What do Retiring Justice Stevens, Senator Patrick Leahy and Sarah Palin Have in Common?

What a question, right?  The Blog of the Legal Times had an interesting piece about Senate Judiciary Chair Pat Leahy (D-VT)’s comments on a couple TV news shows his week.  They concern some of the extremist (far right) decisions coming from the current Supreme Court that he finds not only objectionable (as did Justice Stevens), but also outright activist.

While we would add a few more to that list (e.g., here, here), one case he raised was the court’s love song to Exxon, when it acceded to Exxon’s demand that the $5 billion Exxon Valdez punitive damage award, which the company fought for 14 years, be cut to one-tenth of the jury’s verdict.   

Now, we were surprised as anyone to see Tina Fey’s doppelganger Sarah Palin agreeing with Leahy and Justice Steven by denouncing this decision at the time (see video below), especially given her general lack of awareness of the U.S. Supreme Court (although her decision to “go rouge” on this must have, on second thought, been a little too mavericky even for her).  But the footage kinda speaks for itself, don’t you think?

In any event, let's hope lots more people start paying attention to this decision.