kennedy and breyer. this is roberts, alito, breyer and kennedy in the pragmatist group. it is unclear where justice sotomayor will be. this may be an area where the court is shifting to the right, in favor of law enforcement, she was a prosecutor in the manhattan district attorney's office and this kind of grounding may make her less of the philosophical group, we do not know and she does not know. but the departure of justice souter, or the ideological lines are set up, leaves the court open at that point. his departure, i think, on matters of business and other areas where this will make a difference is that in some areas of business, with these damages, in the important cases he is siding with business in a way that is not as predictable for the justice. -- justice sotomayor. with the nine -- 9 circuit having awarded two and a half million dollars, what will any of the justices -- it will be hard to get them to overturn this, david souter voted to say that this was too much money and say that this was too much money. the idea was that the new york yankee -- to david s

kennedy and breyer. this is roberts, alito, breyer and kennedy in the pragmatist group. it is unclear where justice sotomayor will be. this may be an area where the court is shifting to the right, in favor of law enforcement, she was a prosecutor in the manhattan district attorney's office and this kind of grounding may make her less of the philosophical group, we do not know and she does not know. but the departure of justice souter, or the ideological lines are set up, leaves the court open at that point. his departure, i think, on matters of business and other areas where this will make a difference is that in some areas of business, with these damages, in the important cases he is siding with business in a way that is not as predictable for the justice. -- justice sotomayor. with the nine -- 9 circuit having awarded two and a half million dollars, what will any of the justices -- it will be hard to get them to overturn this, david souter voted to say that this was too much money and say that this was too much money. the idea was that the new york yankee -- to david s

kennedy, and breyer. and now roberts and alito have stepped into the pragmatic place, so it's roberts, alito, breyer, and kennedy being the pragmatist group. but it is an interesting split. worth noting because in one sense, one of the things that's clear is where judge sotomayor, if confirmed, would wind up on this spectrum. it could well be an area where the court shifted a bit to the right in favor of law enforcement, justice sotomayor was a prosecutor in the manhattan d.a.'s office, and that kind of practical grounding may make her less of the philosophical group and more of the pragmatist group. we don't know, she doesn't know. but souter's departure from the court on these recurring legalist ver cause pragmatist issues where the ideological lines are mixed up leaves the court open at that point. to see which way we'll go. souter's departure, i think, on matters of business, one other area where it will make a difference, of course is that in some areas of interest to business like punitive damages, though not in the case this term but in important cases, justice souter has sided with business in a w

>> we have a lot of precedent where in fact the hearings for judge justice alito were interrupted when senator kennedysisted on a break to look more deeply into his background as a member of a club at princeton. we had the clarence thomas hearings which were nonstop for several days and went straight through the weekend, as late as midnight on a saturday night, as i recall. there's plenty of precedent for going long and hard. it is a lifetime appointment. >> it does require and it's a real test of one's concentration abilities. this candidate is keeping pretty sharp here. we'll be right back to watch this. it's become something of a marathon. as andrea pointed out, we're not even a third of the way through this. we'll be right back. spectacular. women who drink crystal light drink 20% more water. crystal light. make a delicious change. come on in. you're invited to the chevy open house. where getting a new vehicle is easy. because the price on the tag is the price you pay on remaining '08 and '09 models. you'll find low, straightforward pricing. it's simple. now get an '09 silverado xfe with an epa es

we have chief justice john roberts, antonin scalia, anthony kennedy, samuel alito, and clarence thomas. there are all on the court right now. she would actually be the sixth catholic. given that there used to be such a cap -- an anti-catholic bias in america over history, we would have such a majority on the court. having looked at this in a serious way, in part because of my research on justice scalia, all of these catholics do not have the same philosophy. i do have to mention that we have had a handful of catholics before these five. william brennan, who was quite liberal, was a catholic also. often, catholicism will be associated with more conservative members, but through history, it has not been that way. caller: good morning. thank you for c-span. my question is for joan. i'm calling on the independent line, but i am leaning more toward democratic. my question for you is -- host: i have never used empathy to administer election law. she would not qualify to be an election judge. guest: what she is taking off on is the statement that president obama had used prior to nominating j

very interesting thing to be watching is the extent to which an axis forms with justice kennedy and justice alito because there were a number of separate opinions that one or the other wrote that they each joined, and i think there's a very interesting dynamic going on there at the court. justice alito has a very quiet, highly competent way about him. he writes extremely well and very thoughtfully, and his questions at argument are superb, and there seems to me to be something going on there that is an interesting thing to watch. >> yeah. and i totally agree. i think justice alito was very interesting to watch this term both for this sort of incipient alliance with justice kennedy, and because i saw him in a lot of criminal cases this term splitting off from the chief justice and moving a little bit to the right of the chief justice, writing sprally in -- separately in a bunch of cases, and i think he has in the criminal context where i spend a will lot of my time, probably of all the justices he's the most interested in the criminal cases, he's very interested in criminal procedure cases, and it

that is in arresting to be watching is, the extent to which the access forms with justice kennedy and samuel alitohere are a number of separate opinions, that may be in the middle of the road that each of them joined, and there may be a very interesting dynamic going on. samuel alito has a very quiet, competent way about him. his questions and his argument are superb and it seems to me that there is an interesting thing to watch. interesting to watch this term, both for his incipient alliance with justice kennedy and because i saw him in a lot of case this term slitting off from the chief justice and moving right to the chief justice. actually voting differently in a few cases. i think he has in the criminal context where i spend a lot of my time, he is probably of all of the justices, he's the most interested in the criminal cases. he has the most background. he's very interested in criminal procedure cases, which the rest of them really are not. and it's giving him a lot of authority in that area. i agree with dave. he writes very, very good careful, solid opinions in that area. i think he's rea

very interesting thing to be watching is the extent to which an axis of forms with justice kennedy and justice alito because there were a number of separate opinions that one of the other wrote the each away and and i think there is a very interesting dynamic going on at the court. justice alito has a very quiet highly competent way about him. he writes extremely well and felt fully in his questions and arguments are superb and they're seems to me to be something going on that is an interesting thing to watch. >> and i totally agree. i think justice alito was very interesting to watch this term. both for the incipient alliance with justice kennedy, and because i saw him in a lot of criminal cases this term splitting off from the chief justice and moving a little bit right to the chief justice writing separately, actually voting differently in a few cases and i think he has in the criminal context where i spend a lot of my time he is probably of all of the justices she is the most interested in the criminal cases. he has the most backrub. he's interested in criminal procedures case is what most of th

the interesting things to be watching is the extent to which an axis forms with justice kennedy and justice alitore a number of separate opinions that one of the other wrote that they each joined and i think there's a very interesting dynamic going on there at the court. justice alito has a very quiet, highly competent way about him. he writes extremely well and very thoughtfully and his questions and argument are superb. and there seems to me to be something going on there that is an interesting thing to watch. >> i totally agree. i think justice alito is very interesting to watch this term, both for his incipient alliance with justice kennedy and because i saw him in a lot of case this term slitting off from the chief justice and moving right to the chief justice. actually voting differently in a few cases. i think he has in the criminal context where i spend a lot of my time, he is probably of all of the justices, he's the most interested in the criminal cases. he has the most background. he's very interested in criminal procedure cases, which the rest of them really are not. and it's giving h

alito was in tears and it wasn't because she was over reacting. they were very tough on him. senator kennedybut called him a bigot and would not get off of that to the point where arlen specter had to begin the hearings the next day by reading a statement underscoring that the nominee had almost had no connection with that group. a lot of people think that never should have happened to sam alito and nothing similar should happen to sonia sotomayor. what today brings remains to be seen. bret: i mentioned conservative analysts and commentators. when you looked at the liberal commentators, columnists, analysts, it seemed to be a different hearing that they were looking at because they were going after republican senators for going after judge sotomayor. from what i saw yesterday, they were focusing on her speeches, her rulings, and not her personality. except for lindsey graham who got into temperament. megyn: and where she contradicted herself, yesterday where she came out and said x where previously she said not x, they zaire yoad -- zeroed in on it. that's good cross-examination. that's how

kennedy and scalia are 72 an73. so by then, they would be getting to the point that they're 80, andhat's going to your first more conservative retirements. the chief justice, justice alito and justice thomas, the other conservati members of the court are a still very young. >> charlie: thank you fo joining us. pleasureo have you back. >> it's great to be back. thks very ch. >> chaie: we'll be right back. stay with us. charlie: v.s. ramachan is here. from t university of san diego. he believes that rare a unexplained disorder conta valuable insights into brain functions. the 1990's he pformed pionring experiments on amputees sufring from the seation ofphantom limbs using a store-bought mirror and a piece of cardbod he was able to cure tm of pain in their amputated armi. he has sce turned to a wide range of topics from perception to consciousns. i am pleased t have him here this table f the first time. welcome. thank you charli lighted to be here. >> charlie: i want to rea somethg you id. which i -- this is, like, five shows right here. "en though is common knowledg these days, it never ceases to amaze m that all the richness of our mental life, all of our feelings, our e

kennedy and scalia are 72 and 73. so by then, they would be getting to the point that they're 80, and that's going to be your first more conservative retirements. the chief justice, justice alito and justice thomas, the other conservative members of the court are all still very young. >> charlie: thank you for joining us. pleasure to have you back. >> it's great to be back. thks very much. >> charlie: we'll be right back. stay with us. >> charlie: v.s. ramachan is here. from the university of san diego. he believes that rare and unexplained disorders contain valuable insights into brain functions. in the 1990's he performed pioneering experiments on amputees suffering from the sensation of phantom limbs. using a store-bought mirror and a piece of cardboard he was able to cure them of pain in their amputated armies. he has since turned to a wide range of topics from perception to consciousness. i am pleased to have him here at this table for the first time. welcome. >> thank you, charlie. delighted to be here. >> charlie: i want to read something you said. which i -- this is, like, five shows right here. "even though it's common knowledge, these days, it never ceases to amaze m

kennedy alone will be a trio of justices. i think it will be steve briar, who will be on the left of the trio, and sam alito on the right of thend judge sotomayor floating somewhere between the two of them, and i think that's where the future of the court, the control of the future of the court is going to lie. let me say in conclusion one other point, we are experiencing continuously a decline in the caseload of the court, which is most unfortunate because i think it a really precious national resource is being wasted. when the court holds only one hearing a day, as it did several days in the march sitting of this year and only decides 74 cases, which is less than half of what it was doing in the 1982 and '83, something has gone wrong. the case selection process has become seriously flawed, i think, and major, major controversies that ought to be decided by the court are being turned aside, not the least of which are a number of sequels to the kilo decision in which the court has been asked to clarify what kilo really means and the court has simply refused to do so. one suspects that what is going on a lot of the time in the

kennedy alone will be a trio of justices. i think it will be steve briar, who will be on the left of the trio, and sam alito on the right of the trio, and judge sotomayor floating somewhere between the two of them, and i think that's where the future of the court, the control of the future of the court is going to lie. let me say in conclusion one other point, we are experiencing continuously a decline in the caseload of the court, which is most unfortunate because i think it a really precious national resource is being wasted. when the court holds only one hearing a day, as it did several days in the march sitting of this year and only decides 74 cases, which is less than half of what it was doing in the 1982 and '83, something has gone wrong. the case selection process has become seriously flawed, i think, and major, major controversies that ought to be decided by the court are being turned aside, not the least of which are a number of sequels to the kilo decision in which the court has been asked to clarify what kilo really means and the court has simply refused to do so. one suspects that what is going on a lot of the time