From 250 Ed. Law Rep. 497, Finally, recognizing “the government generally need not subsidize the exercise of constitutional rights,” Moloch argues that universities may require student organizations to admit those who disagree as a condition of receiving benefits. The citations are to my Freedom of Expressive Association and Government Subsidies, 58 Stan. L. Rev. 1919 […]
Archive | 2010
Asylum in the U.S. for German Homeschoolers?
The Washington Post reports: A German couple who fled to Tennessee so they could homeschool their children was granted political asylum Tuesday by a U.S. immigration judge, according to the legal group that represented them…. [The father, Uwe] Romeike says his family was persecuted for their evangelical Christian beliefs and for homeschooling their children in […]
Sports, Religion, and the Law
From an order today in Becnel v. Northrop Grumman Ship Systems, Inc., No. 2005-4072 (La. Civ. Dist. Ct.): This matter is presently set for a jury trial on Monday, February 1, 2010. Considering the historic victory of the New Orleans Saints, the Court finds that the trial will not be able to proceed as originally […]
Targeted Killing Aimed at a US Citizen Abroad
By Kenneth Anderson on January 27, 2010 5:37 pm in Counter-Terrorism Policy, Targeted Killing, War on Terror
This won’t be as exciting or informative as the title suggests, apologies [although it turns out I have said rather more than I was going to; you can read an even longer version of my views at SSRN here]. The front page of the Washington Post carries a story from Dana Priest on US military […]
“Barack Obama as FDR — Are Presidents Constitutionally Exempt From Tax Increases They Sign?”
A fascinating post from Prof. Sarah B. Lawsky, on TaxProf. I hadn’t known that FDR “paid taxes at the rates in effect when he took office, even as statutory tax rates increased,” on the theory that applying the higher taxes “violated the Constitutional provision that states that the president’s compensation ‘shall be neither increased nor […]
Nerds’ Night Out: “The Rivalry” at Ford’s Theatre
Last night I went to see “The Rivalry” at Ford’s Theatre, Norman Corwin’s 1958 play dramatizing the Lincoln-Douglas debates, and written on the occasion of their centennial. Going into it, I thought two full hours of a play based on a political debate would be a bit much. But I, and the other three nerds […]
The Evenhandedness of Justice Thomas’s Noriega dissent
Or, “Elwood on Adler on Dorf on Thomas on Noriega.” As Jonathan Adler notes below, Michael Dorf comments favorably on the evenhandedness of Justice Thomas’s description in his dissent from denial of cert. of the arguments made by Manuel Noriega, even though Prof. Dorf presumes that Justice Thomas, like Dorf himself, would not be persuaded by them. […]
How About Them Apples?
Susannah Chapman and Paul Heald have another interesting study on crop diversity, this time focusing on apples. The paper, “Apple Diversity Report Card for the Twentieth Century: Patents and Other Sources of Innovation in the Market for Apples,” seems to show an increase in apple varietal diversity during the 20th century. Here’s the abstract: Contrary […]
Justice White Forcefully Arguing That a Campaign Speech Restriction Was Invalid;
Justice Marshall and Brennan on opposite sides; a lineup of Marshall / Rehnquist / Powell / Stevens / O’Connor versus White / Burger / Brennan / Blackmun; human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria. See United Steelworkers of America v. Sadlowski (1982), a very interesting case I just ran across.
Don’t Get Sick in Judge Bohm’s District:
Check out this order from Bankruptcy Judge Bohm in the Southern District of Texas: Notice and Order Regarding Motions to Lift Stay ______________________________________________________________________________ The Attorney who signs a Motion to Lift Stay must personally appear in Court at all hearings relating to the motion unless an agreed order has been filed with the Clerk of […]
Banning Dictionaries that Contain Definitions for Sexual Terms from K-8 Classrooms?
From the Riverside Press-Enterprise: The Menifee Union School District is forming a committee to review whether dictionaries containing the definitions for sexual terms should be permanently banned from the district’s classrooms, a district official said Friday. The 9,000-student K-8 district this week pulled all copies of Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary after an Oak Meadows Elementary School […]
The Future of Newspapers, as Seen from 1981
An interesting and amusing item from Jules Crittenden, based on a 1981 news broadcast that discussed an early newspaper-by-modem service. (Modems? Remember those? With an acoustical coupler, yet!) Best line: “Well, it takes about 2 hours to receive the entire text of the newspaper over the phone, and with an hourly usage charge of $5, […]
Amar v. Natelson on the constitutionality of Obamacare
By David Kopel on January 27, 2010 1:29 am in Commerce Clause, Constitutional History, Health Care, Originalism
Rob Natelson (U. Montana; Independence Institute) addresses Akhil Amar’s claims that Obamacare is consistent with the original meaning of the Constitution.
Historical Note on the Noriega Trials
I read with interest Justice Thomas’ dissent in Noriega v. Pastrana – Co-Conspirators Elwood and Adler have discussed it earlier here. My interest is different from the current controversy, as I was involved in the Noriega saga on the front end, first monitoring the increasing civil disturbances in Panama during the last couple of Noriega’s […]
What Kinds of Crime Might Dungeons and Dragons Inspire?
In response to my post on the 7th Circuit decision upholding a Wisconsin prison rule forbidding inmates to play Dungeons and Dragons, Joe Carter of First Things speculates about the kinds of D&D-inspired crime that the prison authorities might be worried about: What crime could they have committed by acting out a D&D storyline? Did […]