A Good Quarrel > David G. Savage: Rapanos v. United States (2006)
Clips
Opinion
Oral Argument
Opinion Announcement
Clips
Page 131, Clip 1: Mr. Hopper begins his argument with a sweeping claim that the Army Corps of Engineers engaged in overreaching conduct.
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Page 132, Clip 1: Justice Scalia offers a helpful question to Hopper regarding the environmental law at issue, prompting Justice Ginsburg to propose a tougher question about line-drawing.
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Page 132, Clip 2: Justice Alito highlights the problem with his first question to Hopper.
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Page 133, Clip 1: Hopper's argument went downhill as Justice Souter attacked the entire theory of the case.
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Page 134, Clip 1: Souter pressed on with his criticism prompting Scalia to return to the fray and drawing Chief Justice Roberts to engage in line drawing.
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Page 135, Clip 1: Hopper chooses not to answer Chief Justice Roberts' question. Justice Kennedy's offers Hopper a lifeline.
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Page 137, Clip 1: Ginsburg's question reveals Hopper's limited understanding of the underlying facts.
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Page 137, Clip 2: Mr. Stoepker begins his argument with a succinct statement.
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Page 137, Clip 3: Scalia characterizes the problem as "some puddles on the land.".
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Page 137, Clip 4: Kennedy raises a problem, and it takes a few minutes to sink in.
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Page 138, Clip 1: Stevens speaks up as Scalia advances Stoepker's case, casting the matter in a different light.
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Page 138, Clip 2: General Clement begins his argument defending modest government power.
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Page 140, Clip 1: Scalia and Roberts interrupt Clement aiming to differentiate a drainage ditch from a navigable river.
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Page 141, Clip 1: Roberts--like Scalia--lseeks a limit on federal authority.
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Page 142, Clip 1: Kennedy intervenes amid the barrage of questions from Scalia and Roberts, returning to a theme he advanced earlier in the argument.
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Page 142, Clip 2: Roberts and Scalia return to the attack, suggesting that Clement was adopting a "one drop a year" test.
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Page 142, Clip 3: Unlike Hopper, Clement describes the water flow from the Rapanos fields.
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Page 143, Clip 1: Clement concludes his argument.
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