As I understand it, the SEIU picketing of the Bank of America executive’s residence took place in Montgomery County, Maryland. As it happens, that county has an ordinance that provides, “A person or group of persons must not picket in front of or adjacent to any private residence,” with “picket” defined as “to post a […]
Archive | May, 2010
SEIU Picketing on Someone’s Front Porch?
Nina Easton at Fortune writes about an SEIU protest at a Bank of America executive’s house, and reports that “hordes of invaders poured out of 14 school buses, up Baer’s steps, and onto his front porch.” (Easton is Baer’s neighbor, and is apparently reporting based on her own personal observation. [UPDATE: I neglected to mention […]
The Hidden Law
I was reminded recently of this stanza from Auden’s poem Aera Sub Lege (also known as The Hidden Law) — one of my favorite poems — and I thought I’d blog it: The Hidden Law does not deny Our laws of probability, But takes the atom and the star And human beings as they are, […]
Big New Establishment Clause Case, on Religious Groups’ Participating in Evenhanded Government Funding Programs
The Supreme Court just agreed to hear Arizona Christian School Tuition Organization v. Winn and Garriott v. Winn, which are the latest cases to deal with the question: When may religious institutions — here, schools — participate in government funding programs that are equally open to secular institutions and religious institutions (or, as here, to […]
Interesting SCOTUS Line-up
The Supreme Court handed down five opinions in argued cases and one sumamry reversal, and these decisions were largely unanimous. The Court also dismissed Robertson v. U.S. ex rel. Watson as improvidently granted. Here the Court split 5-4. Those dissenting from the unsigned, per curiam opinion were the Chief Justice, and Justices Scalia, Kennedy, and […]
“Activist Government” and the Rights of Minorities
I want to analyze two positions that I’ve seen liberals take on the role of government in promoting civil rights and antidiscrimination norms. One position is as follows: We liberals believe in government activism to solve important social problems, and the 1964 Civil Rights Act was an important example of where this philosophy had extremely […]
The Subjects of the Constitution
Legal Theory Blog guru Larry Solum just named The Subjects of the Constitution the Download of the Week, and I concur. Written by my Georgetown colleague Nick Rosenkranz and just published in the Stanford Law Review, this article is a stunner. It is one of those rare pieces that hits you between the eyes and […]
No Chickens at the Polls
People wearing chicken costumes will no longer be allowed inside polling places in Nevada.
Taking the Washington Post to School
[NOTE: READ UPDATES BELOW] Today’s Washington Post features a story by Michael Birnbaum on the controversial new Texas social studies standards. As characterized by the Post, the standards sound quite bad. Ann Althouse was concerned by the story, so she looked at the Texas materials (for which the Post had declined to provide a link) […]
Sunday Song Lyric
Heavy metal legend Ronnie James Dio died last week at the age of 67. Dio was a monster of rock, having fronted Rainbow, post-Ozzy Black Sabbath, and Dio, among others. Wikipedia also credits him with popularizing the “devil’s horns” hand gesture. He never reached the top of the charts, but his work (and voice) should […]
Tunku Varadarajan Praises Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s New Book
Here’s Varadarajan’s review; the book is Nomad: From Islam to America — A Personal Journey Through the Clash of Civilizations.
So a Libertarian and a Liberal Walk into a Bar
Let’s say a liberal and a libertarian are having drinks at a bar, and discussing public policy. The liberal asks the libertarian what he thinks of anti-discrimination laws that apply to private parties. The libertarian says that he wants to put the issue of race to one side, because of its special history in the […]
The “Racist” Charge
One thing that’s been especially appalling about the Rand Paul controversy is how quick many liberal commentators (including people who frequent the comments section on this blog), have been to accuse not just Paul of racism, but also anyone who takes the libertarian position on antidiscrimination laws, i.e.., that the government itself may not discriminate, […]
Kagan and Graham
The Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision to hold unconstitutional sentences of life-without-parole for juvenile offenders convicted of non-homicide crimes did more than invalidate a few outlying state sentencing provisions. According to Justice Kennedy’s majority opinion, “Thirty-seven States as well as the District of Columbia permit sentences of life without parole for a juvenile nonhomicide offender in […]
Justice Sotomayor, Graham, and International Law
By Jonathan H. Adler on May 22, 2010 10:28 am in International Law, Judicial Nominations, Supreme Court
At her confirmation hearing, Justice Sonia Sotomayor appeared to renounce any reliance on the use of foreign or international law in constitutional decisions, walking back from prior statements. In response to a question from Senator Schumer, she said: “American law does not permit the use of foreign law or international law to interpret the Constitution.” […]