Senate Impact on Liberal Judicial Nominees: On Saturday, Jonathan Adler posted his thoughts on whether conservatives would attempt to block any of Obama's judicial nominees. Adler's post was prompted by this MSNBC article. While Adler states he probably won't like any of Obama's pics for the Supreme Court, he also states his belief that "the Senate's "advise and consent" role should be limited to ensuring that judicial nominees have the necessary qualifications and temperament..." Adler then discusses Alexander Hamilton's Federalist 76, where Hamilton explained that primary purpose of Senate confirmation is to place a "check upon a spirit of favoritism in the President" and "to prevent the appointment of unfit characters from State prejudice, from family connection, from personal attachment, or from a view to popularity." Adler hopes the Senate will stay true to this philosophy and let qualified liberal nominees through without too much of a fight. He also promises to blog more later on some of the comments that follow the post.

New SSRN Articles on the Eighth Amendment: Doug Berman at Sentencing Law and Policy has a post providing links to two new SSRN articles discussing the Eighth Amendment. The first article is by Corey Rayburn Yung (blogger at Sex Crimes) and asks "Is Military Law Relevant to the 'Evolving Standards of Decency' Embodied in the Eighth Amendment?" Berman says the second article, "The Court of Life and Death: The Two Tracks of Constitutional Sentencing Law and the Case for Uniformity," discusses the Eighth Amendment more generally. Berman's post has the text of each Abstract, and you can download each by clicking "Choose Download Location" link near the top of each SSRN page.