Tag Archives: Supreme Court

Aeneas, Kavanaugh, and Female Fury

By Robin Bates | Published: September 24, 2018

As American female anger keeps rising, esp. with regard to Brett Kavanaugh, it’s worth looking at the vivid depictions in Virgil’s “Aeneid.

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Will Hollow Senators Stand Up to Trump?

By Robin Bates | Published: June 29, 2018

If pro-choice Senate Republicans are like the hollow people described by Dante and T. S. Eliot, we can’t expect them to vote down an anti-abortion Supreme Court justice.

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Now, Gods, Stand Up for Trump!

By Robin Bates | Published: May 8, 2016

When traditional institutions like the government or the Supreme Court are undermined, the way is cleared for the rise of liar like Trump.

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On the Death of a Controversial Judge

By Robin Bates | Published: February 14, 2016

How long should one pause following the death of a public figure like Justice Antonin Scalia before considering the political implications? It’s an issue that also arises in Anthony Trollope’s “Barchester Towers.”

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The Dickensian Horror of the Death Penalty

By Robin Bates | Published: July 13, 2015

The Supreme Court has ruled in favor of problematic drugs for lethal injection. The Charles Dickens of “Oliver Twist” would be appalled.

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Justice Scalia, Blind Like Pentheus

By Robin Bates | Published: June 30, 2015

Scalia attacking his fellow SCOTUS justices sounds like Pentheus excoriating Teiresias and Cadmus in “The Bacchae.” Unlike Scalia’s fellow justices, Teiresias gives as good as he gets.

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Bigger Thomas, Clarence’s Shadow

By Robin Bates | Published: March 2, 2015

“Native Son,” 75 years old, is Justice Clarence Thomas’ favorite novel. I theorize that Bigger Thomas is the justice’s destructive shadow.

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Will Oliver Finally Get Health Care?

By Robin Bates | Published: April 4, 2014

Oliver Twist experiences the same ups and downs as Obamacare has. But there’s a happy ending.

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A Judge’s Love Affair with Marcel Proust

By Robin Bates | Published: November 14, 2013

Marcel Proust has made Stephen Breyer a better Supreme Court justice.

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