe the context of the dinner conversation, he stated, “There was a segue which I can not remember fully.” Nonetheless, he insisted that the comments were made directly in relation to the Defense of Marriage Act, which is currently on the Supreme Court agenda. When asked how he responded to the comments at the time, Crutchfield said, “I said, ‘Really?’ and that’s it.”

  Meanwhile, Associate Justice Scalia has denied that the recorded voice is actually his.

  “There is no evidence that I made these comments. My record for impartiality speaks for itself,” Scalia said. 

Scalia: “There’s no evidence I made these remarks.”

Reporter Wang

   Associate Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia declared that he did not make the remarks at a Federalist Society Dinner that have been widely been attributed to him, according to a press statement released Saturday.  Scalia allegedly remarked that, “Homosexuals do not have a right to sodomy. These kind of laws are unconstitutional.  We have laws against bestially don’t we? We have laws against polygamy don’t we? We can’t have moral feelings against homosexuality. Can we have it against murders?”  Since the allegations arose, Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA) and other Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee have called for his recusal on upcoming Supreme Court cases Fischer vs. University of Texas at Austin and Hollingsworth vs. Perry.  However, Scalia stated today that the remarks are entirely manufactured, saying, “There is no evidence that I have made these remarks, and the senators calling for my recusal have failed to provide any evidence to the contrary. I intend to vote on these cases; my record for impartiality speaks for itself.”

Gallup Poll of Americans' opinion of gay marriage

A new Gallup post shows that 55 percent of Americans support gay marriage, 40 percent oppose it and 5 percent are undecided.

National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Condemns Scalia

by Reporter Belkin and Reporter Cohen 

In a statement released by a spokesperson, The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force called for Justice Scalia to step down from his post as a supreme court justice. They feel Scalia has revealed himself to be incapable of impartiality. They read Scalia’s as “direct threats to civil liberties.” 

The case in question, Hollingsworth v. Perry, addresses marriage equality. The Task Force feels confident in the Supreme Court’s impending decision. 

“Overall we feel our case is very strong and expect the court to rule in our favor,” the spokesperson said. 

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force focuses on promoting legislation that favors the LBGT community. They learned of Scalia’s comments through a media outlet. 

Scalia's remarks released

"“Homosexuals do not have a right to sodomy. These kind of laws are unconstitutional We have laws against bestially don’t we? We have laws against polygamy don’t we? We cant have moral feelings against homosexuality. Can we have it against murders"

This tape was given to The Wall Street Journal by Senators Dick Durban and Elizabeth Warren. The Wall Street Journal has not been able to confirm that the tape is of Justice Scalia, but the senators were confident it is. 

Senator Graham Defends Scalia

by Reporter Belkin and Reporter Cohen 

Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina defended Justice Scalia’s remarks regarding the upcoming court cases. 

“Calls for his recusal are inappropriate and political,” Graham said. 

As of now, he believes, that no one outside of those attending the Federalist Society Dinner have heard the remarks in question. He refuses to make judgements regarding the comments until the text is revealed to the public. 

Graham is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. He took office in 2003. 

Sen. Feinstein Calls for Scalia's Recusal in Upcoming SCOTUS Cases

Reporter Wang

Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) has called for Associate Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s recusal in upcoming Supreme Court cases regarding issues of affirmative action and same-sex marriage.   The appeal comes on the heels of Scalia ‘s remarks at a private Federalist Society Dinner on Wednesday that were, according to Feinstein, “homophobic and made it clear he is not an impartial party.  He will not take an unbiased stance. “ Feinstein, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said that this is the first time that she has ever called for a recusal from a Supreme Court Justice: “The main motive behind [my call for his recusal] is that he has made some really inappropriate comments.  It’s obvious he didn’t support affirmative action policies and does not believe people should be given opportunities for power through [affirmative action.]”    Three other Senators have joined Feinstein in calls for Scalia’s recusal.  Scalia has dismissed any notion of taking a step back on the upcoming cases,Hollingsworth v. Perry and Fischer vs. University of Texas at Austin.  

President Obama Reviewing Scalia Allegations

By Reporter Gupta

President Obama and his administration are currently investigating the allegations against Justice Scalia, Press Secretary Jay Carney said.

            “We should not jump to conclusions,” he said. 

Scalia makes inappropriate remarks, senators ask for recusal

By Reporter Gupta   

Justice Antonin Scalia made inappropriate remarks Wednesday night at a Federalist Society dinner with regard to how he was going to rule on the upcoming Supreme Court cases, according to 60 Minutes. Four prominent senators have requested for his recusal, but Scalia has ignored them. The Supreme Court will be ruling on DOMA, Hollingsworth vs. Perry and Fisher v. University of Texas this year.