Justice Department May Seek To Restrain DTA Review: Lyle Denniston reported at SCOTUSblog yesterday that the Justice Department is considering asking the Supreme Court to curb the authority of the federal appeals court to review military decisions to hold the Guantanamo Bay detainees. The Solicitor General must approve the plans before the Justice Department will go forward. According to Denniston, the Justice Department is attempting to block the appeals court's authority to review the information that intelligence agencies have gathered on the detainees. After the D.C. Circuit Court reinstated Bismullah v. Gates (06-1197) on Monday, the Circuit Court claims it has a right to access all the information in the files. The government claims it does not. According to the government, the Circuit Court should only be able to review the information Combatant Status Review Tribunals was able to consider. The Circuit Court split 5-5 in February on whether to reconsider Bismullah, and the U.S. Supreme Court did not resolve the issue when it sent it back to the Circuit Court to review in light of the Supreme Court's decision in Boumediene v. Bush. The Justice Department claims that the Supreme Court intended to send the message to the Circuit Court that Bismullah was "wrong on 'the nature of review'" when it sent the decision back to the Circuit Court. At this point, the Justice Department is still considering its options. It could make a move to the U.S. Supreme Court, or it could wait for the Circuit Court to reconsider the issue. Stay tuned to find out.

Are Chief Justice Roberts and Senator Obama Similar?: Orin Kerr at The Volokh Conspiracy has an interesting post noting his "quirky reaction" that "the more I get to know Barack Obama, the more he reminds me of Chief Justice John Roberts." He notes that while the men have very different political views, he also notes that there are some similarities. For example, the natural gifts of both Chief Justice Roberts and Senator Obama were recognized early on. And while both had their political views, they both kept from taking controversial stances as they rose in their careers. Kerr also notes that by the time both men became nominees, they had "tremendous admiration" from their political allies, and that both have been viewed as wolves in sheep's clothing by their political opponents. One wonders how each of the men would view Kerr's comparison...