The Week

Hearing all the clucks in Congress about the budget deficit, you’d almost think someone else was planning to do the red-ink spending.

Sandra Day O’Connor is not only the first you-know-what, she is also the first state court judge named to the Supreme Court in 25 years, and she takes a dim view of the federal judiciary hogging jurisdiction. Her dissent on a recent case involving federal regulation prompted a waspish rebuttal from Harry Blackmun: “. . . apocalyptic . . . overstated . . . patently inaccurate . . . Justice O’Connor articulates a view of state sovereignty that is almost mystical . . .” Okay, Harry, calm down. Her heart’s in the right place. Still, it’s a pity that in a government of laws not men, the meaning of the fundamental law should depend so unpredictably on the idiosyncrasies of nine men and women.

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Hearing all the clucks in Congress about the budget deficit, you’d almost think someone else was planning to do the red-ink spending.

Sandra Day O’Connor is not only the first you-know-what, she is also the first state court judge named to the Supreme Court in 25 years, and she takes a dim view of the federal judiciary hogging jurisdiction. Her dissent on a recent case involving federal regulation prompted a waspish rebuttal from Harry Blackmun: “. . . apocalyptic . . . overstated . . . patently inaccurate . . . Justice O’Connor articulates a view of state sovereignty that is almost mystical . . .” Okay, Harry, calm down. Her heart’s in the right place. Still, it’s a pity that in a government of laws not men, the meaning of the fundamental law should depend so unpredictably on the idiosyncrasies of nine men and women.