Every now and then, Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor has a hankering for graham crackers and shortbread. Like Pulp Fiction’s Jimmie, she buys the gourmet expensive stuff because when she eats it she wants to taste it. And so, rather than sending out her law clerks for Honey Maid grahams and Walkers shortbread, O’Connor calls Polly Brown. more ›

MONDAY: >> We've been hearing an awful lot about certain journalists who've spent superfluous time in jail for ideals they supposedly believe in -- but, before you make any contributions to that gravy train, why not hear from Marie-Helene Carleton, who'll be in town discussing the travails of her filmmaker partner Micah Garen, who was taken hostage in Iraq in 2003. Even if you're an avid news junkie, there's still a lot you don't know... more ›

Good morning, Washington. We hope you had the opportunity to enjoy the beautiful weather this weekend. From the looks of the photos posted to DCist photos, a number of you did: enjoying the sunset from the roof of the Cairo, checking out a break-dancing competition at the Crafty Bastards fair, spotting SpaceShipOne at the National Air and Space Museum, and snapping a couple incomprehensible photos at the Decemberists concert at 9:30 club last night. Although... more ›

Interested parties and supposedly disinterested pundits have taken to predicting what will become of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's most important swing decisions after her retirement. In the 2003-04 term, notably, O'Connor provided the fifth vote to uphold affirmative action programs at public universities - on certain conditions. As we saw in Bolling v. Sharpe, the District of Columbia is an important supporting actor in the development of discrimination law in this country. Twenty years after Bolling's progressive milestone, the conservative Supreme Court of the 1970s used another Washington case to limit, rather than expand, discrimination claims in a way that resonates even in the recent affirmative action cases. more ›

Senate Democrats and liberal activists have quite a task before them -- they are charged with picking through Supreme Court nominee John Roberts' judicial record with a fine-tooth comb, hoping to find something damning enough to derail the nomination and hand President George W. Bush a defeat. more ›

OK, so there isn't a specific D.C. angle other than it takes place here, but this is pretty monumental news in the larger scheme of things. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, today announced her resignation, the first in over 10 years and one likely to set up what is sure to be a long and brutal battle between conservative factions looking to reign in "judicial activism"... more ›

In a long-awaited decision that may boost the fortunes of the troubled new baseball stadium for the Washington Nationals in Southeast, the Supreme Court today ruled that local governments may expropriate homes and businesses to accommodate private development. Stemming from a case in which the local government of the city of New London, Conn., exercised their power of eminent domain over an economically-depressed area and replaced homes with a riverfront hotel and office buildings aimed... more ›

With a 6-10 season wrapped, and the playoffs underway with only the New York Jets representing the hopes and dreams of the –Ist readership, the Washington Redskins turn their attention to the challenges of the offseason. Gibbs’ return to the sideline ended up not being the immediate return to glory that many had desired, but most fans, we’re sure, will simply content themselves knowing that Danny Snyder’s not planning on starting over from scratch... more ›