Showing how divided its philosophies are, Supreme Court justices ruled, 5-4, to limit the power cities have integrating schools and placing students by race. Schools in Louisville, Kentucky and Seattle, Washington had been trying to maintain diversity by, as the NY Times explains, "limiting transfers on the basis of race or using race as a 'tiebreaker' for admission to particular schools." However, the majority found those programs to be unconstitutional and Chief Justice John Roberts......

The top judge in New York State, Court of Appeals Chief Justice Judith Kaye, has threatned to sue the state if judges don't get raises by the summer. And according to the NY Times, a proposal to give them raises seems to have been a victim of the last minute deal-making for the state budget - Governor Spitzer did include a retroactive pay raise for judges, but lawmakers proposed a raise for both judges AND......

With the NJ Supreme Court decision that gay couples should have the same rights as heterosexual couples just one day old, it's still unclear whether or not New York will accept a NJ same-sex civil union or marriage, though it has with other states. Mayor Bloomberg said, "New York City has a policy of accepting bona-fide marriages from other jurisdictions. I've always believed it's not the government's business whom you marry." And City Council Speaker......

On Sundays, Gothamist likes to publish opinion pieces by our readers and friends. The opinions expressed below are that of the author and are not necessarily that of Gothamist LLC or any of its editors Part One: POP QUIZ! Name as many of the seven dwarves as you can. Count with your fingers, or, even take a minute before reading on and scribble down on a scrap of paper as many of their names as......

It's that time of year again. The time of year we spend entirely too much money on going to a bar or party or club that any other night would cost nothing to enter. But we go, we pay and we fight the Bridge & Tunnel crowd for a spot at the bar. Why? We don't know. It's just part of NYE in NYC. This year we're fleeing the country, but for those of you......

Time unveiled its Person of Year, which is actually People of the Year, not a Force of the Year as many had suspected, with Good Samartians Bill and Melinda Gates and Bono being the people in question. You can't actually read why they're so great online - okay, you can read it, you Time subscribers - so we'll just speculate that Time was upset that an early pick of "Mother Nature" was leaked. And besides,......

Editor's note: We welcome our first "Lex and the City" column, which is about legal issues the city has faced. Today's column is especially timely, as it's the last Friday of the month - Critical Mass time! This week in Washington, John Roberts was confirmed as the Chief Justice of the United States. While the media will focus on the big cases and the big personalities that decide them, it's easy to overlook the law......

With Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist's death giving many people agita about WWDD (What Will Dubya Do?), President Bush has done what pundits have predicted (and we're not giving pundits that much credit, because given the hours they had to yak about the loss of Rehnquist, of course they were going to come up with this scenario) and nominated Supreme Court nominee John Roberts to be Chief Justice; here's the White House statement. Now,......

William Hubbs Rehnquist, the 16th chief justice of the United States Supreme Court, died last night of thyroid cancer. He was 80. While his death does not come as a huge surprise, he has been visibly ailing for months now, that he died days before confirmation hearings begin for John Roberts does turn things around a bit. Rehnquist, who was appointed to the court in 1971 by Richard Nixon, was made Chief Justice in......

Gothamist knew that someday Law & Order will filter to the highest levels of government. We just didn't figure that it would be in this way: Fred Thompson, who plays District Attorney Arthur Branch, has agreed to be an adviser to President Bush for the Supreme Court justice selection process. Apparently, one term in the Senate and a role on America's longest running cop-and-lawyer show can launch you into guiding one of the most important......

The Supreme Court ruled, in a 5-4 decision, that the government can seize private property and turn it over to developers, under the auspices of eminent domain. The Daily News points out that this probably warms of the hearts of developers, taking, for instance, projects like Bruce Ratner's Brooklyn Nets arena or Columbia University's development of 18 acres in Harlem...or any projects that have a "public purpose" element. In the end, it's up to the......

Carnegie Hall and Rockefeller Center. Don't you just love 'em? What would the city be like at Christmastime without the tourist-infested tree in the plaza? Or even worse, what if The Today Show's, Dr. Judith Reichman, had no outlet to provide the nation with her sound expert medical advice? And where else would be better to hear the intricacies of David Sedaris' sexy little voice than Carnegie Hall? Sometimes, when Gothamist Health looks at these......