I came across this posting today at Nomination Watch, a website hosted by the National Women's Law Center whose web slogan is "Support judges who support women's rights."
I'm not too sure what Clean Water Act issue have to do with the women's rights movement (last I recall, men liked clean water,too); nonetheless, this website somehow sees the two issues as linked:
Federal power to protect the environment, and other national concerns, at risk. A case involving the scope of the Clean Water Act is another example of how extreme the four-vote block of conservatives can be. In Rapanos v. United States, Justices Scalia, Thomas, Alito and Roberts went too far even for Justice Kennedy, when they took a shockingly narrow view of the application of the Clean Water Act to the nation’s wetlands and waterways. Justice Kennedy broke ranks with them – although he did not join the more expansive reading of the law offered by Justice Stevens and the other three dissenters, either.
Hmmm-poor Mr. Rapanos. If he were a war protester, advocated socialized medicine, or routinely marched with Jesse Jackson, his civil liberties against federal power might have counted for something with the National Women's Law Center. The problem is he's just, well, so unfashionable.
I am, however, intersted to observe that the Law Center supports the expansion of federal power. I am on the lookout for the Law Center's amicus brief in support of the government's appeal defending the NSA's wiretapping program. If you come across that brief first, let me know.
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