It was the intellectual elite of the conservative movement that expressed the most concern, not the religious conservatives or the business conservatives.

There’s a lot of pressure because of the concern there might be another terrorist strike in the United States.

I assume [Research In Motion] took that to heart, or at least it made them get serious about settlement.

They’ve said airport security was 50 percent of the case, and it was always a difficult case. So now it becomes doubly difficult.

Senators want to know, `Does she have an overarching theory of jurisprudence? How would she approach cases?’

She turned that to some constructive use. Once it happened, it probably made sense to make sure every group saw the same behavior and he cooperated.

Most people watching this litigation closely thought that Merck ought to win it. Despite the characterizations by Merck so far, I think this was really a loss for them.

It’s quite natural for mass tort cases to proceed under multidistrict litigation.

Juries frequently confront contradictory information, especially in criminal trials. Juries then must sort through all of the evidence, sift and weigh it, resolve the contradictions as best they can, and reach a determination.

I think it’s pretty probable that the verdict would hold up. My sense is that the judge was pretty careful.

All the survivors and families of people who perished on 9/11 will be called, and it’s hard to imagine how to counter any of that.

It’s too early to tell. Some people believe that Roberts may be similar to Rehnquist in his jurisprudence, although that’s not at all clear yet.

With the spying, it’s hard to overcome the ultimate purpose of the administration, which is to combat terrorism. With the ports, it’s almost the opposite. The ports deal is an easier issue to explain to...

That’s where Rehnquist was at his most vocal, … He was always willing to fight for an independent judiciary.

It might give them pause to think they might be sued and hauled into court.

The witness whose testimony was struck was their first and perhaps their strongest witness, and so that could make it difficult going forward on the case.

Merck is trying to paint this as a tie, but it is really not so good for them because people thought they would have had an easy win.

The government may have overstated the dire circumstances going in. But when they actually came to prosecute the case, it didn’t seem as dire or as strong a case when they came to the courthouse.

It was difficult for me to think of another situation where a court has said this to the government.

It’s still too early. We just don’t have the patterns yet.

The Fourth Circuit could have vacated its ruling and I doubt the Supreme Court would have entertained [the Padilla case] at that point. But now it is very much alive in the Supreme Court and...

She has tried as hard and she can to get this difficult case right, and then she is confronted with a blatant violation of the rules. She has been careful and cautious, but probably is...

Right now it seems like the uncertainty would make senators more circumspect with Roberts.

That’s the nub of this issue. Whether there is a pattern of unilateral executive action without approval or consultation with the other two branches of government.

This means the issue of whether you can hold a citizen 3 1/2 years without charges will likely be unresolved, which is of great concern to many.

The Supreme Court has not directly faced the issue of whether ‘under God’ in the Pledge of Allegiance violates the First Amendment.

I don’t believe somebody like Tom DeLay is going to take any chances by way of his representation, and his reputation.

Specter is the key, and then it comes down to moderate Republicans and where we were in May.

This could expose Merck to substantial liabilities.

It’s a warning to the extent the White House cares or listens.

I don’t understand why that wasn’t used. Congress has clearly provided for what was going on. It seems to be that that procedure should have been followed.

One case does not a whole litigation strategy make.

It depends on how extensively she was involved in policy making in her five years in the White House.

very articulate but sort of reserved, almost kind of shy. And so I think he is a very likable sort of person.

His testimony could turn the jury against him.

The question is, can they have their cake and eat it too?

It seems to me that it would be relevant to a person’s case. I would expect the government to say that it is highly sensitive material, but we have legal mechanisms to balance the national...

The next question is the New England Journal flap. It seems to erode their credibility.

Most people predicted this but it wasn’t a forgone conclusion.

It seems the government is somewhat vindicated.

Negligence is much easier to prove; it’s the failure to exercise reasonable care. Willful misconduct is a much higher standard. You must intentionally misbehave. … The high standard would clearly discourage many suits.

The government is going to lose a very good ruling to avoid having this go before the Supreme Court.

I don’t think anybody today sees a reason for a filibuster, but they may after the hearing if the answers are troubling to them or they feel they haven’t gotten the answers to important questions.

The juries you draw in federal courts are more favorably inclined to institutional defendants.

It’s too soon to say Merck has momentum. Many people felt the Irvin case was a weak case to begin with. It was a short-term usage case.

It’s very difficult for Specter to thread the needle, because of all the obligations he has, … There’s substantial pressure on him because of the issue of reproductive freedom.

If he had not testified, it seems likely the jury would have come in in his favor.

By and large, the court is very deferential to this administration and others before it.

He anticipated an attack on him. I have a lot of respect for a judge who, presented with a difficult decision, admits it’s going to be tough. He has discharged his oath.

Sensenbrenner has been tough and stuck to his guns on past occasions. Maybe buying time will help.