A newly filed case, Bluman v. FEC, challenges 2 U.S.C. § 441e, which provides: It shall be unlawful for— (1) a foreign national, directly or indirectly, to make— (A) a contribution … in connection with a Federal, State, or local election; (B) a contribution or donation to a committee of a political party; or (C) […]
Archive | 2010
Justice Sotomayor Votes to Review and then Reverse Pro Se Prisoner Case Lower Courts Found “Patently Frivolous”
Today Justice Sotomayor authored what strikes me as a rather remarkable dissent from denial of certiorari in Pitre v. Cain, a pro se Eighth Amendment case brought by a prison inmate whose case was dismissed as “patently frivolous” by the trial court and affirmed by the Fifth Circuit in a short one-paragraph order. What is […]
DePaul University Says No to Pro-Marijuana-Legalization Group
By Eugene Volokh on October 18, 2010 7:03 pm in Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Speech at Colleges and Universities, War on Drugs
The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education has the details. The university admits that it is excluding the group from generally available student group registration benefits, because the university disapproves of the group’s message: Considerable research indicates the use of cannabis does not contribute to healthy decision-making, particularly in college-age populations. Given the above, the […]
Advice for law students: Enjoy your University
A few weeks ago, I returned to my beloved University of Michigan, for a law school class reunion. This time, I stayed an extra day, in order to speak to law students at a lunchtime event on Monday, organized by the U of M Federalist Society. Michigan Prof. Richard Primus provided some thoughtful commentary on […]
More on the Proposed Act/Omission Distinction — And What Does It Mean To “Mandate” an Act?
I appreciate Jonathan Adler’s response on the nature of Randy Barnett’s proposed act/omission distinction on the scope of federal power. Given that this is a proposed distinction, not one presently recognized in the caselaw, my real interest at this stage is just getting a sense of how such a distinction is supposed to work — […]
An Act/Omission Limitation on Federal Power Over States?
Orin is concerned about the ability of the Supreme court to draw a line between the federal government’s authority to regulate or prohibit conduct, on the one hand, and its ability to mandate conduct on the other. Drawing a line of this sort may be difficult, but it is hardly unprecedented. Consider some of the […]
President Reagan Speaks at the Federalist Society Lawyer’s Convention in 1988
C-Span’s archives are truly amazing, and its online library has filled out over time. The site now allows embedding of video, too. So here’s a fascinating video of President Reagan speaking at the Federalist Society’s Lawyer’s Convention in 1988, with Reagan starting at around the 9 minute mark: The President won’t be speaking at this […]
What Is the Fourth Amendment Standard for National Security Detention?
The Supreme Court may answer that question in Ashcroft v. Al-Kidd, a case the Court announced this morning that it will hear later in the Term. If they answer it, my guess is that they’ll use the standard that lower courts have unanimously approved in the civil commitment setting. In civil commitment cases, the question […]
Supreme Court Agrees to Review Ninth Circuit Decision on Using Material Witness Statute to Detain Terrorist Suspects
Today the Supreme Court granted cert in Ashcroft v. Al Kidd, the case holding then-Attorney General John Ashcroft personally liable for his role in the detention of terrorist suspects under the material witness statute. I had a long post on the Ninth Circuit panel decision here: al-Kidd v. Ashcroft: Is Pretextual Use of the Material […]
Today’s (Apparent) Supreme Court Relisted Cases
I’m confident that this is only a partial list of cases the Court has relisted. If you know of others, I’m all ears. Four cases on their first relist: Wong v. Smith, 09-1031, CA9. The Court called for the record on 9/28. The case involves whether 28 U.S.C. § 2254(d) and the Supreme Court’s “clearly […]
A Film Version of the The Silmarillion?
Various commenters on my recent post about Peter Jackson’s upcoming movie version of The Hobbit lament the fact that it is impossible to make a movie based Tolkien’s Silmarillion, the book that describes the history leading up to The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. The idea that the Silmarillion is impossible to film […]
Adding an “Act” to Overcome the Proposed Act/Omission Limitation on Federal Power
I very much appreciate Randy’s response to my latest post; It’s really terrific to have this discussion with him. While I have him on the line, I wanted to push Randy a bit on the act/omission distinction. If the constitutional line is between acts and omissions, as Randy suggests, then I gather Randy would agree […]
The End of All Lines Around Congressional Powers?
I thank Orin for his thoughtful response and believe I understand much better our areas of disagreement. I am happy to discuss the “line drawing” problem instead of “slippery slopes.” In McDonald, there was always a serious line drawing problem with reviving the Privileges or Immunities Clause. But there is no comparable line drawing problem […]
Libertarianism and Blame for Misfortune
In a post commenting on the controversy generated by our earlier exchange (see here and here), Sandy Levinson writes: It is obvious that contemporary libertarians are prone to blame individuals for most (even if …. not all) things that befall them; political liberals are far more likely to offer structuralist explanations that have the consequence […]
McDonald and The Mandate: A Response to Randy
It is always a pleasure when Randy responds to one of my posts that touches on his areas of expertise. Here are a few thoughts in reply to Randy: 1) I fear there is a misunderstanding as to what comparison I made in my post to which Randy responds. In my post, I compared the […]