Like Orin, I recommend Vermuele’s interesting and thoughtful review essay in the New Republic. However, I want to take issue with a couple of Vermuele’s historical claims. (1) The troika do not seriously address this possibility, except to remark that the possibility of “majoritarian abuse” may sometimes require a “robust judicial role.” But we lack […]
Archive | 2010
Vermeule on Living Constitutionalism
Adrian Vermeule, who is one of my favorite legal scholars writing today, has this interesting review in The New Republic of new books on constitutional interpretation by David Strauss and the trio of Goodwin Liu, Pam Karlan, and Chris Schroeder. Thanks to Howard for the link.
“Blight” Condemnations in Alabama
By Ilya Somin on August 3, 2010 11:43 pm in Blight, Eminent Domain, Post-Kelo Reform, Property Rights
Historian David Beito, chair of the Alabama Advisory Committee to the US Commission on Civil Rights, has an interesting post documenting the abuse of “blight” condemnations in Montgomery, Alabama: “[E]minent domain through the back door” has become commonplace in Montgomery, the cradle of the modern civil rights movement. Under this system, Montgomery has demolished homes […]
ACLU and CCR Sue US Government over Al-Awlaki Defense
By Kenneth Anderson on August 3, 2010 9:39 pm in Targeted Killing, War and Armed Conflict, War on Terror
Adam Serwer has a post up flagging a new suit by the ACLU and the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) against the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) over funds expended over the question of whether the Obama administration can designate and then target Al-Awlaki as a terrorist hiding out presumably in Yemen. […]
Perry v. Schwarzenegger
A decision in the federal Prop 8 case is expected tomorrow.
Is “Project Vigilant” a Publicity Stunt?
Richard Bejtlich thinks so. Bejtlich’s theory sounds plausible: I also thought it was odd that I’d never heard of the group until today. Further, although the group is supposed to include lots of “big names,” the only person on the list who I had heard of was Mark Rasch, a consultant and former DOJ lawyer […]
What Is “Project Vigilant,” and Is It Violating the Law?
Salon’s Glenn Greenwald has an interesting post about a group called “Project Vigillant,” which it seems is some sort of volunteer private-sector group that tracks hackers (and perhaps other bad guys). I say “seems” because I’ve never heard of the group, and it’s not entirely clear what it does. But a report in Forbes includes […]
Was California’s Prop. 8 (Anti-Same-Sex-Marriage) Vote So Close Partly Because of Voter Confusion?
This L.A. Times op-ed reports: It’s true that the official election results — 52% to 48% — appeared quite close. But the truth is more complicated. The data we analyzed show that the No on 8 campaign benefitted from voter confusion. Polling suggests that half a million people who opposed same-sex marriage mistakenly voted against […]
“If You Pick a Fight in Missouri, You Can Reasonably Expect to Settle It Here”
So says Baldwin v. Fischer-Smith (Mo. Ct. App. July 6, posted on Westlaw a few days ago), in holding that a defendant whose Web page allegedly libeled a Missouri dog kennel could be sued in Missouri. (The defendant’s Web page specifically mentioned that the kennel was located in Missouri.) There’s a longstanding dispute about this […]
Sarcastic Comment of the Week
One commenter wrote, “(By the way anybody else notice that Hispanic, African-American, or Asian all get flagged by the spell checker if they aren’t capitalized, but white just sails right on through? When are they going to fix that?) ” Commenter L responded: I know, it’s almost as though whoever programs the spellchecker thinks that […]
Canadian Airlines Failing to Require That Veiled Passengers Show Their Faces for Identification Checks?
One news story is here; here’s the statement from the Canada’s Transport Minister: Recent media reports have suggested that individuals routinely board aircraft without being visually identified. Under the Identity Screening Regulations, airlines must be able to verify the identity of all passengers before they are allowed to board. Airlines in Canada are required to […]
America in Color, 1939-1943.
Very cool early color photographs. Hat tip: Ricochet.com.
Prison Doesn’t Have to Exempt Female Muslim Employees from a No-Headgear Rule
So a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit just held, by a 2-1 vote, in EEOC v. GEO Group, Inc. Three Muslim women employees had claimed that the religious accommodation provision of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (as amended in 1972) required the prison to exempt […]
California Supreme Court Upholds Constitutionality of the California Anti-Race/Sex-Preference Initiative (Prop. 209)
The decision (6-1) is at Coral Construction, Inc. v. City and County of San Francisco; the court agrees with Coalition for Economic Equity v. Wilson, 122 F.3d 692 (9th Cir. 1997), and Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action v. Granholm, 473 F.3d 237 (6th Cir. 2006), which likewise upheld the California initiative and a similar Michigan […]
Judge Rules Constitutional Challenges to Individual Mandate are Serious
Essentially, from day one, politicos like Nancy Pelosi and numerous law professors have been saying about the constitutional challenge to the individual mandate: “Nothing to see here folks, move along.” Today Judge Henry Hudson ruled, “there is something to see here folks, let’s stop and evaluate carefully.” That is a big step. Since before the […]