Where to Begin?
I’ll have several posts this week on the work of the Court. Let me start by addressing King v. Burwell. The debate over the Affordable Care Act is now closed. Sure, some people will make noises next...
View ArticleSame-Sex Marriage Whoppers
Let’s turn to the same-sex marriage decision. I’ll have a separate post on the Court’s opinion later. Basically, my thought is that it reads like a lot of Justice Kennedy’s decisions, unfortunately....
View ArticleThe Arizona Legislature Case
I was surprised by the outcome, the reasoning in the opinion, and that there were two votes (from Scalia and Thomas) to dismiss the suit for lack of standing. In the end, I wonder if the Court should...
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FAN 66 (First Amendment News) Another money-is-speech controversy — Court...
As this case came to us, the principal question it presented was whether to overrule Abood: The petitioners devoted the lion’s share of their briefing and argument to urging us to overturn that nearly...
View ArticleUndue Burden and Federalism
Before saying more on the cases just decided, I want to throw out an observation about the Texas abortion regulations that were stayed by the Court yesterday. Suppose that Rhode Island put strict...
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FAN 66.1 (First Amendment News) The Indecency Wars Continue — WDBJ TV opposes...
The enormous fine proposed by the FCC is also an extraordinary burden on protected speech. The FCC’s largest base fine for other types of violations by broadcasters is $10,000. — Jeffrey A. Marks,...
View ArticleThe Guarantee Clause
Some attention is being given (or should be) to Footnote 3 of the Court’s opinion in the Arizona redistricting case, which states: The people’s sovereign right to incorporate themselves into a State’s...
View ArticleHunting for “Three Coequal Branches”
This is a longer-than-average post about why we think that the Constitution establishes three equal branches. As I’ve explained in some earlier posts, the text does not support that proposition, and...
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FAN 67 (First Amendment News) En Banc Unanimous Ruling from DC Circuit...
→ This is quite a big deal, especially in its unanimity. — Richard Hasen, Election Law Blog → Most difficult of all to accept is that the court of appeals saw nothing amiss with the law that allows...
View ArticleWhat do the Constitutional Articles mean?
Before doing additional research on this subject, I want to say one more thing on the question of whether the Constitution established three equal branches. Perhaps the best way of asking the question...
View ArticleEqual Constitutional Status
I want to pick up on a line of thought in the comment thread to one of my prior posts on separation of powers. What do we mean when we say that the three branches are equal? Probably we are saying...
View ArticleAALS Section on Poverty Law Call for Papers
AALS Section on Poverty Law Call for Papers for 2016 AALS Annual Meeting The AALS Section on Poverty Law is seeking abstracts or drafts of papers to be presented at the 2016 Annual Meeting in New York,...
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FAN 68 (First Amendment News) Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces to hear...
The Court’s disposition of this case is certain to cause confusion and serious problems. Attorneys and judges need to know which mental state is required for conviction under 18 U. S. C. §875(c), an...
View ArticleFAN 68.1 (First Amendment News) Wisconsin high court strikes down campaign...
As reported in the New York Times: “The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that a criminal investigation into coordination between conservative groups and Gov. Scott Walker’s 2012 campaign...
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Flashback circa 2006 — First Amendment lawyers, scholars and journalists...
20 July 2006, Newseum, Rosslyn, Virginia In ascending order, from left to right: Floyd Abrams, Jeffrey H. Smith, Robert Corn-Revere, Susan Buckley, Shelby Coffey, Lee Levine, Geoffrey Stone, Sandra...
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Kozinski Revisited — 10 ways to become a Federal Judge by 35 . . . and more!
Give credit where it is due — and especially where it is not. — Alex Kozinski (8-19-96) Over at the Volokh Conspiracy Eugene recently posted excerpts from a new article by Judge Alex Kozinski; the...
View ArticleThe Certiorari Grant in Fisher
I’d been meaning to say something about the not-so-new affirmative action case, but writing a book review knocked me offline for a while. The new grant of cert in Fisher is peculiar. Media reports...
View ArticleThe Oxford Handbook on the Constitution
I want to put in a plug for this forthcoming volume, which contains essays by a Who’s Who of legal scholars, including yours truly. Now available for pre-order on Amazon.
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FAN 69 (First Amendment News) Justice Alito discusses four First Amendment...
“[I]f we lose focus on what is at the core of the free-speech protection by concentrating on . . . peripheral issues, I think, there’s a real danger that our free-speech cases will go off in a bad...
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