Harry Blackmun (1908-1999), appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court by President Nixon, became a highly regarded justice usually taking a middle-of-the-road position. Harry A. Blackmun was born November 12, 1908, in Nashville, Illinois, but spent his youth...

Judicial Activism: The Supreme Court's big ruling on Wednesday wasn't just about abortion. It was also about elected representatives deciding difficult issues for themselves -- without judges interfering.Some of the most severe critics of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court ruling that not only...

In his 15 months on the Supreme Court, Justice Samuel Alito has been everything his conservative supporters expected and his liberal detractors feared.The newest justice has been a reliable vote in favor of the death penalty, expanded police powers and restrictions on abortion.Alito has yet...

No one on the Supreme Court publicly opposes the death penalty, but four justices often side with death row inmates who are fighting to avoid execution.Though they are a minority on the nine-justice court, Justices Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, David Souter and John Paul...

While many New York Times readers' eyes were still bulging over Bernard Weinraub's Jan. 30, too-much-information essay about the personal agonies of working in Hollywood, a new reporter was quietly settling into the film beat's piranha pool.On Feb. 22, David Halbfinger was busy writing his...