Last minute SCOTUS scrambling

End of Term always brings a core dump of as-yet unannounced decisions and I always imagine the assigned justices dealing with the deadline as I would, pounding away all night with coffee mainlined into my arm, searching through old papers for vaguely related text I can drop in to fill up space, wandering off-topic as the dawn approaches, etc.

The Court struck down a Ten Commandments display in Kentucky while upholding another in Texas, both 5-4. The former decided by Souter joined by the liberal bloc and O'Connor. Justice Breyer split on the cases. Interestingly, both were affirmances, so I doubt we'll get much resolution from the decisions. A 6-3 ruling interpreted the Communications Act not to require cable companies to provide competitors (ISPs) access to broadband lines. Thomas wrote the opinion, which takes the same position as the FCC and so may be based more on the degree of deference appropriate to executive commissions, rather than a substantive reading of the statute. Of course, Thomas and the majority coalition likely found that a principle of deference and substantive conclusions happily coincide in this case.

Summaries of these cases and a few others here.

Unanimous reversal in MGM v Grokster, not unexpectedly. Haven't read the opinion yet, but Souter appears to rest the conclusion in part on evidence of "affirmative steps taken to foster infringement" by software developers, presumably to distinguish this case from the Sony Betamax case.

More later, if anything strikes my interest.