As expected, the Court has upheld the Ninth Circuit’s stay of a district court’s injunction against DADT. There was apparently no dissent on the Court, although Justice Kagan took no part in the decision, presumably because she headed the DOJ during much of the litigation defending the constitutionality of the ban on gay military personnel. […]
Archive | 2010
Public School Orders Student to Take American Flag off His Bike
By Eugene Volokh on November 12, 2010 1:28 pm in Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Speech at K-12 Schools
[UPDATE: The school has now reversed its stance.] KSBW (Monterey, California) reports: Thirteen-year-old Cody Alicea put the [American] flag [on his bike] as a show of support for the veterans in his family. But officials at Denair Middle School told him he couldn’t fly it. He said he was told some students had complained…. [T]he […]
Draft Proposal of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform
After a quick read of the Draft Proposal, I can’t say I understand all of it. But I pretty much agree with the parts that I do understand. What do you think?
Unconstitutional to Require Registration and Disclosure for Any Committee Spending Over $200 to Support/Oppose a Ballot Measure
So held the Tenth Circuit on Tuesday in Sampson v. Buescher: Colorado law requires that any group of two or more persons that has accepted or made contributions or expenditures exceeding $200 to support or oppose a ballot issue must register as an issue committee and report the names and addresses of anyone who contributes […]
Spelling Errors in the Alaska Write-in Ballots
Prof. Rick Hasen has a Slate article about this controversy. Here’s the issue: The U.S. Senate race in Alaska is the most riveting squeaker of the season. So far, “write-in” leads Republican Joe Miller by more than 10,000 votes. Alaskan officials started counting those ballots last week; it’s no surprise that most appear to be […]
“Happy Birthday, Dear Murder Victim”
Here’s what happened in the middle of a trial of parents for killing their child through child abuse (felony murder under Georgia law): [T]he prosecutor, in the final moments of her concluding argument on behalf of the State, “clicked” her fingers at which signal one of the deputies in the courtroom turned out the lights […]
Racial Harassment Lawsuit Based on Teacher’s Reading Out Loud a Book About Slavery That Contained the Word “Nigger”
The Detroit News reports: The family of a former Warren Consolidated Schools fifth-grader is suing the district, claiming the African-American girl was the victim of racial discrimination when excerpts from a book about slavery [“From Slave Ship to Freedom Road” by Julius Lester] containing “outrageous statements” — including the N-word — were read aloud in […]
“Repeal the 17th Amendment”
My article from last week’s issue of National Review, “Repeal the 17th Amendment,” is now available online at NRO.
“In Defense of Payday Lending” on Reason.TV
Reason.TV has a new show up “In Defense of Payday Lending” in which I appear a few times. Other than that it is a very interesting and illuminating segment. You can find it here. Here it is: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKTIJ5Xmb8w[/youtube]
Would Repealing DADT Undermine Troop Readiness?
The Washington Post reports that a Pentagon Study Group has concluded that repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” would have minimal lasting effects on troop readiness or military effectiveness. These conclusions are from a draft report based upon surveys of active and reserve military personnel, and would seem to undermine the only serious objection to lifting […]
FDA Proposes New Cigarette Labels
For the three people on the planet who aren’t employed by cigarette companies but haven’t heard that smoking bad for you, the FDA is proposing new, graphic labels, like the one below. Story here.
IG Confirms White House Edits of Moratorium Report
A draft report of the Department of Interior Inspector General has confirmed what many suspected: High-level White House officials edited an Interior Department report to create the false impression that Interior Secretary’s Ken Salazar’s decision to impose a deep-water drilling moratorium in the Gulf of Mexico had been peer reviewed and approved by outside experts. […]
Ben Wittes Attends the Al-Aulaqi Hearing
Probably some readers have seen this over at Lawfare, but Ben Wittes has a very interesting account of the oral argument from a few days ago on the Al-Aulaqi targeted killing lawsuit. A snippet: Judge Bates was deeply engaged with counsel for both sides throughout the argument. At the hearing’s end (shortly after I had […]
Private prison lobbying and Arizona’s SB 1070
I just read this roughly two-week-old NPR story about private prison lobbying for the Arizona immigration law. The idea is this: “NPR spent the past several months analyzing hundreds of pages of campaign finance reports, lobbying documents and corporate records. What they show is a quiet, behind-the-scenes effort to help draft and pass Arizona Senate […]
Law Prof Blog Traffic Ranking
Paul Caron has the scoop, at least for blogs that have public SiteMeters. The VC’s traffic has been steady for the last 2-3 years, it seems, neither going up nor down much beyond occasional blips due to big stories.